#Fawkes will burn
The creators of a Guy effigy in Durban’s Overport area hope for plenty of excitement when Mr Fawkes is set on fire.
|||Durban -Fees, Rhodes and Blade must fall, so the call goes.
But when it comes to a much more storied villain, Guy Fawkes, the punishment in mind is pre-hashtag and a whole lot more incendiary.
“Guy, Guy, Guy/ Poke Him in the eye/ Put him on the fire/ And there let him die,” according to one bonfire night rhyme.
At any rate, the creators of a Guy effigy on Felix Dlamini (Brickfield) Road, in Durban’s Overport area, hope for plenty of excitement when Mr Fawkes is set on fire on Thursday.
It’s all in the name of marketing, of course. The woman behind the six-foot Fawkes is Shakila Birjanund, the wife of a fireworks shop owner.
This year Shakila has fashioned her Guy with planks and plenty of stuffing underneath his clothing.
He is dressed in a black Nehru suit, white shirt and red tie.
His old Adidas takkies are draped with colourful material and Fawkes’s face is a horrifying monster mask.
The effigy is mounted on a wooden pedestal for balance and is tied up against the shop balcony to prevent it from being stolen.
For the past four decades, Sunrise Fireworks owner Ramesh Birjanund has been entertaining the Overport community with a fireworks display and burning of a Guy on Guy Fawkes night.
Once it is set alight at 8pm on Thursday night, the fireworks hidden inside the Guy will go off.
Birjanund said the road around the shop would be cordoned off for safety reasons during the display.
“It still is the most talked about Guy Fawkes in Durban. Mr Fawkes stands tall and proud.
“He has caused much excitement among motorists and road users,” he said.
For the edification of the hashtag generation, a short history of Guy Fawkes follows:
Guido “Guy” Fawkes ( b. 13 April 1570 - d. 31 January 1606) was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
Fawkes and others planned to assassinate King James by setting alight gunpowder they stockpiled beneath the House of Lords. They failed, and Fawkes committed suicide before he could be hanged.
The failed gunpowder plot has been commemorated in Britain since 1605.
An effigy of Fawkes is traditionally burned, followed by a fireworks display every November 5.
Daily news
* Use our Facebook and Twitter pages to comment on our stories. See links below.