Americans React: Lewes Bonfire Night | Britain's Wildest Guy Fawkes Celebration
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- Опубліковано 26 лис 2024
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In this video, we react to the Lewes Bonfire Night-Britain’s most intense and unique Guy Fawkes celebration! We were amazed by the wild mix of huge bonfires, the Procession of Crosses, epic fireworks and so much more that make Lewes stand out. We were also shocked to learn that this event holds multiple meanings. Not only does it commemorate Guy Fawkes Night, but it also honors the 17 Protestant martyrs, adding a significant historical aspect to the celebration.
Join us as we explore what makes Lewes Bonfire Night so legendary and why it’s known as the most intense way to mark the 5th of November in Britain!
Thanks for watching! If you enjoyed this Lewes Bonfire Night reaction, please give the video a thumbs up, share your thoughts in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe as we continue exploring all things British and Irish.
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Guys, I love your channel , but please, for all of our sanity ...when you pause the video , go back 5 seconds before resuming ...there are countless occasions where you ask what things are, but have just missed it by pausing and not going back ....all you have to do is press the left arrow once on your keyboard .....much love, keep up the good work ❤
It's something that they've always done but, you are right, a little bit of computing knowledge wouldn't go amiss in the longer run. It would certainly add value and go to making their output more enjoyable 👍
Pubs aren’t always just places to drink. Pubs are usually the heart of the community, especially in small villages. We used to arrange girls nights out and trips and alsorts. The bonfire is where you always burn the Guy. You’ve never looked in to Irelands history if you think there has been no separation between Protestants and Catholics
My Irish family had issues with my R Catholic dad marrying my Protestant mum, and they were in Wales at the time! I have to say my R Catholic side was more fun!
That's one of the major things people often don't understand about the difference between US culture and British culture. In America the centre of the community is the Church. In Britain the centre of the community is the pub.
Once every factory had a bar assoiated with a "working man's social club". The club might have a kitty (cash amount held by a trusted member) into which a member paid his "subs" each week and the club would every month or two organise trips in a charabang (motorised coach) . Trips to the seaside, or to France, or even to bonfire night in Lewes.
The bar served beer at a lower price than the pubs. Wholesale prices almost. The Sports clubs especially rugby clubs were another way to get cheaper beer and at late hours. You had to pay membership for it to be loegal.. nbyyht tius wa offten day membership.
Any street collection is begging if its for a charity you can hold a "flag day" but only aznbvout once or twice per year.
Kid's penny for the guy was just overlooked by the cops i think
Social clubs also in prisons (for the guards or 'screws') also hospitals the portrers social club at guy's hospital lklomndpon being a pativcularly fine example beingg repurposed from a motuary if i recall, correctly
The mlitary had their version the NAAFI bar.. My Dad (WW2 vet) had a song
""Won't you please put a penny on the drum (pom pom pom)
Won't you please put a penny on the drum (pom pom pom)
We only need a tanner to buy a new pianner*
so
Won't you please put a penny on the drum (and he did)"
We only need a tanner to buy a new pianner = just 6d more and we could buy a new piano.
The social clubs, a fact of life for anyone who was young in the '80's. probably all gone now.
Can you corroborate or correct?
Think of pubs as Facebook with booze
Many pubs also have football teams which compete in local pub leagues.
Lindsay and Steve, all I will say is don't try to understand or over think this particular event as it is not typical of a Bonfire Night celebration and is unique to that particular part of the country, which is steeped in specific tradition or events to that area which even I would struggle to understand. A bit like events such as the cheese rolling, wellie wanging...sometimes it's best not to ask or question and accept we're a crazy bunch 😃😃
haha! Great reminder :)
@@reactingtomyroots just while we’re in the midst of all the fireworks going off, the fog and smell is something to remember. There are hundreds, if not thousands of fireworks going off around me right now and there’s smoke blowing through the air. The smell is one of my favourite parts of firework night, controversial. I know you have fireworks in the US, particularly 4th of July, but in a densely populated area it’s pretty intense and a sight to be seen.
Don't forget the shin kicking contest in the cotswolds lol
@@janolaful Oh yes I'd forgotten the shin kicking contest 😃 As well as bog snorkelling and of course just up the road from me in the next county The Gurning Championship Competition at the Egremont Crab Fair. 🤪
@@LukeCaddyUKI agree, I love the smell of bonfire night, reminds me of my childhood when we had bonfires on the streets and had to go chumping for wood, branches and even sofas for our own, it was a competition for who had the biggest one x
Steve and Lyndsey, three (3) events are being commemorated at the Lewes Bonfire Night: 1) Bonfire Night and the execution of Guy Fawkes; 2) The Execution by burning at the Stake of the 17 Martyrs; 3) ‘Remembrance Day’, which is officially on the 11th of November, not the 5th of November.
