>>Narrator: Stories From Parliament: The Gunpowder Plot - Part 1
[Music]
>> Danby: This is not my story. I’m Will Danby. You won’t find my name in the history
books. I was just a servant you see... just a man who lit fires and poured wine for his
master, Robert Catesby. You will find his name in the history books.
I don’t care what they say about him he was a good man... brave... determined... strong...
I was proud to serve him. But he was guilty... they were all guilty.
I knew what they were planning and said nothing. Told no-one. So perhaps I was guilty too.
[Knock at door]
>> Danby: They first came to my master’s house in Lambeth, in London town, on the evening
of 20th May 1605.
[Door creaks open]
>> Wintour: Let us in, Will. We have business with your master.
>> Danby: This way Sir. Master Catesby is expecting you.
Three of them I recognised. Thomas Percy, John Wright and Thomas Wintour, but one was
a stranger, a dark haired man who seldom spoke.
>> Fawkes: Guy Fawkes Master Catesby. I am pleased to meet you.
>> Catesby: Welcome, Master Fawkes. I have heard much about you. I am glad that you could
join us. Will… serve wine to these gentlemen.
[Clink of glass and pouring wine.]
>> Danby: Nobody notices a servant. When you’re a servant it’s like being invisible. So
sometimes you hear things… things you’re not supposed to hear.
>> Wintour: The treatment of our Catholic Church gets worse every day Master Catesby.
>> Percy: The new King James fears and hates us much as Elizabeth did.
>> Wintour: Our priests are still in hiding and our people fined and jailed.
>> Fawkes: Even put to death if they refuse to accept the new religion.
>> Percy: We must take action against the King. I am prepared to do it. For my faith
here today I draw my sword against the King.
[A sword being drawn.]
>> Wright : And I.
[Another sword is drawn.]
>> Wintour: And I.
[Another sword is drawn.]
>> Catesby: And I.
>> Catesby: And you master Fawkes. Will you draw your sword against the King? What do
you say?
>> Fawkes: I say that we have to finish this persecution for ever so that all Catholics
can be free to worship in peace.
>> Catesby : Answer my question Fawkes. Are you prepared to kill the King?
>> Fawkes : The King… the Government, the Lords and every protestant tyrant who denies
our freedom and spits on the church… we have to kill them all.
>> Catesby: Kill them all? And how would you propose to do that Master Fawkes?
>> Fawkes: Gunpowder, Sir. Thirty barrels of gunpowder in a cellar under the House of
Lords. The state opening of Parliament. They’ll all be there. The King and all our
enemies in one room. Then all it takes is a match. One single Match. One tiny spark
and… (whispers) bang. All gone.
[Music]
>> Danby: And that when I should have said something. That’s when I should have told
someone. But I didn’t. Over the next few weeks a plot started to
take shape.
>> Wintour: We have the gunpowder Master Catesby.
>> Percy: Fawkes has purchased thirty-four barrels. Enough to blow the whole place to
a million pieces.
>> Wintour: We’re bringing it across the river in small boats. A few barrels every
night.
>> Percy: A cellar has been hired under the House of Lords. I have the keys here. It’s
the perfect place for the gunpowder.
>> Wintour: The state opening of Parliament is to be November 5th and our thirty-four
barrels will be in place. That will be the day gentlemen. November 5th will be our day.
>> Percy: We’ll need matches and slow burning torchwood so our man can light the fuse and
still have time to escape before the whole place explodes.
>> Catesby: And who will be our man? Who will be the one to light the fuse?
>> Fawkes: I will do it gentlemen.
>> Catesby: Master Fawkes. You are prepared to do this? You are sure?
>> Fawkes: I am sure, it will be an honour.
>> Danby: On November 4th – the night before the attack – I dreamt of Guy Fawkes. In
my dream he was walking through the cellar under Parliament with his lantern and his
matches.
[Echoing footsteps]
In my dream I saw him stand before the barrels of gunpowder and light his fuse.
[A spark and the crackle of burning]
I heard a mighty explosion and felt the heat of the fire on my face.
Then I awoke. I was trembling. I knew I should tell someone… warn the king of this terrible
thing which was about to happen. But to my shame I did nothing.
They were all guilty. And I was guilty too. That night I tried to pray but could not find
the words.
[Drumbeats]