Norton Lindsey Brownies -- Bonfire Night Activities

Bonfire Night Activities

Things on this page:

   Did You Know?
   The Story of the Gunpowder Plot
   A Crossword
   Middle-Aged Medicine

On Bonfire Night we started with sparklers!

Then we talked about life in the 1600's and the Gunpowder plot. Did you know that Guy Fawkes wasn't really burned? In those days they only burned people at the stake for crimes against the Church. For crimes against the state and the King (like trying to kill him!) criminals were hung, drawn and quartered. It was very messy!

Here are a few other things about Guy Fawkes and the gunpowder plot that you may not know:

Guy Fawkes wasn't the leader of the Gunpowder plot. In fact when the plot was originally thought up, Guy Fawkes was in Spain. A man named Robert Catesby was in charge.
Guy Fawkes wasn't born a Catholic. He only became a Catholic when his Mum remarried and his step-father was Catholic.
They found Guy Fawkes hiding in the cellars nearly a day before the King was going to be in parliament, and not just before like the story says. Someone who knew about the plot wrote an anonymous letter to warn the king.
Guy Fawkes didn't betray his friends when they found him. In fact it took 6 days of torturing poor old Mr Fawkes before he told them the names of the other people in his gang. By that time they had caught the other criminals anyway!

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The Story:

The Catholics and the Protestants had been fighting for ages. The Catholics thought that the Pope (in Rome) was the head of their Church, but the Protestants said that the head of the English Church was the King. By the time that James I, a Protestant, became King, the Catholics had been treated very badly and were getting very fed up! One Catholic called Robert Catesby decided to do something about it. He brought five men together and told them his secret plan. One of the men was Guy Fawkes.

The Plot

Catesby wanted to get rid of the King and his helpers (called the Parliament). He decided to blow them up with gunpowder! In early November, the members of Parliament were going to meet together and the King would be there too, so Catesby and the other men decided that this would be a good opportunity. They rented a house next door to the Parliament buildings, and started to dig a tunnel underneath to get to the cellars! This took a very long time and was very hard work. Later they found a cellar underneath the Parliament buildings which they could rent. Much easier! They moved the gunpowder into the cellar.

More Catholics joined the plotters, but as more men heard about the plot, it became harder to keep it secret. Eventually, someone sent a warning letter to one of the Members of Parliament and the plot was discovered!

Soldiers were sent to the rented house and the cellars and found the gunpowder. They also found Guy Fawkes, waiting with matches ready to light the fuse which would make the gunpowder explode. He was arrested and horribly tortured to make him tell who else was involved. All the plotters were found guilty of treason and executed.

The Members of Parliament were very pleased that they had not been blown up! They made a law that 5th November would be a day of thanksgiving and celebration. So that is why we have bonfires and fireworks on "bonfire night"!

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Using the story above, can you do the crossword below? (Click here if you want to print the crossword!)

Across

   1: The Catholics believed that he was the head of the Church
   4: This is where the barrels of gunpwoder were stored
   5: The leader of the Gunpowder Plot
   7: The plotters planned to dig one under the Houses of Parliament
   8: The religion of the plotters
   9: This man was going to light the fuse

Down

   1: Members of this helped the King to rule Britain
   2 The religion of the King of England
   3: King of England during the Gunpowder plot
   6: We light one of these to remember the Gunpowder plot.

Many thanks to the Activity Village for this crossword,
a great place full of fun things to do with your kids!

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Stuart Medicine

Did you know that the Stuarts (people who lived at the time of Guy Fawkes and James 1) had really odd ideas about how to get better. For example, if you cut yourself and bled really heavily, writing the word "Veronica" on your thumb was thought to cure it! Weren't they silly?! See if you can match some more illnesses with their cures below. (Don't forget to use the clues). The answers are at the bottom of the page!

Illness

Cures

1: Accidentally swallowing a snake(!)
   (Boot it out!)
A: Place a cold marble stone (on which the sun has never shone) on the stomach

2: Stopping yourself from becoming drunk
   (Making a pig of yourself)
B: Drink a mixture of fleas and vinegar

3: Colic (stomach pains)
   (The cure shouldnt kill you stone dead)
C: Eat snails boiled in milk and a few chopped worms if you wish

4: Toothache
   (Youll be oak-kay after this)
D: Burn the sole of an old shoe and breath in the smoke.

5: Consumption (Lung disease)
   (This should slip down nicely)
E: Place a gold coin in the mouth

6: Fever
   (Coo, what a thought)
G: Take two tench fish, split them open and place them on the feet. Leave for 12 hours (even if it starts to stink) then put fresh ones on.

7: Accidentally swallowing a horse leech
    in drinking water
   (Make it flee)
H: Cut a pigeon in half and place one half on each foot

8: Preventing the plague from infecting you
   (A rich food)
I: Scratch your gum with a new nail then drive the nail into an oak Tree

9: Jaundice (liver disease)
   (Wear a clothes peg on your nose)
J: Eat the roasted lungs of a pig first thing in the morning

The Answers:
(To see the answers, place your cursor by the spot and hold the left hand mouse button down. Then drag your mouse to the other side of the screen)

1 : D 2 : J 3 : A 4 : I 5 : C 6 : H 7 : B 8 : E 9 : G

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Back Home

Illness	Cures
1: Accidentally swallowing a snake(!) (Boot it out!)	A: Place a cold marble stone (on which the sun has never shone) on the stomach
2: Stopping yourself from becoming drunk (Making a pig of yourself)	B: Drink a mixture of fleas and vinegar
3: Colic (stomach pains) (The cure shouldnt kill you stone dead)	C: Eat snails boiled in milk and a few chopped worms if you wish
4: Toothache (Youll be oak-kay after this)	D: Burn the sole of an old shoe and breath in the smoke.
5: Consumption (Lung disease) (This should slip down nicely)	E: Place a gold coin in the mouth
6: Fever (Coo, what a thought)	G: Take two tench fish, split them open and place them on the feet. Leave for 12 hours (even if it starts to stink) then put fresh ones on.
7: Accidentally swallowing a horse leech in drinking water (Make it flee)	H: Cut a pigeon in half and place one half on each foot
8: Preventing the plague from infecting you (A rich food)	I: Scratch your gum with a new nail then drive the nail into an oak Tree
9: Jaundice (liver disease) (Wear a clothes peg on your nose)	J: Eat the roasted lungs of a pig first thing in the morning