The Execution by burning at the Stake of the 17 Martyrs, was an event that happened after the death of King Henry VIII, in 28th January 1547. When his eldest daughter Mary Tudor became Queen Mary - known as “Bloody Mary” because of the numbers of people she had gruesomely tortured and killed. She tried to revert England back to Catholicism, with the aid of the Pope in Rome and his followers in England.
When people refused to convert to Catholicism, she set about a ‘reign of terror’ gruesomely torturing and killing people, in order to convince them to convert to the Catholic region. The 17 Martyrs are 17 Protestant Christians who refused to give up the Protestant Christian religion, and were burned publicly in front of hundreds of people on huge woodpile fires.
This earned Queen Mary the name “Bloody Mary”, and fuelled hatred of Catholics, the Pope in Rome (who was believed to be behind the ‘reign of terror’ campaign) and Catholicism in England.
When Queen Mary died on 17th November 1558, at St James's Palace in London. Her younger half-sister Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne, and ended the ‘reign of terror’, re-established the Protestant Church of England, and re-established peace and safety in England.
She did not, however take revenge on the Catholics. But the Catholics, tried to overthrow her numerous times. The Pope in Rome sent assassins to kill her, and King Phillippe of Spain sent the Spanish Armada, to invite England and overthrow her. The Spanish Armada was defeated, and England remained Protestant Christian in religion.
When Queen Elizabeth I died 24 March 1603, she was succeeded to the English thrown by King James I, he also maintained the Protestant Christian religion.
It was in another attempt to kill an English monarch, and force England to become a Catholic country, and the Pope in Rome. The ‘Gunpowder Plot’ to blow up Parliament in London, and kill King James I, was devised by English Catholics with the knowledge and agreement of the Catholic Pope in Rome.
The ‘Gunpowder Plot’ to blow up Parliament in London, and kill King James I, ultimately failed. Guy Fawkes and the other conspirators were arrested, toured, and executed. This event is commemorated by Bonfire Night. Bonfire means “Happy Fire”, in which the effigy and symbols of the hated Catholics are burned, including that of the Pope in Rome. Who was ultimately the cause of all of these decades of suffering and troubles.
Mary became Queen after the death of her younger brother Edward VI, but close enough.
@@ivylasangrienta6093 How long did be live? He's not important in the story . Mary Tudor was the one who tried to convert England to Catholicism setting in motion all of the subsequent events.
Lady Jane Grey came in between, but close enough lol
@elleneastment9388 I don't count her. She was never crowned.
James I was also, and already, James VI of Scotland.
Talking about pubs, they are the meeting point of the local community. The pub quizzes are always a very busy night.. darts club, golf club, games night, karaoke, bingo... the list is endless.. all good fun.. and it brings people together...
You should check out the festival of Up Helly Aa .. the Viking festival up on The Shetland islands.
It's not celebrating the preservation of the British State, though. It's a bit Norse.
Yes they should definitely do that, they’d love it!
…it gets live streamed by the way
@@marieparker3822 what is the british state were we not invaded by the vikings who raped and pillaged and probably left their DNA
We've been recommended this a bunch. We'll look into it! :)
Welcome to Britain, where the wicker man is a documentary.
👹👻
Greetings from Lewes! I've lived in Lewes all my life and the bonfire celebrations are always a highlight of my year. Sadly I was working this evening so missed a lot of the festivities :(. Its great to see you guys taking such an interest in our culture, keep up the good work!
Lewes one in a lifetime experience, you get an idea of what it’s like watching videos but it’s nothing like the real thing. Hard to explain just how crazy it is
It was crazier back in the 70's !
@@mystified1429 yeah that is true and it’s only because of the wokeness of recent times. Still great though. The one thing that has definitely changed for the better is firework displays. Always great and difficult to choose which one in Lewes is the best for watching.
Try not to overthink while you are watching. You can always research later. They actually explained what was what,but you can’t talk and listen at the same time. Rab😊
Pubs can have all sorts of clubs. Bowling, fishing,etc. along with sports teams, darts teams, pool teams, dominos, etc.
Catholics were just as fond of burning protestants. Mary I (Bloody Mary) accounted for about 280 whilst, overseas in Holland, the English Biblical scholar William Tyndale was burnt at the stake in 1536. The Spanish Inquisition burnt 30,000 - 50,000 Protestants. The Lewes event is a very medieval experience.
I'd say it has an almost pagan feeling
Christians have been burning each other since at least the 5th century and murdering pagans since the 3rd. Lovely people, the Christians.
