Gunpowder treason!
Gunpowder treason!
Gunpowder treason plot!
I know no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot
Guy Fox and his companions
Did the scheme contrive
To blow the King and Parliament
All up alive!
But by Gods providence, him they catch.
With a dark lantern, lighting a match
Hollo boys!Hollo boys! make the bells ring
Hollo boys! Hollo boys! God save the King” -1873
Wiltshire
My brave lads remember
The fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot;
We will drink, smoke and sing, boys,
And our bells they shall ring, boys,
And here's health to our King, boys,
For he shall not be forgot.
-Every Day book, 1827, vol.ii. p.1379
Worcestershire:
“Don’t you remember
the 5th of November
Is gunpowder treason and plot?
I don’t see the reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot
A stick and a stake, for Queen Victoria’s Sake
I pray master give us a faggit
If you dont give us one well take two
The better for us and the worse for you” -1892, sung to thumping of sticks on the ground at key words Plot, forgot
and faggit
Westmoreland
I pray you remember the
fifth of November
Gunpowder treason and plot;
The king and his train had like to be slain-
I hope this day'll ne'er be forgot.
All the boys, all the
boys, let the bells ring!
All the boys, al the boys, God save the king!
A stick and a stake for King Jamie's sake,--
I hope you'll remember the bonfire! -N.&Q. 4th S. vol. vii.p.32
Oxfordshire
The fifth of November
Since I can remember,
Gunpowder treason and plot;
This was the day the plot was contriv'd
To blow up the King and Parliament alive;
But God's mercy did prevent
To save our King and his Parliament.
A stick and a stake
For King Jame's sake!
If you won't give me one,
I'll take two,
The better for me
And the Worse for you.
A penn'orth of bread to
feed the Pope
A penn'worth of cheese to choke him;
A pint of beer to wash it down,
And a good old faggot to burn him. - Halliwell's Pop. Rhymes, 1849, pp.253,254.(a wood gathering or
going a-progging chant.)
Don’t you know ‘tis
the fifth of November
Gunpowder Plot. Were come to beg
A stick or a stake, for King Geoge’s sake
If you won’t give us one well take two
Then ricket a racket your door shall go.
Sussex
Remember, remember, the
fifth of November
Gunpowder treason and plot
I see no reason why Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot
A stick and a stake
For King Georges sake
Holla boys holla make the town ring
Holla boys holla boys God save the King” -1903
Remember,Remember
The Fifth of November.
The Gunpowder treasopn and plot;
I see no reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes. Guy Fawkes,
'Twas his intent
To blow up the King and the Parliament;
Three score barrels of powder below
Poor old England to overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, make the bells ring,
Hulloa boys hulloa boys, God Save the King!-Lewes, The Cliffe.
A penny loaf to feed
the Pope,
A farthing O' cheese to choke him,
A pint of beer to rinse it down,
A faggot of sticks to burn him!
Burn him in a tub of tar,
Burn him like a blazing star.
Burn his body from his head.
Then we'll say old Pope is dead!
Hip, hip, Hoo-r-r-ray
- Lewes, The Cliffe
Remember
Rememberthe Fifth of November
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot
I'll tell you a reason why Jesuit Treason
Should never be forgot
If there
hadn't been given protection from Heaven
To the Parliament Houses and Throne
When the Pope to the flames had devoted King James
They had all to destruction been blown
Then ever
let England her gratitude show
To the Power that averted that terrible blow,
In thanksgiving to God our voices we'll raise
To Him be the glory, to Him be the praise.
And thus
was remembered trhe fifth of November
The Jesuit Treason and Plot
For should Popery reign we may have it again,
So let Protestants say, IT SHALL NOT!!
