Oddity of the Week: Gunpowder and Treason
Created | Updated Nov 4, 2012
Halloween has come and gone, but 5 November is Guy Fawkes. Have you got your straw man and flammable materials ready?
Gunpowder and Treason
Okay, if you aren't sure who that Guy was, read the Guide Entry. We're not sure why, but UK folk are keen on setting fire to things, right about now. As long as they stay out of our kitchen, we don't mind. Sounds like fun, actually.
Back in 1841, a fellow by the name of William Harrison Ainsworth wrote a 'romance' – in three volumes, no less – entitled Guy Fawkes: Or, the Gunpowder Treason. Apparently, it was a best-seller in its day, though largely forgotten now. It's all over www.archive.org, however. Ainsworth was from Manchester, and specialised in thrilling historical stuff like that. He did one on Dick Turpin, too, and at least one on witches.
This book looks like a real page-turner. In the first few pages, we note a character called 'the pursuivant'. Hmm, looks like a job for Rowan Atkinson.
We can't wait for the movie to come out. We're betting on a part for Jason Statham. He's under Parliament, you see, and he's hitting bad guys in baggy trousers, right and left. He pulls out an arquebus. . .
