Oxford in twenty Objects: No. 2

Object 2: Guy Fawkes’ Lantern

October ends and fifth week looms, and the friendly frights of Halloween have been replaced by the genuine horrors of the Oxford workload. I’m confident in saying that I am not the only one who has felt overwhelmed by the success and achievement surrounding us. (You really begin to wonder what you’ve got to your name when you’re crewdating and members of the opposite team are being sconced for “breaking into an Afghani prison”.) So for our second object, here is something to cleanse any feelings of inadequacy, revel in someone else’s massive failure, and tip our hats to this week’s national holiday: Guy Fawkes’ Night.

On the night of November 4th, 1605, Guy Fawkes was caught in a cellar beneath the House of Lords along with thirty-six barrels of gunpowder. Whilst one could argue that thirty-six barrels of gunpowder on their own is not such a threat, I think the law students amongst us are aware that Fawkes’ burning lantern poised above them and ready to ignite would supply any court with evidence of intent. Now we’re all thinking how amazing it would be to see that single, everyday, object that could have so easily spun British history on its axis. Good news! It’s here in Oxford, at the Ashmolean Museum.

Robert Heywood, the son of a Justice of Peace who had been present at Guy Fawkes’ arrest, gave this iron lantern to the university in 1641.  Originally it would have had a hinged door with a window made of translucent horn, and an inner cylinder that could be rotated to hide the light (ideal for those needing to sneak unseen). However today the object is very worn and damaged due to the fact that when it was first in the Oxford Collections visitors were allowed to touch it, and who would pass up an opportunity to touch an object that symbolizes one of the most famous failed political conspiracies ever.

For Guy Fawkes however this lantern would probably remind him of wasted hours spent attempting to tunnel from a nearby house into parliament before the crew opted for renting the cellar.  It would probably remind him that one of his fellow conspirators decided it was a good idea to write a letter to his mate, Lord Monteagle, advising him to excuse himself from parliament on November 5th due to a “terrible blow” parliament might receive. But, most bitterly, it would remind him that he and his lantern’s role as human lighter had led to him becoming a symbol of national hatred, for a scheme probably concocted by another man. Destined to burn on the bonfire every year (although even in this role he was a second choice to effigies of the Pope which became more unacceptable to burn as Catholicism became more accepted) Fawkes and his lantern are symbols of why sometimes it’s just not worth trying.

Guy Fawkes’ Lantern is in the Ark to Ashmolean display (gallery 8) at the Ashmolean Museum.