Black Powder

by Ally Sherrick

‘This is not quite the same as the birthday trip I had planned for you back in November.’

  Tom lifted his shoulders and smiled. ‘It doesn’t matter. Have you seen Mother? Did she tell you the news about Uncle Montague?’

  His father sighed. ‘Yes, but I understand the King values his friendship; so let us hope his confinement will not be a long one. Although’ – the shadow of a smile played over his lips – ‘I believe that the gaol cells of noble prisoners are more comfortable than mine was . . . Still, we will make time to pray for him on our crossing to France.’ He held the battered prayer book up. ‘Your mother gave this to me. I understand it’s been on quite a journey?’

  Tom flushed. ‘Yes.’

  ‘You must tell me about it once we have set sail. What have you got there?’ He pointed at Tom’s fist.

  Reluctantly Tom uncurled his fingers.

  His father raised an eyebrow. ‘How did you come by that?’

  Tom traced a fingernail over the bird’s diamond eye. ‘A soldier gave it to me.’

  ‘I see.’ His father frowned. ‘And was he an honourable man?’

  The ache started up in Tom’s chest again. He shrugged. ‘I don’t know. He did bad things, but some good ones too.’

  His father’s frown melted into a smile. He ruffled his hair. ‘Then he is human, like the rest of us.’ He pressed his fingers back over the ring. ‘Keep it, son. In memory of the good.’

  Tom nodded. He opened the pouch and dropped the ring inside.

  Somewhere back on land, a church bell tolled the hour. One o’clock. He shivered. A shadow passed across the deck. He glanced up. A black shape arrowed through the sky above them.

  ‘What’s that?’

  His father shaded his eyes. ‘A falcon, I think. Although I’ve never seen one so close before.’

  They watched for a moment as the bird tumbled through the air then swooped up again on the sea breeze. Tom felt his father’s hand warm on his shoulder.

  ‘France lies just across the water.’ He pointed to the horizon beyond the harbour walls. ‘A new start for us all, Tom.’

  Tom glanced at his father quickly, then looked away. ‘Won’t you miss William?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Being so far from where he is buried.’

  His father’s eyes clouded, as if remembering. He gave a deep sigh and shook his head. ‘William is always close to me. I carry him here.’ He placed his right hand over his heart. ‘Along with you and your little brother.’ He smiled.

  A gurgling sound rang out behind them. Tom turned. His mother approached carrying Edward in her arms. His stubby fingers clutched the model of the merchant ship Tom had carved for him with Father’s knife.

  ‘Here, look after your baby brother for a bit.’ She handed Edward to him. ‘Your father and I have much to talk about.’ She linked arms with his father and tugged him away.

  Edward chortled and buried his face into Tom’s chest. ‘Look, Ned. A falcon.’ He lifted him up and pointed, but the sky was empty.

  The bird had gone.

  About the Book

  Black Powder is a story. But like all stories, it contains truths as well as fiction.

  The Gunpowder Plot was a serious attempt by a band of desperate men to blow up King James I of England, members of the royal family, the King’s ministers and his bishops and Parliament too. If they had succeeded, they would have changed the course of Britain’s history.

  The idea for the story was first sparked by a visit I made to the ruins of Cowdray Park, a Tudor palace on the edge of the town of Midhurst, in West Sussex. During my visit, I discovered that a certain Mr Guy Fawkes had worked there as a footman, when a young man.

  I was intrigued. And it didn’t take long for a whole bunch of ‘What ifs?’ to start buzzing around inside my head. What if, years later, Guy Fawkes returns from his time as a soldier abroad and stashes a secret supply of gunpowder at Cowdray? What if, when he comes down from London to collect it for use in the plot he and his friends have planned to blow up the King and Parliament, he has a chance encounter with a young boy who has arrived at Cowdray on a desperate mission of his own? And then, what if he agrees to take the boy to London with him?

  I knew very little about the Gunpowder Plot, except the brief outline of the story I had learnt years ago at school. But the more I researched it, the more I realized it had all the elements of a brilliant adventure story – some of which you really couldn’t make up if you tried!

  To tell the whole story – or what is known of it – would need a different kind of book. But here are some of the more interesting facts about the people, places and events featured in Black Powder and one or two confessions about what I have invented in order to tell my tale of Tom and the Falcon.

