BS: bonfire night

Subject: BS: bonfire night
From: beetle cat
Date: 05 Nov 04 - 11:56 AM

Tonight, November 5th, Is Bonfire Night in Newfoundland. Each community has a huge bonfire where they burn the stuff that the dump wont take, or trees that have been cut down, or just old junk. It happens on the same day every year. I was wondering if there are similar practices in other rural communities arouond the world. I have known July 4th the be the Bonfire night of the US. Are there any other practices that coinciede with your Bonfire night? (song, music, food, drink..) And is it a huge bonfire that the whole community shares, or is it individual ones throughout the community?
Happy Bonfire Night!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: bonfire night
From: Once Famous
Date: 05 Nov 04 - 11:59 AM

Takamine guitars burn quite slowly I hear.

Subject: RE: BS: bonfire night
From: Chris Green
Date: 05 Nov 04 - 12:31 PM

I hate Bonfire Night! Just been out to the local shops and it's like the first day of the Somme out there! Aaarggghhhh! Bloody fireworks. Utter crap!











Ahem.




Sorry...

Subject: RE: BS: bonfire night
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 05 Nov 04 - 12:34 PM

Ooooh! Aaaaah!! Wowee!!!! Duck family happily watching next doors fireworks from the bedroom window and eating plot toffee.

Subject: RE: BS: bonfire night
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 05 Nov 04 - 12:49 PM

Watching the firequackers eh Mrs Duck??
Best wishes.

Subject: RE: BS: bonfire night
From: Cats
Date: 05 Nov 04 - 03:10 PM

Last night the Rillaton Bonfire Society came round collecting 'Penny For The Guy' for the village bonfire. When I was young we had Bonfire societies in Lingfield, Surrey where I lived, along the same lines as Lewes except that it was done by families. We were one of the bonfire families and last night brought back so many memories from my childhood. Did you hear Arundel council want to ban the burning of the effigy of the pope as part of Lewes Bonfires as it may upset the catholics? The response was something along the lines of we've been doing it for 400 years and it hasn't upset them yet. Goes along with banning Punch and Judy in Bodmin, Cornwall, as it upset the women's rights group.

Subject: RE: BS: bonfire night
From: rich-joy
Date: 06 Nov 04 - 01:34 AM

Bonfire Night / Cracker Night / Guy Fawkes Night was a thing of my childhood in Perth, Western Australia.

It's been banned for many years now - too many kids blowing bits of themselves off ...

Mum remembered fireworks on Empire Day, in her childhood in Perth (though I can't recall when E.Day was ...)

The Northern Territory (where Stewie resides), has fireworks on Territory Self-Government Day (July maybe??).

Nowadays, I just have to be content with working on the Fire Event at Queensland's Woodford Folk Festival , on New Years Day/Night!!!
(Bloody great bonfire and fireworks and stuff)


Cheers! R-J

Subject: RE: BS: bonfire night
From: Billy the Bus
Date: 06 Nov 04 - 05:13 AM

g'day Moxie,

guy fawkes night, Nov 5th, recalls an event from 399 years ago. you'll find links to the historical significance on my post in this thread...

Bonfire Night??? What's our 'Colonial world' comg to???

"Guy Fawkes, Guy,
stick him up on high,
{ut him on the bonfire,
There let him die'

bonfire Night??? mumble... grump...

cheers - sam

Subject: RE: BS: bonfire night
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 06 Nov 04 - 08:21 AM

Perfect opportunity to get rid of accordions, bodhrans and shaky eggs.

eric

Subject: RE: BS: bonfire night
From: Tansy
Date: 06 Nov 04 - 08:42 AM

What's with the raging anti-Bodhran sentiments that seem to abound on Mudcat? Are they evil yuppie-celtic-wannabee instruments of terror or something?

If anybody wants to exorcise their unwanted evil Bodhran right out of their lives, they can send them to ME. My little cousins all want one each to bang about on Family Music Nights. Those things are expensive here in The States.

Guy Fawkes Night was never big in my house! (grew up Catholic)

Subject: RE: BS: bonfire night
From: Tansy
Date: 06 Nov 04 - 09:48 AM

Okay, NEVERMIND.....I went and found the "Annoying Bodhran" Thread. I get it now. Bodhrans themselves are not evil, just the stupid gits who buy them because they can't sing, can't play an instrument, but want an excuse to jump into public sessions and feel important.

RE: The Annoying Bodhran players:

Are they mostly men?

Have they all read Iron John one too many times?

Are they the Irish and British cousins of the stupid gits in America who show up with Tambourines or those ridiculous "rain sticks" with all the seeds inside that they love to shake to what they presume is the beat?

Did their dads polay the Bongos back in the 50's in order to score with Beatnik chics?

Are there silly groups of men taking part in Bodhran circles on the weekends to get in touch with ehir Inner-Celtic Warrior the way African-American men here in the States do with African Drum Circles?

Amazing how some things are so universal, eh?

Still, if anybody has any lonely, discarded Bodhrans..I'll pay to have them shipped to my cousins. They'll only annoy eachother. I'll also take in any lonely Autoharps that need homes.

Subject: RE: BS: bonfire night
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 06 Nov 04 - 12:26 PM

I'm a Newfoundlander. CarolC and I are in Alabama. We celebrated Bonfire Night last night with a pile of leaves and some scraps of wood. It was fun.

