[Picture: Guy Fawkes in Effigy]
Who comes riding hither, as black as a coal,
With matches and old tinder-box,
And holding his lantern, a figure so droll?
’Tis nobody less than Guy Fawkes!
Every parish in England formerly used to have its _Pope_ or _Guy_ carried
about by idle men and boys on the 5th of November, who usually went from
house to house, begging for money to make a bonfire and a feast. In many
of the villages near London, there used to be two or more parties of
large boys from different parts of the parish; and it frequently
happened, that when one of them thought the other had encroached, by
visiting such houses for money as were deemed out of their bounds, that
battles were fought between them. Many were lamed in these affrays, and
the treasurer to the weakest party has often been plundered of such money
as had been collected.
The people of England in general, of late years, have discouraged these
processions and riots, and they have become so insignificant, as to be
noticed only by children. But even in the present time, some idle people
will fire guns, and throw squibs into the streets, which have caused many
serious accidents; and here seems some poor creature going to