  People

  The Plotters

  There were thirteen plotters in total, but, to avoid things becoming confusing, I’ve featured only the key ones in my story.

  Guy Fawkes (1570–1606) was born in York into a family of mixed faith. He was baptized a Protestant, but converted to Roman Catholicism as a young man. His family crest included a falcon and it was this that inspired me to give him a gold falcon-headed ring and to have him encourage Tom to call him ‘the Falcon’. He was a man of many identities in real life too.

  After serving for a short time in the Montague household as a gentleman servant, he became a soldier and learnt how to light a ‘slow train’ of gunpowder – a skill which earned him his crucial role in the Gunpowder Plot. Although at first Tom is afraid of the Falcon and not sure he can trust him, as events unfold and he learns more about him, he comes to admire him for his bravery. The real Guy Fawkes earned just such a name among the men who fought alongside him. Even King James was impressed by his strength and self-control at his interrogation. Guy Fawkes had a reputation for being strongly committed to his faith and was convinced that killing the Protestant King was best for both his fellow Catholics and the whole country too. He was fanatical and misguided, but it is hard to deny his courage. In my story, he confesses after a few hours of torture in return for the guarantee of Tom’s father’s life. But in reality he held out for several days.

  Guy Fawkes was recruited into the gang of plotters by their leader, the charismatic Robert Catesby (circa 1572–1605), known as Robin by his friends. Catesby had been involved in earlier plots and it was he, not Guy Fawkes, who was the mastermind behind the Gunpowder Plot. He used religious arguments to justify his actions, and refused to put a stop to the plot when another of the plotters told him that their plans had been discovered. His foolhardiness contributed to the plot’s failure.

  Thomas Percy (circa 1560–1605), who goes by the false name of ‘Harry Browne’ in my story, was a poor relation of the Earl of Northumberland. Another convert to Catholicism, he was energetic and clever but also ambitious and regarded by some at the time as ‘a dangerous knave’, having killed a man in his youth during a skirmish. ‘Harry Browne’ is the enemy of the Falcon in my story, although there is no basis for this in real life.

  Lords and ladies

  The Montagues were a wealthy, influential Catholic family who, in spite of their religious beliefs, managed to keep in favour with both the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I and her successor, King James.

  Their country seat was at Cowdray but they also owned Montague House in Southwark, London. Cressida is my own invention, but both Tom’s ‘Uncle Montague’ and ‘Great-Granny’, Magdalen, Viscountess Montague (1538–1608), really did exist.

  Although Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury (1563– 1612), is a shadowy figure in the story, he is as crucial to the events in it as he was to the solving of the Gunpowder Plot in real life. Cecil was chief minister and spymaster to both Queen Elizabeth and then King James. He was known to his enemies by a number of nicknames, including ‘the hunchback’ and ‘the fox’, but in truth, he was a brilliant and clever statesman who was prepared to go to sometimes extreme lengths to create political stability in England. One of
the tools that helped him was the network of spies and informers he controlled. He posted men like Solomon Wiseman and Mister Mandrake (although they are my inventions!) across the country and abroad to gather evidence of intrigues, plots and assassination attempts on the King.

  It has been suggested that the Gunpowder Plot itself was devised by Cecil to flush out Catholic troublemakers and to put an end to Catholic chances of gaining equality and toleration. But this has never been proved, and it’s not something that happens in my story.

  King James I of England and VI of Scotland (1566– 1625) was intelligent and politically very clever, but his own behaviour definitely fanned the flames of the plot. Before he came to the English throne, he appears to have made certain promises – including to Thomas Percy (‘Harry Browne’ in my story), who eventually became one of the plotters – that he would show toleration to the English Catholics. Some Catholics even thought mistakenly that James was about to convert to Catholicism. James worried about his own safety, and for good reason. Within the first year of his reign in England, two plots against the new King – one led by Catholic priests seeking greater religious toleration – had been uncovered. When new anti-Catholic laws were introduced by the King’s Parliament in 1604, it convinced the plotters, led by Robert Catesby (‘Robin Cat’ in my story), of the need to act.