Shout boys
shout! let the ring bells ring--
Down with the Jesuits and
GOD SAVE THE KING
-Source Cited John Geering (Programme Book Waterloo B.s. 1998)
Nottinghamshire
Please to remember
The fifth of November
Old Guy Faux
And gunpowder plot
Shall never be forgot,
While Nottingham Castle stands upon a rock
-Long Ago, 1873, vol i. p.338.(Clifton)
Yorkshire
Gunpowder Plot shall never be forgot
As long as Bells Brown sells Tom Trot.
-1892 (a type of toffee)
Guy Fawkes, Guy
Stick him up on high,
Hang him on a lamp post
And there let him die.
Guy,Guy,Guy,
Poke Him in the eye,
Put him on the fire
And there let him die
-Opie op.cit. p 281.
The herrings come to
see the bonfires on Guy Fawkes Day -Sussex,1883
Derbyshire
Remember, remember,
Th' fifth o' November,
Th' gunpowder plot.
Shall ne'er be forgot!
Pray gi a bit o' coal,
Ter stick in th' bun-fire hole!
A stick an' a stake
For King George's sake--
A stowp an a reel,
Or else wey'll steal
- Long Ago 1873, vol i p. 338
Kent
Guy Fawkes, Guy
Stick him up on high,
Hang him on a lamp post
And there let him die.
Guy,Guy,Guy,
Poke Him in the eye,
Put him on the fire
And there let him die
Burn his body from his
head
Then you'll say
Guy Fawkes is dead
Hip, Hip, Hooray!
-Folkestone, Opie op.cit. p 281.
Lancashire
We come cob o'coaling
for Bonfire time,
Your coal and your money we hope you'll enjoy,
Fol-di-day, fol-di-day, fol-di-diddle-i-do-day,
Down in yon cellar, there's an old um-ber-ella,
And in yonder corner ther's an old pepper pot (or box)
Pepper pot, pepper pot morning till neet,
If you give us nowt, we'steal nowt,
But wish you good neet!
(Oldham, Opie, The
Lore and Language of Schoolchildren, Oxford, Clarendon,1961.)
A chumping,wooding or cob coaling chant used when collecting
burnables for the fire.
Another Cob Coaling
Song from the Watersons:
We come a cob a coalin',
come a coalin', come a coalin'
We come a cob a coalin' on/(for) Bon Fire Night.
We come a cob-coalin'
on/(for) Bon Fire Night
For coal and for money we hope you'll set right,
Fol the ray, fall the
ray, fol the riddle-ee-I dum day.
Now the first house we
come to is an old cobbler's shop,
with nought on his cornice but an old pepper pot,
Pepper pot, ball of wax
morning to night,
If you give us nowt, we'll take nowt, farewell and good night.
Now me father is dead.
He's dead and he's gone,
Attention to his grave.
Hello boys, hello boys,
let the bells ring,
Fire boys, fire boys, fire we sing.
The fifth of November
we hope you'll remember
for gunpowder treason and plot,
I see no reason for Gunpowder treason to ever be forgot.
Oh we,
Come a cob a coalin', come a coalin', come a coalin',
We come a cob a coalin' on Bon Fire Night.
Oldham Tinkers-
add a verse:
We knock at your
knocker, and ring at your bell,
To see what you'll give us for singing so well,
(Iona and Peter Opie,
1992: 120 identify this excerpt as a ditty used by
Christmas carolers!)
This verse follows the
verse about the cobbler.
They also have a chant
which they recite after they insert before the above
"knocker" excerpt:
Up a ladder, down a
wall, a cob a call 'll save us all
If you haven't got a penny, a 'apenny will do,
If you haven't got a 'apenny, God bless you
-A song from the
Lancashire and Yorkshire border associated with Bonfire Night. it might
have been part of a mummers Play.
A.L. Lloyd found the song for the Watersons in the 1960s.
Bonfire night, the
stars are bright
Every little angel dressed in white.
Can you eat a biscuit?
Can you smoke a pipe?
Can you go a -courting
At ten o'clock at night?
-Opie, op.cit. p.282. Blacburn, Lancs.
Lincolnshire
Remember, remember
The fifth o' November!
Guy and his companion's plot:
We're going to blow the Parliament up!
