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November 05, 2005
Gunpowder, treason and .....
Today marks the 400th anniversary of the "Gunpowder Plot" in which the last man to enter Parliament with honest intentions tried to blow up the King, James I (the VIth of Scotland), and all the Parliamentarians of the day. Then, as now, it numbered among its ranks the "great and good" - or at least those who think they are - and the hanger's on, cronies and "lobby fodder".
Cutting short the Stuart dynasty might well have spared us Cromwell, but, depending on who followed James I, might have led us to a French style Revolution! Then we could well be in the same situation as the French with an agricultural policy that's a mess and subsidies from everyone else to prop it up. On the other hand they still have fleet worthy of the name and an airforce to support it - we just have bureaucrats. So perhaps we should mourn the fact that he failed - we would certainly have been spared the present PM - his family would have been prime guillotine fodder.
Interestingly, Guy Fawkes old school, situated in York, never celebrates Bonfire Night, and always holds a memorial service for him. An interesting case of one man's terrorist being another freedom fighter I guess - and certainly something our current bunch of politicians would do well to think on long and hard.
Posted by The Gray Monk at November 5, 2005 08:15 AM
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