The inquisition killed 32,000 in total, very many of them Muslims and Jews, there were not many Protestants in Spain.
And Mary I actually killed very few people on religious grounds compared to her father and brother.
No one suspects the Spanish Inquisition
The Spanish Inquisition burned about 2,000 people - not all of them protestants. That is far fewer than the people, mostly women, who were executed in the European witch craze of the early seventeenth century.
It might interest you to know that Thomas Paine was from Lewes, he was involved in the writing of the American Constitution. I lived in Lewes for may years, it is a very pretty and historic town famous for its castle, for the Battle of Lewes in 1264, for Lewes Priory which was destroyed by Henry VIII in the disolution of the monasteries and for Anne of Cleves House gifted to her by her husband Henry VIII after their short marriage.
When i was a kid, sitting outside a shop with a Teddy dressed up and ask "penny for the guy" and people wud give u change, its classed as begging these days.
I remember potatoes wrapped in tin foil and placed on the end of a small bonfire in the back garden and enjoyed the fireworks around us that others were doing ❤
Penny for the guy and penny for the lantern at Halloween, when your lantern was a turnip you carried by a string.
Happy days.❤
I remember those days too
I remember trick or treating years ago we used to get money plus sweets
Sounds like my childhood as well ❤
And a cup of Bovril.
It’s an absolute privilege to have fire works thrown at me……. Britain 😊
I bet he goes cheese rolling too.
And skinny dipping in the sea on New Year's Day.
Lindsay, you are a sharp observant woman, your observations are fab, thank you
I just found out that there will be a live stream of the events happening tonight in Lewes if you wanted to watch it.
That's awesome! Thanks for letting us know :)
7:20 man in pointy white hat surrounded by burning crosses... and it's all just good natured fun. God I love the UK sometimes for nonsense like this.
Yeah exactly, elsewhere that scene would be a very dark one.
😂
@@1justme It *is* a very dark one - it commemorates 17 people being burnt alive for their religious beliefs.
The barrels symbolise the barrels of gunpowder.
Lewes is a small town and more martyrs were burned in Lewes than anywhere else. They were tried in London but burned in their home towns as a warning to their family and friends.
Sussex by the sea!
@@rjjcms1 Lewes is inland
17 martyrs
@@juneseghni Sussex has a coast, your point is?
@@juneseghniit's close enough that the Ouse river is tidal.
I'm from Brighton (10 miles from Lewes) - I've still never been to Bonfire Night there. It's definitely intense! Especially when you compare it to Lewes the other 364 days of the year (it's lovely)
When I was a kid we took weeks building our bonfire! There were about 7 families with kids in our street, so you can imagine how big our bonfires were.
As a kid in the 70s we always had a bonfire and fireworks night for family (and any friends/guests) in our back garden each year. The local Round Table organised a public bonfire night on the nearest Saturday to 5th November in our local park (Cassiobury Park) with a huge bonfire and firework display,and crowds of people making their way along the paths to and from it amid the greenery in the dark.
That was the excitement of it for me, but I suppose nowadays unless it can be sold and marketed in a shop it doesn't mean the same!
That would have been an awesome experience--very memorable I'm sure. :)
@@reactingtomyrootsI loved bonfire night when I was little, our own bonfire on the street, hot dogs, jacket potatoes and Yorkshire parkin to eat, we even had mischievous night on 4th November where we used to knock on the neighbours doors and then run away, think this was only a Leeds (or Yorkshire) thing though, good times lol xx
I just found out about this from my girlfriend who is from Brighton. I moved here a few months ago and live near Lewes. What a coincidence. Now this is recommended to me.
I lived in East Sussex for about a decade and went to Lewes for bonfire night a few times, it was a lot of fun, I wasn't involved in any bonfire societies but did play for my local pubs pool team which is a common thing all over the UK, so we'd travel all over East Sussex playing other teams and one thing I will say about the area, pub culture is very strong and there are lots of really excellent pubs, in Brighton and Hove where I lived, one of the councils advertisement slogans said you could go to a different pub every day for a year in Brighton and Hove, and I always found they had more old traditional, unmodernised pubs than most of the UK, but it's been about 15 years since I lived there, really great area though.
The 17 crosses remember the 17 Lewes Martyrs who were burned alive in 1557, and yes Mary I is otherwise known as Bloody Mary.
Hi guys!
I'm new to your channel, and this caught my eye as l was lucky enough to attend Bonfire night in Lewes 2013 with my then 14 year old daughter.
We travelled all the way from Melbourne, Australia.
It was one of the best nights ever.
We spent a month in the UK.
Individual pubs can have a culture. They might have a rugby team or darts team for example. I know that still happens near where I am.
im my local pubs goalkeeper for the pub league
One of our locals is home to the local mountain rescue team and also a ukulele group so quite a diverse crowd
That's awesome!