By God's mercy we wase catcht,
With a dark lantern an' lighted match! -Long Ago, 1873, vol. i. p. 338.
London Covent
Garden
Remember, Remember
The Fifth Of November
Gunpowder, Treason and plot
We see no reason
Why gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot
Guy Fawkes, Guy
With his lantern so sly
Got into parliament house.
-1836 Theater Broadside
advertising Harlequin Guy Fawkes a Pantomime
Gentlefolks, pray
Remember this day;
‘Tis with kind notice
we bring The figure of sly And villanous Guy,
Who wanted to murder
the king. By powder and store, He bitterly swore,
As he skulk‘d in the
walls to repair,
The parliament, too, By
him and his crew,
Should all be blowed up
in the air.
But James, very wise,
Did the Papists
surprise,
As they plotted the
cruelty great;
He know‘d their
intent, So Suffolk he sent To save both kingdom and state,
Guy Fawkes he was found
With a lantern
underground,
And soon was the
traitor bound fast:
And they swore he
should die,
So they hung him up
high,
And burnt him to ashes
at last.
So we, once
a-year, Come round without fear,
To keep up remembrance
of this day;
While assistance from
you
May bring a review Of
Guy Fawkes a-blazing away.
So hollo, boys! hollo,
boys!
Shout and huzza;
So hollo, boys! hollo,
boys!
Keep up this day!
So hollo, boys! hollo,
boys!
And make the bells
ring!
Down with the Pope, and
God save the Queen!
And....
Pray, gentlefolks,
pray Remember this day,
At which kind notice we
bring
This figure of sly,
Old, villanous Guy,
He wanted to murder the
king.
With powder in store,
He bitterly swore
By him in the vaults to
compare,
By him and his crew,
And parliament, too,
Should all be blow‘d
up in the air.
So please to remember
The fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason
and plot,
I see no reason
Why gunpowder
treason
Should ever be forgot.
So hollo, boys! hollo,
boys!
Shout out the day!
Hollo, boys! hollo,
boys!
Hollo, Hurrah!
and...
Spurgeon Version
"Remember,
remember, The fifth of November,
Old Spurgeon‘s
treason and plot! "
Russian Tsar Version...
Poke an ingun in his
eye—
A squib shove up his
nose, sirs;
Then roast him till
he‘s done quite brown,
And Nick to old
Nick goes, sirs.
-Henry Mayhew. London
Labour and the London Poor Volume 3. London. Griffen, Bohn and Company,
Stationer’s Hall Court. 1851
U.S.A.
Mummer's Poem In
Newburyport, Massachusetts
(1760 ?)
The Fifth of November,
As you well
remember,
Was gunpowder
treason and plot;
I know of no
reason
Why the gunpowder
treason
Should ever be
forgot.
When the first King
James the septre swayed,
This hellish powder
plot was laid.
Thirty-six barrels
of powder placed down below
All for old
England's overthrow:
Happy the man, and
happy the day
That caught Guy
Fawkes in the middle of this play.
You'll hear our bell
go jink, jink, jink;
Pray madam, sirs, if
you' something give,
We'll burn the dog
and never let him live.
We'll burn the dog
without his head,
And then you'll say
the dog is dead.
From Rome, from
Rome, the pope is come,
All in ten thousand
fears;
The fiery serpent's
to be seen,
All head, mouth,
nose and ears.
The treacherous
knave had so contrived,
To blow king
parliament all up alive.
God by his grace he
did prevent
To save both king
and parliament.
Happy the man, and
happy the day,
That catched Guy
Fawkes in the middle of his play.
Match touch, catch
prime,
In the good nick of
time.
Here is the pope
that we got,
The whole promoter
of the plot.
We'll stick a
pitchfork in his back
And throw him in the
fire.
Market Rasen
Please to remember
The Fifth of November,
The poor old guy
With a hole in his stocking
A hole in his hat where his hair comse through.
