Bon Fire Songs and the Guys
Noticeably, the Victorians moved the commemoration of Guy Fawkes Night away from community centers to their outskirts. It became increasingly popular to see working-class children going to wealthier neighborhoods to beg for combustible materials, money, food, and drinks with the aid of songs.
LEWES, UNITED KINGDOM – NOVEMBER 4: Participants parade with torches through the town of Lewes, East Sussex, England. (Photo by Isabel Infantes/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Traditionally, the children often recited the famous “Remember, remember, the fifth of November, Gunpowder Treason and Plot” along the streets a day before Guy Fawkes Day or any other rhymes associated with the event. They usually carried effigies of Guy Fawkes called Guys, and requested passersby for “a penny for the guy.” Today the word “guy” is synonymous to man but was originally a term for a “repulsive and ugly person,” about Guy Fawkes’ treason.