The 1605 Gunpowder Plot

Some facts and figures you may know;
In Parliament cellars deep below
The Seat of Power where Scotsman James
Would inaugurate the Stuart claims

To the throne of England post Queen Bess,
Some Catholic Plotters risked arrest,
By hiding under bales of hay
Explosives which in barrels lay:

Thirty-six vats warm and dry
To blow Parliament and King sky high
And place a Catholic on the throne ...
Saturday, November 5th is known

By school kids in their primary days
As the Guy Fawkes plot which did not blaze;
English justice never faltered
The traitors: most hanged, drawn and quartered...

1605 was long ago
But such events long shadows throw
Bonfires crackle, bright sparks fly
What's that? “ A Penny for the Guy?”

(c) Poet in the woods 2015