If yoiu haven't got a penny a halfpenny will do,
If you haven't got a halfpenny
God bless you.
-Opie op.cit. p282
Northampton
Guy Fawkes, Guy
Hit him in the eye,
Hang him on a lamp-post
And leave him there to die.
Umbrella down the cellar
There I saw a naked fella
Burn his body, save his soul,
Please give me a lump of coal;
If a lump of coal won't do,
Please give me a ha'penny,
Then up and down the Drapery,
Round and round the Market Square,
Till I get to Marefair,
Where I'll spend my ha'penny,
Guy Fawkes, Guy.
-Opie, op.cit. p.282
Aberdeen
A penny for the guy,
A penny for the guy,
A big umbrella
And a flashy tie.
The guy, the guy,
Pin him in the eye;
Stick him up a lamp post,
Don't let him die
-Opie, op.cit.p.282.
Bradfield
Cake, cake, cake;
Copper copper,copper.
Oil aboiler roaster,
A bit of bread and toaster.
Hole in my stocking.
Hole in my shoe,
Hole in my hat
Where my hair peeps through,
If you haven't got a copper, Silver will do.
If you haven't got a silver,
God bless you.
-Joanne Frost, eleven, Bradfield Comprehensive School, Lore and
Language, vol.4 #2, July 1985, "Rhymes and Songs for
Halloween and Bonfire Night". Ervin Beck, p.3.
Bonfire night when the
stars shine bright
Three little angels dressed in white
One with a fiddle, one with a drum
One with a pancake stuck to its bum
- Jane Curry, Eleven, Bradfield Comprehensive School.,Lore and
Language, vol.4 #2, July 1985, "Rhymes and Songs for
Halloween and Bonfire Night". Ervin Beck, p.11.
Barnsley
Remember, remember the
Fifth of November
Bangers and rockets and Catherine wheels, too
The wind, the wind, the wind blows high,
Just like the old woman who lived in the shoe.
-Lore and Language, vol.4 #2, July 1985, "Rhymes and
Songs for Halloween and Bonfire Night". Ervin Beck, p.10.
Smithies
Penny for the guy
Or I will kick you in the eye
And kick yuou in the thigh
And I will get you on the foot
And kick you even more
-Craig Bamford, eleven, Wisewood Comprehensive School,Lore and
Language, vol.4 #2, July 1985, "Rhymes and Songs for
Halloween and Bonfire Night". Ervin Beck, p.14.
Wisewood
A banger, a banger, a
boom, boom, boom!
A rocket, a rocket, zoom, zoom, zoom!
A sparkler, SSSSSSSSSSSHH!
-Eil Eady, fourteen, Wisewood Comprehensive School.,Lore and
Language, vol.4 #2, July 1985, "Rhymes and Songs for
Halloween and Bonfire Night". Ervin Beck, p.p.14.
St Catherines School (to the tune of Clementine)
Build a bonfire, build
a bonfire.
Put the teacher on the top.
Put the prefect in the middle
And we'll burn the bloomin' lot.
-Mark Thompson, ten, St. Catherine's School.,Lore and Language,
vol.4 #2, July 1985, "Rhymes and Songs for Halloween and Bonfire
Night". Ervin Beck, p.13.
The North of England
Happy was the man
And happy was the day,
That caught Guy
Going to his play,
With a dark lanthorn
And a brimstone match
Ready for the prime to touch.
As I was going through
the dark entry
I spied the devil
Stand back! Stand back!
Queen Mary's daughter.
Put your hand in your pocket,
And give us some money
To kindle our bonfire. Hurrah.
-Brand's Pop. Antiq. 1849, vol i p. 308.
From: An
Agreeable Companion, 1742
Don't you Remember
The Fifth of November,
'Twas Gun-Powder Treason Day,
I let of my Gun,
And made 'em all run.
And Stole all their bonfire away.