I remember when I was small (60-70 years ago!!) we had toffee apples and apple bobbing. We held sparklers which nowadays you can't do. All the villagers congregated at a farm and had the bonfire, Guy Fawkes was burnt. Children built a guy stuffed with paper/straw etc and dressed in old clothes. They would stand outside a shop and say "penny for the guy" and that's how they saved up to buy fireworks - parents bought the fireworks.
One year I was unwell and my father bought some indoor fireworks. Not wonderful but better than nothing. Then I watched from a bedroom window the fireworks in the sky.
People wearing poppies as it is very close to Rememberance Day - 11th November.
I live around 30 minuets from Lewes and due to how busy it can get they discourage non locals from attending. They close all roads in and out at a certain time and stop trains from stopping at Lewes station to avoid dangerous overcrowding. Many other towns across Sussex have their bonfires before the 5th so the different societies can attend Lewes.
Have you seen the Ottery St Mary tar barrels? It's a tradition that is hundreds of years old and also done on Bonfire night. People go through the streets of the town carrying flaming tar soaked barrels on their backs. It's wild and the whole town is totally packed every year!
No, we haven't but that does remind me someone had mentioned it awhile back and it had slipped my mind. We'll have to check it out!
I live in Ottery St Mary, and the tar barrels are so popular here in Devon. The whole town (very small town though) shuts down and Bon fire night takes over. Massive bonfire and yes adults and children carry tar barrels on fire through the streets. A tar barrel is also carried down to the big bonfire to light it. It’s quite spectacular.
I've learnt things about my own culture watching your videos that I never knew before or had passively wondered about. THANKYOU both of you ☺️❤️
It is in essence an English day of the dead , there are lots of things going on from commemorating the men of the Sussex Fyrd who stood and died in the shield wall opposing William the Bastard in 1066 through the Marian persecution onto the attack of Sussex men on The Somme 1916 .
Not really no. Bonfire burning was a celebration thing at all times of the year. And the commemorations are pointedly antipapist. This has sod all to do with days for the dead and the Protestants who started it would have been horrified by the insinuation when they thought prayers and masses for the dead were idolatrous.
@@SplatterInker Good I'm glad they'd be horrified , and I'm glad you disagree with my take .
Mary was the half-sister of Queen Elizabeth the First. Both were daughters of Henry VIII. Henry was Catholic when he came to the throne and married Catherine of Aragon, from Spain. Henry became Protestant in order to marry Anne Boleyn and they had a daughter Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth, who was Protestant. After Henry's son died Mary was next in line. She was determined to bring back Catholicism to England. The Protestant faith had been fairly well cemented into the British way of life and she did it with a vengeance! In her period on the throne she had burnt at the stake 284 people of all ages, male and female. Of these there were the 17 Lewes Martyrs who were burned between 1555 and 1557.
James i of England was descended from the Tudor line as he could trace his family tree back to Henry VIII's sister, Margaret. Her son was James V of Scotland. She remarried and her Grandson married Mary Queen of Scots, the mother of James VI/James I of England. Although Mary Queen of Scots was Catholic her son was raised as a Protestant and it was he who Guy Fawkes tried to blow up!
Very convoluted!
This looks fun, Tar barrels in Ottery st Mary Devon is wild, I’m just up the road and all things get boarded up, you carry the flaming barells with your gloved hands 😅🔥
3:33 The tar barrels are for the used torches to go into - rather than littering the street.
Was at the Waterloo fire site yesterday (one of the lewes society's) and they were celebrating there 60th anniversary. Fireworks display was fantastic. Can't wait for next yr
I’m just getting ready to go to Lewes bonfire night (as I live in Lewes) as a Tudor lady as I’m watching this… so so exciting 🎉
Take care and have fun! :)
Sussex! My home county! No one does bonfire night like Sussex does, WE WUNT BE DRUV!
Love Sussex.
Maybe when your country is 1000's of years old you will have your own traditions which may be strange to outsiders. We have to remember that a lot of our traditions have their roots in paganism too
Most people tonight will either set off some fireworks at home, go to an organised event or stay at home and wished it were all over. In times gone by I recall (and it may still happen in some places) people would put baked potatoes on the fire to eat with some butter, may be some warming soup, have something called Parkin (a dense spiced bar cake), eat treacle toffee, cinder toffee or a toffee apple, toasting marshmallows or bread. Also children used to make and go round with an effigy (or more like scarecrow looking) of Guy Fawkes and shout 'Penny for the guy'. Which come Bonfire Night it wold be placed at the top of the bonfire.
