EDINBURGH EXPERT WALKING TOURS
  • Home
  • Private Edinburgh Tours
    • Customised Edinburgh Walking Tours
    • Fixed Route Tours >
      • Royal Mile Tour
      • New Town Tour
      • Old and New Towns Tour
  • About Your Guide
  • Blog
    • Blog Archive
  • Book Online
    • Tour Pricing >
      • FAQs
      • Terms and Conditions

EDINBURGH EXPERT BLOG

Remember, Remember...

5/11/2014

 
Picture
Remember, remember
The fifth of November - 
Gunpowder, treason and plot!


The infamous Gunpowder Plot from 1605 is commemorated annually in the UK with Bonfire Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Night, with effigies of hate figures (most usually contemporary politicians or celebrities) burned on bonfires, whilst fireworks illuminate the skies.

Fawkes and his co-conspirators were English Catholics who were seeking to assassinate the ruling (Protestant) monarch, King James I, along with a proportion of what they considered to be many of the corrupt lords who ran the government of the day. Barrels of gunpowder were cached in the cellars under the House of Lords in London, and Fawkes was discovered red-handed, preparing to ignite them. 

Britain was only recently being ruled by a 'united' monarch, with the political union which saw the creation of the United Kingdom not coming until over a hundred years later, in 1707. James I may have been the first king James of England, but in fact he was also James VI of Scotland, born to Mary, Queen of Scots, and ascended to the joint throne of England and Scotland following the death of Queen Elizabeth I, to whom James was second cousin.

But what role does Edinburgh play in all of this history? In fact, Edinburgh is where it all began - to be more precise, in Edinburgh Castle, where James was born, on the 19th June 1566. 

Picture
Visitors to the city today can stand in the tiny antechamber where he is believed to have been brought into the world, a small room off the bedchamber of his mother Mary, Queen of Scots.

James survived the attempt on his life in 1605, and indeed ruled the three kingdoms of England, Wales and Scotland for the next 20 years. But had the Fawkes plot been successful, how different might Britain have been, both at the time and subsequently? 

In short, the effect of a successful detonation of the 36 barrels of gunpowder would have been devastating, not just on the physical buildings of the Houses of Parliament, but on the political structure of the whole of the country. With the assassination of a Scottish-born king of England, it is uncertain if the future political union of Scotland with England would ever have happened at all. 

That's something worth remembering.

Take a private tour of Edinburgh with me to explore more of the city's history...


Comments are closed.
    Buy Me a Coffee
    Enjoy the blog but can't take a tour?
    ​Show your support and
    ​buy me a coffee!

    Picture
    Follow
    Edinburgh Expert
    ​Walking Tours

    on Facebook for
    more history, photos
    ​and stories...

    Search the blog archive...

    Categories

    All
    Architecture Of Edinburgh
    A To Z Of Edinburgh
    City Of Literature
    Edinburgh History
    Edinburgh Local Heroes
    Edinburgh's Graveyards
    Look Closer
    Museums And Galleries
    New Town
    Old Town
    Out Of Town
    Scottish History

    Archives

    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    July 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    October 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    August 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014

EDINBURGH TOURS
​Customised Edinburgh Walking Tours
Fixed Route Edinburgh Walking Tours
​​Edinburgh's New Town Walking Tour
Edinburgh's Old and New Towns Tour
Old Town and Royal Mile Walking Tour
Beyond the World's End Walking Tour​
BOOK A TOUR ONLINE
​Book an Edinburgh Tour
Edinburgh Tour Pricing
​Terms and Conditions
​Interactive Edinburgh map


CONTACT​
About Your Tour Guide
Edinburgh Expert Blog
​Frequently Asked Questions
​Telephone: +44 (0) 131 235 2351
Email: gareth@edinburghexpert.com

​© COPYRIGHT GARETH DAVIES ​2014-23
Picture
Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice Award 2023
Featured on KAYAK Travel Guides
  • Home
  • Private Edinburgh Tours
    • Customised Edinburgh Walking Tours
    • Fixed Route Tours >
      • Royal Mile Tour
      • New Town Tour
      • Old and New Towns Tour
  • About Your Guide
  • Blog
    • Blog Archive
  • Book Online
    • Tour Pricing >
      • FAQs
      • Terms and Conditions