The Walking Dead, Episode 204, Cherokee Rose

Sorta annoying.  It’s a zombie series. As a result, really don’t care much about character or plot development or even story line for that matter.

I’m thinking Lori peeing on a stick was having more fun than watching much of last night’s episode☺ That said, I’m really thinking Lori wished she had a clothes hanger and a Bic Lighter to take care of that annoying pregnancy thing – oh, that’s really bad – gonna burn ‘fer sure ‘fer that one☺ Wasn’t it just last week when Lori was weighing the benefits of letting Jr. croak and bemoaning the insanity of raising a child in zombieland? How’s that for a swift kick in the pants?  I’m hoping her predicament presents the opportunity for Rick to finally find out about Shane – that boy definitely needs to go.

The search for Sophie is dragging on way too long and continues to leave me wondering why her mother Carol never seems to go out and look for her own daughter?

I’m thinking throwing the zombie in the well was a last minute, "throw the less sophisticated viewers" (such as myself) a bone. The only surprise came when Glenn was in the well and I expected that it would be the rope and not the pipe that would break. ‘Tho I must admit, the dude getting ripped in two was sorta funny.

Am however glad that Glenn and Maggie got themselves some – other than axing some walkers, it’s the only productive thing to do during the zombie apocalypse.  Speaking of which, they missed a golden opportunity to throw in a couple of undead either before, during, or after the two did the nasty.

Andrew Lincoln (Rick) seems to be doing more than his share of over-acting.  His character definitely needs to get rid of the Sheriff's outfit.

Daryl continues his climb to be the most compelling character on the show.  Is he down to his last cross bow arrow (bolt)?  Sidebar: did you know that Norman Reedus – a.k.a., Daryl Dixon, played Murphy MacManus in the Boondock Saints sequel?

In any event, anxiously awaiting next week’s triumph return of our good ‘ol friend Merle…

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

As many know, today is the anniversary of the November 5, 1605 Gunpowder Treason Plot, also known as Guy Fawkes Day (and also known as the Catholic Gunpowder Plot).  Briefly, the plot involved a group of Catholic conspirators led by Robert Catesby who plotted to blow up King James I and the English House of Lords on the opening day of Parliment by detonating 36 barrels of gunpowder placed in the cellar underneath the Parliament building.  While many today choose to view this attempted insurrection as a noble yet failed revolt against an oppressive government, we need to recall that the whole episode took place in the middle of the European Wars of Religion and that the intent of the plot was not to remove the monarchy and replace it with a benevolent ruler, but rather to restore a Catholic monarch to the English throne.

Fawkes was described as "a tall, powerfully built man, with thick reddish-brown hair, a flowing moustache in the tradition of the time, and a bushy reddish-brown beard," who was a "a man of action ... capable of intelligent argument as well as physical endurance, somewhat to the surprise of his enemies.”  Because of his extensive military experience, Fawkes was chosen to light the fuse that would detonate the gunpowder on the opening of Parliment, and to then escape to Europe.

Map of Parliament showing "Guy Vaux" location of the gunpowder.

Cellar beneath the House of Lords.

Let there be no doubt, Fawkes was a true-believer in the cause of assassinating the King.  He was up to his nose in the entire conspiracy.  Indeed, Fawkes described King James I as "a heretic", who intended "to have all of the Papist sect [Catholics] driven out of England."

Anonymous letter revealing the existence of the plot
(author never reliably established).

As these things go, an anonymous letter was sent to a nobleman informing of the plot.  During the early morning of November 5, 1605, Guy Fawkes, dressed in a cloak and hat, and wearing boots and spurs was discovered in the cellar near the barrels of gunpowder.  He was arrested and an investigation ensued.  That subsequent inquiry identified the various conspirators who were  hunted down and some were killed, although it appears that for the most part, Fawkes kept his silence despite extensive torture.

The trial found many of the participants guilty of high treason.  The condemned were sentenced to a brutal death: "put to death halfway between heaven and earth as unworthy of both". Their genitals would be cut off and burnt before their eyes, and their bowels and hearts removed. They would then be decapitated, and the dismembered parts of their bodies displayed so that they might become "prey for the fowls of the air."

Engraving of eight of the thirteen conspirators,
Fawkes (Guido Fawkes) is third from the right.

On January 31, 1606, Fawkes and three conspirators were dragged from the Tower of London.  Fawkes watched as his fellow conspirators were brutally executed.  As he climbed to the top of the gallows, he jumped from the scaffold breaking his neck.  His body was nonetheless quartered and limbs sent to the corners of the Kingdom.

A 1606 etching depicting Fawkes's execution

Here’s the traditional English Fifth of November poem (c. 1870):

The Fifth of November

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!

(note that it ain't an homage to Guy Fawkes)

[P]ut to death halfway between heaven and earth as unworthy of both". Their genitals would be cut off and burnt before their eyes, and their bowels and hearts removed. They would then be decapitated, and the dismembered parts of their bodies displayed so that they might become "prey for the fowls of the air.