Please remember our pets and the wildlife tonight and over the coming days, enjoy but be safe. 🎆
I looked up "bonfire" and it means "fire of bones", I guess it makes sense back then
My family are from Lewes and previous generations have taken part in one of the bonfire societies activities. The reason it plays a huge part in my family is that one of the seventeen crosses represents one of my ancestors.
I think Somerset does things very differently, as November is Carnival season and Bridgwater Carnival is the largest in the area but many small towns also have these gigantic brightly light music festivals on wheels navigate the narrow streets
Don't forget the squibbing there, though - that's just as insane as the flaming tar barrels in Lewes and Ottery St Mary!
For 2 people who 'learned' about the gun powder plot only 24hrs previously, you are questioning what the barrels symbolise?! It was mentioned in yesterday's video about barrels of gunpowder was found 'behind' the firewood stacks! Just baffles me that you couldn't put them together, and go on about tar barrels and feathering. I went to the Lewis Bonfire only once as a child, but my Mother decided it was too dangerous after that, so we were not allowed to go.
Suffice to say we are all a little nuts over here and love and respect our amazing history and it really is wonderful to feel those connections and care that they are upheld
A hate filled country
The bonfire in Lewes is so popular that the trains stop running on the 5th to reduce the visitors.
I only live a few miles from Lewes but usually go to my village bonfire as the Lewes one is getting too busy.
My village one is also quite big with a march, fireworks and someone selling hot food.
Love processing with Southover Bonfire Society each year (except this year - wasn't well enough)... It is an amazing night. Always nice to be able to let fireworks off in the street and carry burning torches. Oh, and you missed about Bonfire Prayers after all the fireworks have gone up too :) That is an experience in itself... Anyway - just imagine seeing 6 sets of fireworks going off at once - it's amazing
there are over 50 societies across sussex, and each has its own bonfire night. the lewes societies go to other village sites.
Yes I saw them in Battle
All pubs in UK tend to have a 'friendly' rivalry with another pub/s. The 'clubs' are mostly down to the people that regularly visit a particular pub and can join the darts teams, pool team, quiz team etc. Competitions and events of all kinds can take place and are usually good fun to attend with mates or family
If I hear one more American say Celebrating Guy Fawkes night I'm gonna pull my hair out.
It's a celebration of the preservation of the British State and the defeat of the terrorists who were trying to destroy it and place Philip of Spain on the throne to restore Britain to Catholicism.
Yes, always bonfire night or fireworks night where I grew up
Chill out. It's even caller different things in different parts of the UK. My mam always called it Gunpowder plot! You need to calm down and realise just because you say/ dosomething one way, we all don't! It's like those cooking videos where people troll others because they cook something differently. Get a grip!
@@chelliebellie4443It was just as often called "Guy Fawkes Night" in my childhood (1950s and '60s).
I wonder whether the OP was querying the word "celebrating"?
I would say it is a "celebration" - a good time is had by all - and it is Guy Fawkes' Night but no one is celebrating the life or achievements of Guy Fawkes himself, rather his failure. Until the 19th century, it was decreed - by Parliament - that everyone had to celebrate annually the failure of the Gunpowder Plot on the 5th of November!
We're a morbid lot 😅😅. Love our long standing traditions and history it's pretty cool and we have plenty of it . 😊
Lewes is not a typical Guy Fawkes celebration that goes on across the rest of The UK.
The effergy they burned was Boris Johnson. He was prime minister.
Best thing for him
They should change Boris for Trump
They do make a lot of money for various charities too
The 17 Protestant Martyrs burned to death by Mary Tudor( a devout Catholic Queen )for being Protestant!
Look out for this years video and see who they chose to have as an effigy.
Have a look at Up Helly Aa for another fire festival which takes place in Lerwick, Shetland, on the last Tuesday in January every year. Up Helly Aa day involves a series of marches and visitations, culminating in a torch-lit procession and the burning of a galley.
Bonfire Societies exist across East & West Sussex.
We have ours in my hometown of Littlehampton in the last Saturday in October.
They are spread across the different towns over several weeks , so societies can attend each others.
It makes me wonder how different things would have been today had Guy & co been successful
I was just thinking that, more than likely the same but more anti-catholic?
The only bloke to enter parliment with honest intentions!
I live in Eastbourne, which is just over 14 miles away from Lewes, and I have attended the Lewes Bonfire celebration a number of times, including in marching the processions on all but one of those occasions.
Many of the towns across East and West Sussex hold bonfire celebrations on different Saturdays to each other. Lewes is the biggest celebration of all, and is always on 5 November, regardless of which day of the week it falls.
Lewes is the capital of East Sussex.
Although the roots of the celebrations are very serious, these days it is more about tradition and having fun.