Newfoundland is 70 % catholic. This thread is the first time I've ever heard of burning an effigy of the Pope. Last year a friend from Wales told me that back in his home town they burn effigies of Guy Fawkes. When I was growing up the teachers told us that bonfire night was a commemoration of the Gun Powder Plot. But I don't think they ever said whether we were celebrating Guy Fawkes being stopped or Guy Fawkles almost pulling it off.

Subject: RE: BS: bonfire night
From: Metchosin
Date: 06 Nov 04 - 01:45 PM

We're burning Guy Fox tonight, in a massive bonfire at a cousin's. A day late, but what the hay. When we were small we used to do it on Hallowe'en, so at least we getting closer to the correct date.

My cousin resurrected our family tradition a few years ago, more in homage to our out of step childhood and as an excuse to build a really big fire and consume a few beers, than to pay hommage to the original event.

Constructing a Guy Fox to burn was one of the great excitements about Hallowe'en, when we were young and we were always told it was in commemoration of the Gunpowder Plot to blow up parliament too, but for us, it was an opportunity to stuff our grandfather's old clothes with newspapers and come up with a humdinger of an effigy.

I don't think any of us children had any idea what the "gunpowder plot" was but it sounded wonderfully subversive and as far as I know, we were the only ones in our neighbourhood, who had even heard of the name Guy Fox.

Subject: RE: BS: bonfire night
From: Metchosin
Date: 06 Nov 04 - 02:42 PM

So if its clearer tonight and any of you, across the harbour in Victoria, see a red glow in the sky tonight and rockets above the hills of Metchosin, don't worry, its not the Rocky Point munitions dump going up, it just us.

Subject: RE: BS: bonfire night
From: Tansy
Date: 07 Nov 04 - 12:05 AM

As an Anthropologist, it's only right that I point out that the practise of burning an effigy of a man around this time of year far predates the Gunpowder Plot and is associated with Pre-Christian tradition. It's an old Quarter-night tradition and ties in with some rather sinister stories of a trickster figure who must be appeased as well as with some arcane Year King rites which were imported from the Mediteranean (Demeter worship I suppose)

I grew up in a VERY Protestant town just outside of NYC...in Dutchess county on account of my Dad being stationed at Troop K around the time of my birth and he just stayed on there after having to retire from injuries. Bonfire Night was celebrated and had both the anti-catholic overtones but also the more mysterious pagan games such as the Cake of Charms and the mirror games.

I'm not sure how those traditions came to be celebrated given that the town was founded by Quakers who didn't cotton to that kind of thing. Be that as it may, Bonfire night was often tied to the Highschool Football Homecoming Night which was timed to coincide with it. I'd bet that's wehre most Football (American..not Soccer) Bonfire Nights derived from.

Americans are probably more familiar with the Football Bonfire Nights which are all about School Spirit and other nonsense. Interesting how our Homecoming King and Queens can be traced all the way back to Pre-Christian times.

Subject: RE: BS: bonfire night
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 07 Nov 04 - 06:56 AM

I went to Lewes bonfire parade on Friday with the Ravens drummers and then Battle bonfire parade on Saturday. We had a wonderful time adn the fireworks were excellent. The burning crosses and the burning of the Pope at Lewes and the effigy at Battle was the death of free speech. Now need to stop the ringing in my ears!!

Subject: RE: BS: bonfire night
From: Once Famous
Date: 07 Nov 04 - 04:52 PM

Jack, what part of Newfoundland is Jewish?

Thought so.

Subject: RE: BS: bonfire night
From: Joybell
Date: 07 Nov 04 - 05:20 PM

I loved bonfire night. We had bonfires on vacant lots in the Melbourne suburb I lived in. Our parents supervised us well and there was never a problem of blown-off fingers - On the night anyway. Of course we were allowed to buy fireworks at the local shop for weeks before the event, and that could be a problem.
I seem to remember launching harlequin beetles into space, on rockets, in the interest of scientific experiment. Ashamed of it now! I tell myself they made the re-entry ok and had wonderful tales to tell to their friends. When I die there'll be a Giant Harlequin Bug, sitting on a golden throne, waiting to punish me. He'll say, "It is my duty to avenge my people! Now sit on that rocket and see how you like it!!" Joy

Subject: RE: BS: bonfire night
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 07 Nov 04 - 09:36 PM

Tansy, Guy Fawkes was trying to blow up the English parliament to gain equal rights for ROMAN CATHOLICS, the protestant king of the day James 1st was anti catholic.

Here in Yorkshire we regard Guy Fawkws as a hero.

eric

Subject: RE: BS: bonfire night
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 07 Nov 04 - 09:53 PM

Now if they just let off the fireworks on the Fifth of November that'd be fine. But for weeks around people keep on doing it.

My cats have asked me to register a protest.

Subject: RE: BS: bonfire night
From: GUEST,Terry McDonald
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 05:13 AM

I stumbled across this thread when looking for the words to a song. Newfoundland is not '70% Catholic' It's 60% Protestant and about 35% Catholic. St John's, though, does have a majority Catholic population which presumably is the reason for this perception that Newfoundland is overwhelmingly Irish-Catholic. The 2001 census also shows that for every person of Irish origin, there are two of English origin.

Patrick O'Flaherty's book 'Olde Newfoundland' has an excellent chapter on how the island refused to allow the religious conflicts of Ireland to be re-enacted there.