Shiftkitty
Registered User
... the 5th of November, gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason should ever be forgot."
Apparently it wasn't. I was just washing the dishes and thinking about a book I have by my chair, the subject of which is the history of torture and execution. Quite gruesome stuff, really, and a couple of nights ago the book mentioned Guy Fawkes, and this little rhyme popped into my head. I'm sure every (or almost every) British schoolchild knows it, and being an American with a bit of an admiration for many things British, I know it. I actually learned it in grade school. Something involving Prince Charles was happening (it would have been the mid to late 70's, maybe 75 or 76) and we were doing a bit of study on England. When the teacher recited the poem after explaining the Gunpowder Plot to us, I remarked that I hadn't heard that rhyme in ages.
After class she wanted to speak to me. She was a big time Anglophile and asked where I had first heard it. I wasn't sure, to tell the truth. She talked alot about London and I said that I wished I could go "back" there. I'm sure she took this in the same way we say the Atlantic states are "back east", but I know I had meant "return".
Back to the present day, when I finished the dishes I let my mind wander, looking for something to associate with this rhyme. What I saw in my mind's eye was a young girl, maybe 7 or 8. She's a brunette with a very determined look to her face. She's rather proud of herself for having learned her lessons so well. She's in a heavy winter coat and is wearing a hat with ear flaps that ties under her chin. I can't call forth much more detail save that she's from London and is very proud of being not just from England but from the very heart of London! She's from a fairly well-off family, and as a reward for learning her lessons, she's being taken to buy a new pair of gloves. I don't get the feeling she was anywhere near royalty, but she was in the upper echelons of the common folk.
I'm going to look for a historical gallery of London to see if anything looks familiar. If this little girl was me, she's sure got a lot of what we used to call "moxie"!
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason should ever be forgot."
Apparently it wasn't. I was just washing the dishes and thinking about a book I have by my chair, the subject of which is the history of torture and execution. Quite gruesome stuff, really, and a couple of nights ago the book mentioned Guy Fawkes, and this little rhyme popped into my head. I'm sure every (or almost every) British schoolchild knows it, and being an American with a bit of an admiration for many things British, I know it. I actually learned it in grade school. Something involving Prince Charles was happening (it would have been the mid to late 70's, maybe 75 or 76) and we were doing a bit of study on England. When the teacher recited the poem after explaining the Gunpowder Plot to us, I remarked that I hadn't heard that rhyme in ages.
After class she wanted to speak to me. She was a big time Anglophile and asked where I had first heard it. I wasn't sure, to tell the truth. She talked alot about London and I said that I wished I could go "back" there. I'm sure she took this in the same way we say the Atlantic states are "back east", but I know I had meant "return".
Back to the present day, when I finished the dishes I let my mind wander, looking for something to associate with this rhyme. What I saw in my mind's eye was a young girl, maybe 7 or 8. She's a brunette with a very determined look to her face. She's rather proud of herself for having learned her lessons so well. She's in a heavy winter coat and is wearing a hat with ear flaps that ties under her chin. I can't call forth much more detail save that she's from London and is very proud of being not just from England but from the very heart of London! She's from a fairly well-off family, and as a reward for learning her lessons, she's being taken to buy a new pair of gloves. I don't get the feeling she was anywhere near royalty, but she was in the upper echelons of the common folk.
I'm going to look for a historical gallery of London to see if anything looks familiar. If this little girl was me, she's sure got a lot of what we used to call "moxie"!
