It seems timely that today I could showcase a piece of culture/history/folk music that happens to also be a poem. Yes, its Guy Fawkes day, and here is The Fifth of November by no particular author. Many versions exist, and the page I found this on had a pretty exhaustive list.
Remember, remember!
The fifth of November,
The Gunpowder treason and plot;
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!
Guy Fawkes and his companions
Did the scheme contrive,
To blow the King and Parliament
All up alive.
Threescore barrels, laid below,
To prove old England's overthrow.
But, by God's providence, him they catch,
With a dark lantern, lighting a match!
A stick and a stake
For King James's sake!
If you won't give me one,
I'll take two,
The better for me,
And the worse for you.
A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,
A penn'orth of cheese to choke him,
A pint of beer to wash it down,
And a jolly good fire to burn him.
Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring!
Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King!
Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!
An example of their thoroughness:
"This traditional verse exists in a large number of variations and the above version has been constructed to give a flavor for the major themes that appear in them. Several of the books referenced below cite even earlier sources.
Lines 1-6 are as in Moore and Lloyd (1990; pg. 14). They differ from Chambers (1888; pg. 550) only in the third line ("There is..." instead of "I know of..."). "I know..." but not "I know of..." occurs in Thiselton-Dyer (1876; pg. 413, Northamptonshire).
Lines 7-14 follow the order of the dialect version in Northall (1892, pg. 248, Lowsley). The wording used is from Thistleton-Dyer (1876, pg 413, Northamptonshire) for lines 7-10 and 13-14, and J.C.R (1857) for lines 11-12."
And so on. Guy Fawkes, also called Guido, was born in York in 1570. When his father died, his mother married a Catholic, and this evidently affected him, as he converted himself, and fought for the Catholic Spanish in the Eighty Year's war. He is most famous for his role in the foiled Gunpowder Plot to assassinated King James I, as he was caught guarding the explosives when the authorities were tipped off, and when he was sentenced to be hanged, threw himself off the scaffold to his death. Even if history doesn't remember him particularly fondly (burning in effigy, anyone?), I feel like he ought to be remembered for more than members of Anonymous wearing masks from V for Vendetta.
Penny for the guy?
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