Sectarianism is not a part of the modern celebration, although it still exists in Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland.
Carrying a lit torch through the streets feels so awesome. During bonfire season, you can parade at celebrations across Sussex, just about every week.
Bonfire Societies outside of Lewes are not so much based around pubs from what I recall, it is a while since I was involved.
Remember the Protestant martyrs. 🇬🇧
And just ignore all the Catholic ones right? They don't count. 😂
@@SplatterInker Could you name any?
I can only think of two.
@@Themanyfacesofego Deryk Carver. When he was arrested in 1554 Deryk Carver had been running a successful beer brewing business for eight or nine years in Black Lion Street So the first Martyr of Sussex, just 40 years old, died at the stake in Lewes on 22 July 1555. I used to drink in there back in the day but I think it has changed name now.
@@vangogh8321 Yes. Deryk Carver was a Protestant Martyr.
They put him in a barrel and were going to burn Deryk and his Bible together, but he threw the Bible, out so it would not get burnt.
Omg guys I'm from Lewes!! Each society has an associated pub, like a headquarters and meeting place mostly! I hope you get to come and see it one day, there's definitely nothing like it!! The whole town gets involved and people come from all over the country and world to see it!
Sounds like a great night out to me. Can only imagine the smell of smoke and gunpowder in the air.
I lived in Brighton in the late 1980's. My wife and I took the ten minute or so train to Lewes on one bonfire night. It is mayhem, and quite frightening!
As a child of the 80’s I remember singing, build a bonfire build a bonfire put (insert name) on the top and burn (blow) the bloody lot! Never understood as a child it was reference to Guy Fawkes and bonfire night.
A proper British pub isn't just a business, it's a community centre, like a church is a community centre.
It makes total sense for big events like this to be organised through the pub community.
When I was a kid we used to make a "Guy" out of stuffed old clothes, then push it about in a pushchair asking for "A Penny for the Guy" to collect some money to go to the sweet shop to buy some fireworks we took home in our pockets and set off when it got dark. Yes we did that as children. And yes, we played with matches. I once set my friend's hair alight by flicking a match in her direction. I put it out as well though.
Do more research - Bloody Mary, the protestant martyrs, the pope, the spanish Armada and bonfire night are not different things.
Yep it's all interconnected.
Religion dividing people since the first shaman are a dodgy shroom😉
Yep. Religion has been causing more wars than anything else. Just look at the Middle East today.
I used to live in Steyning in West Sussex, where one of the Protestant martyrs was burned at the stake during Bloody Mary's rule, as punishment for reading the Bible in English. I went to Lewes one year when Maggie Thatcher was PM, and she was burned in effigy. It frightened me how dangerous the fireworks were and I never went back.
The "tar barrels" were an old tradition in a number of the fishing villages along the south coast, but were banned many years ago because they were so dangerous: The tar was used to make the fishing boats watertight, and also used to protect the wooden houses from the weather, but the barrels the tar was stored in were useless once they were empty. So they were kept until Nov 5, rolled up the hills behind the towns, set alight and then rolled down the hills through the towns and into the sea. Incredibly dangerous, especially given that many of the houses wee built of wood and were themselves often covered in tar. The burning trolleys you could see being pulled through the streets were an "acceptable" substitute for the barrels.
Remember our little furry and feathered friends tonight and keep them safe, our poor old dog used to be terrified on bonfire night, Halloween and New Years eve, God only knows what the wild animals feel like. Lol, I think my poor old girl got some comfort as it was the only time she was aloowed in our bed to snuggle up under the duvet with us, my little dog now doesn't seem that bothered but got spooked by a really loud firework at Halloween. Would love to go to Lewes tonight but the car parking is torture, we're not far from there but plenty of fireworks to look at through the window. Take care everyone and spare a place on the couch or bed with a nice blanket for kids or pets that get nervous❤
Strangely, our cat likes to sit on the windowsill and watch the fireworks. She only gets nervous if she can't see out.
I know my late dog would be stressed to hell; it's not just bonfire night now, the morons fire them for any excuse- being going on for weeks- I always worry about the poor wildlife too, bless them
@@CarolWoosey-ck2rgme too must be horrible for the wildlife .
@@nagoranerides3150 I had a little staffy who loved them, I don't really know if she actually liked the fireworks or the sausages I cooked and decided it was worth the risk for food.
Dogs and other pets can be trained from young not to be fearful of loud repetitive noises just as Police Dogs and Horses are but if their owners are this will transfer to them. Wild animals do not appear to be overly bothered they just retreat to their dens or burrows. I've seen Foxes happily raiding bins and munching on discarded food during firework displays.
