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NEIGHBOURHOOD NOTES

A Saintly November Collage

Following on from October's Hallowe'en with its tricks and treats, November starts with All Hallows, better known as All Saints' Day. It's a church festival in honour of the saints col­lectively. There just aren't enough days in the year to go round them all! Some of our local Celtic saints, such as St. Dubricius and St Weonard hold more interest for me than the better known ones. November 2 nd is All Souls' Day com­memorating the faithful departed.

Just over four hundred years ago in 1605, Guy Fawkes was attempting to blow up the Houses of Parliament when King James I would be present. We still recall this event on November 5 th with the traditional bonfire and fire­works, often burning an effigy of Guy Fawkes. Was Guy a terrorist or even a saint as he died for his faith? Parliament today has a strong police presence to protect it from a modem terrorist threat. History repeats itself. Following the capture of Fawkes, the gun­powder plotters fled to the Midlands. Robert Catesby was shot on November 8 th whilst trying to escape and Fawkes, along with seven others, were sentenced to death.

The schism between Catholics and Protestants continued long af­ter the Gunpowder Plat and even to recent times in N. Ireland. There was an Act in 1778 enabling Catholics to own land and the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 removed many other constraints including some discrimination. Recusancy, the refusal to attend services of the C of E. ceased to be a crime in 1791. Joan Fleming Yates has written about the local Catholic Martyrs in the Ross-on­-Wye Civic Society Pink Publication No 12 and also Recusancy in her excellent book "The River Running By".

This year the Remembrance Day actually falls on the date of the Armistice in 1918-11 th November. Will politicians ever learn? Those who died gave their lives, like the Saints, for a cause.

Hopefully, we might see an Indian Summer (as they call it in the U.S.A). This is a period of summer-like weather which can occur in autumn. In the U.K. it is known as " St. Martin's Summer”.

The month closes with St Andrew's Day on the 30 th . As the col­ourful leaves of autumn start to fall thick and fast, it won't be long before St. Nicholas, Patron Saint of Children, known to most of us as Santa, will be packing his bags for delivery on the 25 th Decem­ber. Well, it's time now for the 'Saints to go marching on'.

G.S.W.