Keith Obermann on his Odd Ball show segment last night said guy Fawkes was really Guido Fawkes and name shortened to Guy

do i smell an Italian or Papist plot in the Gunpowder affair?

Guido? tell me it's not so

Guido Fawkes Day just doesn't sound as good as Guy Fawkes Day

Papist plot, I'm afraid, Pal - one of many against King James 1st & 6th. Fawkes was the poor sap they actually caught in the cellars (smoking match, I suppose!), although Catesby & the rest were rounded up in due course.

thanks - the show also said that the gunpowder had been in the cellar too long to really cause any havoc??

Yes, it was a conspiracy of some Catholic extremists with no real plan for what would happen if they actually got away with it. Fawkes, as far as anyone knows, had served as a soldier in Spain (then the leading Catholic power, and seen much the way we looked at the USSR in the 50s), hence he signed himself Guido. But it was a home-grown conspiracy, supposedly aimed at achieving toleration for Catholics (huh?!). You can work up modern parallels as you wish.

There are huge books about the whole thing, and some argue that the powers-that-be knew about the hotheads and deliberately let them get as far as possible to ensure they got no sympathy when the plot was officially discovered.

He was born Guy, and adopted Guido while fighting for the King of Spain.

Isn't 'Guy' a French name?

As for the gunpowder, there was at least one TV documentary on the 400th anniversary that went into all the mechanics, and their expert said the terminology used meant that it wasn't suitable for use in guns, not that it had lost explosive power.

They built a mockup of the building with various models to represent the various dignitaries and the same amount of gunpowder in the appropriate place, and blew it up. The King's head turned up about 100 yards away.

So it might have worked, but if it had, the conspirators don't seem to have much idea what to do beyond bringing in a cousin of the King as a puppet monarch to proclaim rights for Catholics. It doesn't seem to have occurred to them that all those shredded parliamentary dignitaries might have left a few disgruntled relatives behind.

Why i wonder is Guy Fawkes Day celebrated with fireworks, etc. if he was such a dastardly fellow?

Or is it only celebrated in say Catholic areas?

I think the celebration is that the plot was foiled.

The ooposite - it's an anti catholic celebration - Guy gets burned in effigy. As does the Pope in some places (eg Lewes).

The fireworks refer to the gun powder.

since they burn the "Guy", he is hardly being celebrated

Was posting the same time as Cholmondley