Another interesting fun video 😊, amazing festival that unfortunately I've never been to see despite driving through Lewes many times, it's only about 60-90 minutes away by car so hopefully one year will pop down to see the show
I'm sure the energy would be unreal to experience firsthand :)
@@reactingtomyrootsIt is!! It's the craziest night I've ever experienced and I used to do a 300 mile round a few times trip to experience it. 🎇🎆🧨🔥💥🇬🇧
I’m British and I have never heard of Lewes Bonfire night 🔥
what about Up Helly Aa?
I grew up in Lewes and have a long fondness for Bonfire night in the town. There is a huge history to the event, but very few people care about the religious conflict at its heart and it’s mostly an excuse to get drunk and blow up/burn stuff. When I was a girl, it was pretty rowdy, my mum would board up our letter box. I haven’t been for a few years, but feel the draw back every November the 5th.
From what I understand the tar barrels celebrate the time a magistrate read the riot act on the steps of the courts and was promptly dragged to the river and thrown in…? Lewes Bonfire has always been on the edge of being a riot!
@@CassHoskins yes, they throw a burning barrel into the river from the bridge. It’s hard to see when people are watching outside as they don’t let the public on the bridge.
I got to see it a few times from the Riverside centre, which is closed to the public on bonfire night.
When I lived in Brighton, I went on many occasions. It was hell trying to get in and out of Lewes, even with trains every 10 minutes to Brighton
been going to it since the mid 1980's....... in my younger days we would get fish and chips and quite a few pints would be had....its a great event to go to...really really busy but is family friendly
Queen Mary tried to make England Catholic again. The 17 protestant martyrs they are talking about were burned at the stake for refusing to recant their faith. This happened in Lewes which is why that is included into the bonfire celebrations
Nobody thinks about the animals but it sounds like a war zone for a night. Nuf said.
Mary was Catholic and people that burnt were Protestant martyrs
Yes if you go to East Grinstead in West Sussex you can see the graves of the Protestant martyrs
Ah, okay! That makes more sense then. We were thinking she was the Queen that was Protestant.
@@reactingtomyroots The dynamics of Henry VIII's family are a little convoluted. His son, Edward (via Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour), became King at the age of 9. When he became terminally ill at 15, there were concerns about the succession as his half-sister Mary was next in line and was almost sure to reconvert England back to catholicism (Mary's mother was Henry's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and Mary followed her religion). To avoid this, Edward declared his relative, Lady Jane Grey (her mother, Frances, was Edward's cousin), would succeed him. When Jane became Queen, Mary led a rebellion and overthrew her nine days later. As Jane wasn't Queen for long enough to be coronated, many people don't include her in the list of English monarchs. True to the prediction, Mary reconverted England to catholicism and got her Bloody Mary nickname from the habit of killing people who refused to reconvert. Over 300 people died in around five years, if Mary's reign had lasted longer, that number would likely have grown into the thousands. As she and her husband (King Philip II of Spain) didn't have children, her half-sister, Elizabeth (daughter of Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn), succeeded her. Elizabeth re-established protestantism as the state religion.
@ no, Mary was catholic - it’s very interesting I’m sure you guys would enjoy looking into it
In towns all over the world, clubs form to make the "best" contributions to carnivals and processions. From Lewes's 5th Nov, to Saville's Holy Week, to Austria's Krampus, to Mexico's Day of the Dead, and Rio's Carnivale, it is the friendly rivalry between these social clubs which make each year's event more vibrant.
You should visit the Bridgwater Carnival in Somerset celebrating Guy Fawkes. It’s a succession of floats lit up in the evening of the first Saturday in November, and the largest display in Europe. People arrive from several countries around but this year a couple from Colorado also visited - they were interviewed on tv.
Hi guys, it's bonfire night, and it's like living in the war zone so noisy with all the bangs going off, it's great when you're a kid not so much when you're older, good video guys.👍🏼
I miss sparklers.
You guys have got to react to “WW2 oversimplified” by Oversimplified
We'll look into it! Thanks for the suggestion.
I live in Lewes. When the summer holidays are over and it comes into October the members of the bonfire societies start gathering and preparing- they call it “bonfire season”.
My family is apart of the Waterloo bonfire society, even my 3yr old marches and carries a torch. It really is something, there’s nothing like it. It’s like health and safety gets thrown out of the window for the night.
Every weekend there is a march and fireworks display in the surrounding villages/towns before the big night on the 5th in Lewes.
We have attended the Lewis Fireworks twice, we stayed in Brighton on the coast and travelled to Lewis by train - this is a brilliant experience but you are standing for a very long time for the parade to pass - then move to one of the fireworks displays- an incredible night - Terry & Sylvia - 🇬🇧
LEWES ! 🙂 (Pronounced 'LOO-is').