-Opie, op.cit. p.282
From: The
Jacobite Relics of Scotland 1816
Let the Whigs remember
the fifth of November-Opie, op.cit. p.282
From: The
Children's Friend, 1825
Remember, remember, The
Fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason and plot;
The king and his train Had like to be slain,
And I hope it will ne'er be forgot
-Opie, op.cit. p.282
No Place Mentioned... Guy Fawkes Day (Possibly Yorkshire)
A Stick and a stake,
For King James's sake.
Please give us a coil,(1) a coil.
1. Coal.
Awd Grimey sits upon
yon hill,
As black as onny awd craw.
He's gitten on his lang grey coat
Wi' buttons doon afoor.
He's gitten on his lang grey coat
Wi' buttons doon afoor.
-(1673-1915) and
Traditional Poems
Compiled with an Historical Introduction byF. W. Moorman
(Professor of English Language, University of Leeds)
London Published for the Yorkshire Dialect Society
by Sidgwick and Jackson, Ltd., 1916, 1917
Guy Fawkes
I sing a doleful
tragedy—Guy Fawkes, the Prince of Sinisters,
Who once blew up the House of Lords, the King, and all his Ministers;
That is—he would have blown them up, and folks will ne’er forget
him—
His will was good to do the deed-that is, if they’d have let him!
Chorus- Bow, wow, wow
Tol lol de riddle lol de rol lol de ray.
He straightway came
from Lambeth side, and wish’d the State was undone,
And crossing over Vauxhall Bridge, that way com’d into London;
That is- he would have come that way to perpetrate his guilt, sirs,
But a little thing prevented him- the bridge it was not built, sirs.
Then searching through
the dreary vaults, with portable gas-light, sirs,
About to touch the powder train, at witching hour of night, sirs,
That is—I mean, he would have used the gas, but was prevented,
‘Cause gas, you see, in James’s time, it had not been invented
And when they caught
him int the fact, so very near the Crown’s end,
They straightway sent to Bow Street for that brave old runner Townshend;
That is—they would have sent for him—for fear he is no starter at—
But Townshend wasn’t living then-he wasn’t born till arter that.
So then they put poor
Guy to death, for ages to remember,
And boys now kill him once a-year, in dreary, dark November;
That is—I mean his effigy, for truth is strong and steady—
Poor Guy they cannot kill again, because he’s dead already.
Then bless her Gracious
Majesty, and bless her Royal Son, sirs—
And may he never get blown up, if to the Throne he comes, sirs;
And if he lives, I’m sure he’ll reign, so prophesies my song,
sirs—
And if he don’t, why then he won’t, and so I can’t be wrong, sirs.
- Johnson Ballads 2539
A new Speech for the
5th of November on the Downfall of Guy Fawkes
Broadside: Printed and sold by D. Batchelar, opposite the Refuge for the
Destitute, Hackney Road, London
Good gentlefolks, pray
Remember this day,
Which to your kind notice we bring;
Here's the figure of sly
Old villainous Guy,
Who wanted to murder the King:
With powder a store,
He bitterly swore,
As he skulk'd in the vault to prepare,
How the Parliament too,
By him and his crew,
Should all be blown up to the air,
So please to remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder treason and plot;
We know no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
But James, very wise,
Did the Papists surprise,
Who plotted the cruelty great;
He guess'd their intent,
And Suffolk was sent,
Who sav'd both the kingdom and state,
With a lantern was found
Guy Fawkes under ground,
And quick was the traitor bound fast;
They said he should die---
So hang him up high,
And burn him to ashes at last
Then please to
remember, &c.
So we, once a year,
Go round without fear,
To keep in remembrance the day;
With assistance from you,
To bring to your view,
Guy Fawkes again blazing away!
While with crackers and fire,
In the fullest desire,
In his chair he thus merrily burns;
So jolly we'll be,
And about may you see
Of this day many happy returns.
So please to remember,
&c.
Then halloo boys!
halloo, boys! shout and huzza!
Halloo, boys! halloo, boys! keep up the day;
Halloo, boys! halloo, boys! let the bells ring!
