Tintin Forums

Some post-Christmas lethargy seems to have set in! If nobody minds I'll try and give the quiz a kick-start.

Where in the Tintin series is a reference made to a festival that is only celebrated in the UK and Commonwealth?

I have one example in mind which I think is unique, though if anyone suggests any others they will be welcome to receive a point.

Ed

The clue is that the reference is made by Haddock, and that it does not appear in the original French version.

Ed

On page 56 of Prisoners of the Sun, Haddock protests that he won't be the guy on the Incas' bonfire, just before making his failed escape dash. Although "guy" is written with a lower-case g, this is clearly a reference (put in by the English translators) to Guy Fawkes and the 5 November festival of Fireworks Night (also known as Bonfire Night, Guy Fawkes Night - or Plot Night in some parts of Britain). This festival celebrates the failure of a Catholic plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605 at the state opening of Parliament, an act which aimed to kill King James the 6th & 1st (6th of Scotland, 1st of England) and his family along with the MPs. (Details of the historical events and background can be found on many websites). However, I don't know whether this is commemorated across the Commonwealth as well as in the UK, so it may not be the festival you had in mind.

For non-UK Tintinologists, maybe I should clarify that the real Guy Fawkes (the most famous of the Catholic plotters) wasn't executed by being burnt - he and his co-conspitators were gruesomely hanged, drawn and quartered. Haddock's reference is to the traditional practice of burning home-made efigies of Guy Fawkes on the bonfire on Fireworks Night. However, in recent decades, there's been a decline in the practice of burning Guy Fawkes efigies at this festival, so maybe today's British child readers of Tintin might not pick up on Haddock's reference so easily. I'd guess this decline of Guy-burning is due to a modern unease at the anti-catholic hatred behind this act, and I think that most council-run or community Fireworks Night events simply centre on a big fireworks display, with most of us giving little thought to the violent religious sectarianism at the historical root of the festival. There are exceptions though, such as the town of Lewes in East Sussex (again the web can provide more info).

Anyway, is that the festival you had in mind, Ed, or should we keep looking?

Balthazar
Guy Fawkes (the most famous of the Catholic plotters) wasn't executed by being burnt - he and his co-conspitators were gruesomely hanged, drawn and quartered.

I imagine that current Health and Safety legislation would have a thing or two to say about that - someone might get hurt!

For those disappointed with that, as if it wasn’t quite bad enough, you might like to know that part of the punishment was having your entrails removed and burnt before your eyes - not quite a bonfire, but enough to be going on with, especially if you were on the sharp end, I’d imagine…

And although many seem to think otherwise, the “drawing” was not the removal of your entrails (drawing them out, as it were), it was being dragged on a hurdle through the streets to the execution place.

Congratulations Balthazar, that's it exactly. Your turn for the next question please.

Ed