Bonfire Night.

Remember, remember the fifth of November; gunpowder, treason and plot. Those are the words that we would hear when we were children and the other words you would hear would be 'penny for the guy.'

In the early 17^th Century around 1606 or so, just at the time Shakespeare died, Guy Fawkes was caught under the Houses of Parliament with a disgusting amount of gunpowder; and guess what he was planning to do? Why blow the place up, of course.

But he didn't because he was caught; he was tried, with his co-conspirators, found guilty then hung, drawn and quartered; he was a Catholic.

A year or two later, the King, King James I, I suppose, started a tradition that lasts till this day; he commissioned a sermon to commemorate the plot and Bonfire Night, as it is now called, is celebrated with bonfires and fireworks.

At the end of the evening an effigy of Guy Fawkes, the guy, is thrown on to the top of the bonfire and as he burns the crowd cheers the burning of the Catholic, for he was a Catholic, and the leader of the Gunpowder Plot – that is the plot in the opening line of the old poem or children's rhyme.

At about the same time The King James Bible, or the KJB, was getting published which owed a lot to another man who was also executed William Tyndale.

'Penny for the Guy' was shouted by children, when I was a child here, but I didn't hear it recently on my travels; didn't hear it at all. Children used to make their 'guy' by stuffing old clothes with newspaper, making a mask for the face and placing a hat on top. Then they would put their guy into an old pram or a cart and stand on the corner asking people for money – hence 'penny for the guy.'

A lot of money was collected which went towards buying fireworks; it was collected under the guise that it would go to charity – but it didn't. The same as with the carol singers at Christmas time – their collections are supposed to go to the church but they rarely do unless carried out by an organisation.

My parents had never heard of bonfire night, when they came to this country, but joined in all the same; the next door neighbours would collect firewood and the like for the annual bonfire and as we both had huge gardens we would share the festivities.

Fireworks were purchased, a guy was made and plenty of eats like chestnuts, baked potatoes, sausages and drinks were made and we had a wonderful time.

I remember pointing out to my parents that we were celebrating the burning and torture of a Catholic and they dismissed me as a wet blanket.

I think the fireworks in those days were dangerous as they were freely available to anyone over the age of 13 and when we were at school we would frequently have bangers (firecrackers) thrown at us as we walked home. Firecracker is such a tame word – they were bloody bangers and it's a wonder more of us weren't injured.

As it was there were always warnings on the news and items about children who were maimed by firework accidents; but what did they expect when they were available for children so young? The truth was we could see the bangers being thrown at us and we'd run out of the way – but some girls didn't.

These days people are more aware; fireworks are still legal here but the qualifying age has risen and the bangers are not so . . . . well I don't know. It was Diwali a couple of weeks ago where I heard very loud bangs which segued into Bonfire Night and as I type this I can still hear bangs. A lot of the bangers actually sound like loud gunshots.

Some of the fireworks can be held by hand such as sparklers but when they finish sparkling they should be thrown into cold water as children can pick them up when they 'go out' as they take a long time to cool off.

I remember as a child I was given a firework to hold; I was told it was quite safe and that it wouldn't go off in my hand and I remember standing there as the pattern lit up the sky not believing it was safe to hold so I let it go.

Before the firework hit the floor, when it was maybe 6 inches from my hand it went off - BANG!!

I don't know what kind of premonition or warning made me let it go but even 6 inches or so was not far enough as it burned my right wrist severely; no blisters do I remember just the pain up to my elbow but I thank my lucky stars I let it go.

I've never particularly liked fireworks in any case without any influence from that incident. I have seen firework displays at The Hollywood Bowl and the Edinburgh Tattoo and actually enjoyed the one at Edinburgh.

I hated the ones at The Hollywood Bowl as they interrupted the music; one time I was getting quite excited as the 1812 Overture neared its climax but as soon as it did the firework display started which brought the gasps, oos and ahs from the 18,000 crowd which drowned the music.

Bang!! I hear in the distance! And still it goes on.