'Guy Fawkes was among a group of disaffected Catholics who sought to destroy the king and the government. Although it is Fawkes we remember today, it was actually Robert Catesby who led the plot.'

By Andrew Chapman

Please to remember, the fifth of November
Gunpowder treason and plot
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

And so it hasn't. Yorkshireman Guy Fawkes was born in 1570, but more than 400 years later his name is still remembered - albeit not very favourably.

The context is Jacobean England, with a culture still at a high point in the wake of the death of Queen Elizabeth I. Literature and exploration. (Try out some authentic Jacobean recipes if you're hungry.)

This was a time of religious upheaval in England, ever since Henry VIII had asserted himself head of the church rather than the Pope, thus creating the Anglican schism from Catholicism.

Guy Fawkes was among a group of disaffected Catholics who sought to destroy the king and the government. Although it is Fawkes we remember today, it was actually Robert Catesby who led the plot.

Fawkes was a mercenary who had fought in the Spanish Army, and was the one who got caught, hiding around 36 barrels of gunpowder underneath the Houses of Parliament.

The plot was foiled because one of the group, Francis Tresham, apparently warned his uncle, Lord Monteagle, not to turn up to the opening of Parliament.

To this day the vaults of Parliament are searched whenever a new session begins. The conspirators were brutally hanged, drawn and quartered, and the word 'guy' has ever since been used to mean 'ridicule'.

The warning is clear to anyone contemplating treason. The tradition of a 'penny for the guy' (an effigy of Fawkes) is a 19th century one - before then, it was traditional to burn an effigy of the Pope.

Anti-Papal traditions go back 50 years before the Gunpowder Plot, and are remembered particularly in the small Sussex town of Lewes.

The word 'bonfire' actually comes from 'bone fire', a phrase with particular resonance to the Protestants of Lewes, many of whom were burnt at the stake in the 1550s under the orders of the Catholic Queen Mary.

Fawkes and his confederates significantly harmed the cause of Catholicism in England. Clearly a guy with a lot to answer for.

Even though firework related accidents are on the decrease, with just over 1,000 reported last year, if you're going to celebrate the day yourself with fireworks, please follow the Firework Code:

• Buy fireworks marked BS 7114
• Keep fireworks in a closed box
• Follow the instructions on each firework
• Light them at arms length using a taper
• Stand well back
• Never go back to a lit firework
• Never put fireworks in your pocket
• Never throw fireworks
• Light sparklers one at a time and wear gloves
• Never give sparklers to a child under five
• Keep pets indoors

The history of fireworks is a subject in itself!