Down with the Pope, and God save the Queen!
Hurrah!hurrah!hurrah!
Who Rolled the Powder
In?
A lay of the Gunpowder Plot
[“Upon this the
conversation dropped, and soon afterwards Tresham departed. When he
found himself alone, he suffered his rage to find vent in words.
“Perdition seize Them!” he cried:” I shall now loose two thousand
pounds, in addition to what I have already advanced;And, as Mounteagle
will not have the disclosure made till the beginning of November, there
is no way of Avoiding payment. They would not fall into the
snare I laid to throw the blame of the discovery, when it takes place,
upon their own indiscretion. But I must devise some other
plan.””- Ainsworth’s Life and Times of Guy Fawkes.]
They’ve done their
task, and every cask
Is piled within the cell:
They’ve heaped the wood in order good,
And hid the powder well.
And Guido Fawkes, who seldom talks,
Remarked with cheerful glee—
“The moon is brigit—they’ll fly by night!
Now, sirs, let’s turn the key.”
The wind without blew
cold and stout,
As though it smelt of snow—
But was’t the breeze that made the knees
Of Tresham tremble so?
With ready hand, at Guy’s command,
He rolled the powder in;
But what’s the cause that Tresham’s jaws
Are chattering to the chin?
Nor wine nor beer his
heart can cheer,
As in his chamber lone
He walks the plank with heavy clank,
And vents the frequent groan.
“Alack!” quoth he, “that this should be—
Alack, and well-a-day!
I had the hope to bring the Pope,
But in a different way.
“I’d risk a rope to
bring the Pope
By gradual means and slow;
But Guido Fawkes, who seldom talks,
Won’t let me manage so.
That furious man has hatched aplan
That must undo us all;
He’d blow the Peers unto the spheres,
And throne the Cardinal!
“It’s time I took
from other book
Than his a saving leaf;
I’ll do it—Yes! I’ll e’en confess,
Like many a conscious thief.
And on the whole, upon my soul,
As Garnet used to teach,
When human schemes are vain as dreams,
‘Tis always best to peach!
“My mind’s made
up!” he drained the cup,
Then straightway sate him down,
Divulged the whole, whitewashed his soul,
And saved the British crown:--
Disclosed the walks of Guido Faweks,
And swore, with pious aim,
That from the first he thought him cursed,
And still opined the same.
Poor Guido died, and
Tresham eyed
His dangling corpse on high;
Yet no one durst reflect at first
On him who played the spy.
Did any want a Protestant,
As stift as a rattan,
To rail at hom ‘tainst priests at Rome—
Why, Tresham was their man!
‘Twas nothing though
he’d kissed the Toe
Abroad in various ways,
Or managed rather that his wife’s father
Should hear the blame and praise.
Yet somehow men, who knew him when
He wooed the Man of Sin,
Would slightly sneer, and whisper near,
WHO ROLLED THE POWDER IN?
Moral
If you, dear youth, are
bent on truth
In these degenerate days,
And if you dare one hour to spare
For aught but “Roman Lays:”
If, shunning rhymes, you read the Times,
And search its columns through,
You’ll find perhaps that Tresham’s lapse
Is matchedby something new.
Our champion John, with
armour on,
Is ready now to stand.
(For so we hope) against the Pope,
At least on English land.
‘Gainst foreign rule and Roman bull
He’ll fight, and surely win.
But—tarry yet- and don’t forget
WHO ROLLED THE POWDER IN!
Old Guy Fawkes
Hurrah
for our bonfire,
Oh pile it up high,
For tonight-yes tonight!-
When it blazes up bright
A traitor must die!
How he’ll crackle and burn,
Our-jolly old Guy!
In the middle we’ll throw him,
No mercy we’ll show him,
The Traitor must die!
Go, old Ragamuffin,
Don’t stop to ask why,
You know that the reason,
Was Gunpowder Treason!
So, burn till you die!
- 19th Century Calendar
