Here at Strathclyde we love Guy Fawkes night but it seems that this year, things were more rowdy than usual. With the news reports the next day going so far as to describe a “war zone”. There were incidents reported in the media across Edinburgh and West Lothian, police and fire officers attacked with fireworks in Glasgow, fireworks being thrown at cars at a street rave in Pollock. Riot police were even called in at one incident! Thankfully, Scottish Fire and Rescue reported that whilst several crews were attacked, there were no serious injuries.
None of this is new, however. There are reports of misbehaviour ever few years across Scotland on Bonfire Night despite the authorities best efforts. It’s not difficult to understand why things often run amok. Fireworks are exciting, dangerous, and the 5th of November is itself a celebration of triumph over a treasonous plot.
But how many of you are aware that Guy Fawkes also hated Scotland? During his interrogation, when asked about why he had needed so many barrels of gunpowder, he was recorded to have said “to blow you Scotch beggars back to your native mountains”. The history of Guy Fawkes night in inextricably linked to the unification of Scotland and England under James 6th (James 1st of England). This was still early days for the Protestantism and Guy Fawkes, who converted to Catholicism in his teens, hated Scotland for being strongly Protestant. He didn’t believe that Scotland and England should be joined and believed the unification was doomed.
And here we are 400 years later still celebrating his foiled plots!
Strathclyde Windscreens are a Scottish based windscreen specialist. We offer repair and replacement glass nationally we offer services at our repair centres or we can come to you with our team of mobile fitters. If you experienced a rogue firework damage your windscreen we are here to help!
Call us: 01698 286428 | 24 hours a day / 365 days a year or email: info@strathclydewindscreens.com
Image: “Fireworks Edinburgh Hogmanay 2011” by Caspy2003 is licensed under CC BY 2.0