Remembrance Sunday this weekend coming 🏴🫡
Steve listen to your Mrs lol 😂
Peace love from England ❤
Lewes is indeed great. You must check out Carnival in Bridgwater, Somerset. I had never heard of it until we moved here, it’s incredible. There are many parades but they all start with Bridgwater on the Saturday closest to 5th November. It all goes back to the end of the 19th century commemorating the gunpowder plot. There are numerous events over the week but the carnival itself is something to behold. This year there were almost 100 carts (never call them floats here) many are huge, all lit up and moving along with pedestrian participants too. When the parade is over something unique to Bridgwater is Squibbing, huge hand held fireworks. It has to be seen to believed. People come from all over the world to see it, even American
it's amazing the amount people that think we're celebrating the plot rather than it's failure
some of us are .....
@@Psylaine64So you're a religious extremist and support terrorism? Or are you just one of those ill informed people who think Guy Fawkes was just anti monarchy?
I live a few miles away and worked there for 10 years. It is an experience, and incredibly crowded given how small Lewes is. Each society has its own bonfire site
Pub means public. In small communities the "pub" is a bar, restaurant, shop, post office, town hall, emergency gathering point, etc etc etc. The centre of the community (that also has whisky😂).
I didn't get to see Lewis bonfire when I was living in East Sussex but I did get to see Battle's Bonfire. There were 3 bonfires 2 smaller each lit and parade to next bonfire culminating in the huge bonfire placed on Battle field. It was an amazing experience and I heard Lewis is even more wild. The bonfire torches and fireworks dropped in the street was startling though. The fireworks were so e of the best. These bonfires are seriously huge too. The religious divide was pretty bloody and brutal. I would definitely look at the religious upheaval of these times and Bloody Mary, Spanish Armada etc. I think Battle and Lewis were the only ones that actually do their bonfires on Nov 5 itself
You have to remember there are layers of history remembered on different dates. Celtic and pagan festivals were laid over by Christian traditions, fire festivals in particular have many meanings with modern history thrown on top. We are a very ancient country with stuff that echo through the centuries. Just love it.
My family are from Lewes by the way😀
Another big Bonfire Night is celebrated since 1888 at a village near to where I use to live called Brockham in Surrey.
Yes, my mother is from there. I'm sure we went to see the bonfire and fireworks a few times when I was young.
Sadly our local village firework display got cancelled after a small insurance claim was made and insurance then became too expensive.
Theres a video on here you should definitely see on the very famous Blackpool illuminations. It's a long running Christmas festivity. Theres tons of long 40-1 hour videos just walking the area, but they usually don't have much info. This video gives its history and lots of footage and is easy to take in at around 10 minutes.
"The History of the Blackpool Illuminations"
They're rubbish. Really disappointing.
@@Calimosh no they aren't
That effigy was not Nigel Farrage it was Boris Johnson
Yeah, we saw him but there was another one behind his that we were wondering about!
@@reactingtomyroots Maybe Jacob Rees-Mogg? He was mentioned in the video at one point. JRM was a Tory MP in Somerset up until the election this summer. He was considered the epitome of the out-of-touch southern posh twit, all about tradition and the superiority of the upper class. The media dubbed him the "honourable member for the 18th century".
They did Farage this year.
Loved the crosses on fire and the ,"Now what does that mean" because I was 100% sure it means different things to an American.
I lived in Somerset for a while and was on the pub skittles team (like ancient ten pin bowling). Many pubs have social groups associated with them. York has a FANTASTIC firework display + viking boat burning.
You should watch Bridgwater Guy Fawkes carnival it's every year on the nearest Saturday to the 5th of November which includes squibbing a unique firework only seen in Bridgwater. Over 100 large carnival carts
We sing the nursery song...
Remember Remember, the 5th of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plots,
I see no reason ,
Why gunpowder treason, Should every be forgot....
Lewes is closed on November 5th. The roads are closed, trains don't stop at any of the local stations, mainly to stop over crowding
With the transition to Net Zero, Guy Fawkes would have to have hidden a heat pump under parliament nowadays !
Pre gunpowder plot and the Tudors is a can of worms you need to go into separately . Suffice it to say some places had more reason to celebrate the plots failure than others . Lewes is fairly unique in their excesses and it's a tradition that's become a tourist attraction . Nowadays for most it's about fireworks and a bonfire mainly in organised displays for safety but some families still let off fireworks in the garden .The 11th is Rememberance day , hence the gathering at the war memorial .
Take a look at the Bridgewater Guy Fawkes Carnival for an alterative celebration in Somerset.
I didn't even know about this, and I'm British, this looks awesome, I have to go to this one year.