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      LONDON (AP) - "Remember, remember, the fifth of November." The
400-year-old story of Guy Fawkes and other plotters' failure to
blow up London's Parliament is traditionally marked in Britain with
this schoolchildren's rhyme, bonfires and mulled wine at fun fairs.


      But this year Guy Fawkes Day is taking on a distinctly political
flavor, as protesters inspired by the folk hero plan to march on
Parliament - though with entirely different motivations than the
17th-century activist.


      Fawkes is a household historical name in Britain for plotting
with 12 other conspirators to blow up Parliament with explosives,
assassinate King James I and install a Catholic monarch in the
botched "Gunpowder Plot" of 1605.


      The conspiracy fell apart when authorities found out about it
and caught Fawkes guarding barrels of gunpowder in the cellar of
Parliament. Fawkes was tried as a traitor, and the king's narrow
escape has been celebrated every year on Nov. 5, with fireworks and
the burning of effigies known as "guys" across the country.


      Although not widely known outside Britain, the folk hero's fight
against state power has gained traction with the rise of two modern
anti-government movements.


      Stylized Guy Fawkes plastic masks - with a clownish, sinister
mustachioed smile and features loosely based on drawings of Fawke -
have been worn by hundreds of protesters from the anti-capitalist
Occupy Wall Street movement from New York to London. And before
that, members of the international rogue group of "hackivists"
known as Anonymous had worn the now instantly recognizable masks
during protests against the Church of Scientology.


      The design of the mask originated from the comic book and movie
"V for Vendetta," which features a violent, anarchist antihero
who fashions himself a modern day Guy Fawkes and rebels against a
fictional fascist government.


      On Saturday, a group that called itself "Anonymous of the UK"
was organizing a march on Parliament and gathering support on
Twitter. It was to be joined by some protesters from the Occupy
London movement, which has set up camp outside the iconic St.
Paul's Cathedral for weeks to protest social inequality and the
excesses of the banking industry.


      It was not clear what the protesters plan to do once they arrive
at Parliament.


      Meanwhile Anonymous, which has made a name for itself by
launching cyber attacks on government and large corporate websites,
also seized on Guy Fawkes Day by backing an online campaign urging
people to collectively withdraw their money from large banks
Saturday in a bid to show their anger against the banking sector.


      In Britain, the nursery rhyme "Remember, remember, the fifth of
November/ Gunpowder, treason and plot" is familiar to most as a
warning that treason would never be forgiven.
      
      (Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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Politics and Government News

Guy Fawkes Day is taking on a distinctly political
flavor in London, as protesters inspired by the folk hero plan to march on Parliament - though with entirely different motivations than the
17th-century activist.

In UK, Guy Fawkes remembered with protests

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