  Priests

  Catholic priests, and in particular the Jesuits, had been outlawed during the reign of Elizabeth I. They were accused of working with the Pope and the Catholic King of Spain to prepare the way for a Spanish invasion of England, and put a Catholic replacement on the throne. If captured they were put to death as enemies of the state. Although King James made peace with the Spanish in 1604, Catholic priests were still seen as a source of unrest and were again outlawed. Robert Cecil, who disliked the Jesuits, built a case against them that they were behind the ‘Powder Treason’ and several of them were tried and executed as a result.

  Places

  The settings in the story are, in the main, based on real locations. In one or two instances, I have made things up to suit the story – for example the street layouts in Tom’s home town of Portsmouth on the south coast of England. And although Tom and the Falcon travel over two nights and days to London from Cowdray, it would in all likelihood have taken even longer. Travel by horse and cart in those days, on badly rutted roads, was very slow.

  Cowdray House was once one of the greatest mansions in England, visited by King Henry VIII and his daughter, Elizabeth I. Sadly, in 1793, it was destroyed by fire and is now a ruin, although thanks to a recent renovation project, you can visit it. You can still cross the causeway as Tom did and see the gatehouse and ruins of the Buck Hall; but the tunnel used for smuggling the Catholic townsfolk to the chapel and where the Falcon stores the gunpowder is my invention.

  London was by far the most important city in England and a dangerous one too. The Clink in Southwark was a notorious gaol where Catholic prisoners, including priests, were held. So it would have been highly likely that both Tom’s father and Father Oliver would have ended up there once captured.

  London Bridge was the only bridge across the River Thames in those days. Like Tom, in the story, everyone had to pass beneath the mouldering heads of so-called traitors, stuck up on the south gate as a warning to those thinking of committing treason; the heads of Guy Fawkes and some of his fellow plotters ended up on spikes there after their execution. The only other way to cross the river was by ferries or smaller boats called wherries which zigzagged across its murky depths between different sets of stairs on each bank – the equivalent of stops on the London Underground today.

  The tunnel which Robin Cat asks Tom to help excavate remains one of the many mysteries linked with the true story of the Gunpowder Plot. There is no clear evidence it existed. However, in my version of the tale, I have suggested it did and that the plotters, many of whom were tall men, needed a boy’s help in digging it.

  Tunnel or no tunnel, the final place the gunpowder was brought to was a storeroom belonging to a house (John Whynniard’s house) located in the heart of Westminster, beneath the House of Lords where the King was due to open Parliament on Tuesday 5 November.

  Finally, Tyburn, near present-day Marble Arch in London, was the site of public executions from the late twelfth until the late eighteenth century. There is a memorial to the Catholic martyrs who died at Tyburn in nearby Tyburn Convent.

  The Gunpowder Plot

  The events in my story happen much quicker than they did in real life, occurring over a few days rather than over the many months of the real-life plot.

  I have tried to follow the history of what is known about the plot as much as possible, but there are a number of things I have made up for the sake of the story. For example, it is believed that the gunpowder was brought by river to its final location from wherever the plotters sourced it, and not by road. The real stash of gunpowder was also found to be damp when the plot was discovered, most likely due to poor storage conditions, although historians say it would probably still have exploded if Guy Fawkes had ever managed to light the fuse. Of course, in my story, Tom and Cressida soak the gunpowder with river water. And it is because Solomon Wiseman forces the children to lead him to the cellar that Guy Fawkes is captured. Whereas in real life, he was taken prisoner after the King’s men spotted a tall stranger lurking near some piles of wood and barrels in a cellar under the House of Lords around midnight on 4 November.

  A mysterious letter, possibly written by one of the plotters, was sent to at least one Catholic lord – Lord Monteagle – warning him to stay away from the opening of Parliament on 5 November. It supposedly played a big part in helping to alert the authorities about the plot – although some historians believe Cecil may already have known about it and had the letter written himself as ‘evidence’. However, in my story, it is Lord Montague who is the recipient of a letter which Tom then manages to destroy.

  In late January 1606, Guy Fawkes and the surviving plotters were found guilty and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered – a grisly but common end for all traitors.

  Afterwards

  The ‘Powder Treason’ backfired in more ways than one. As a result of it, English Catholics suffered great persecution and hardships for centuries to come.

  And starting from the day the plot was uncovered, people burnt bonfires on 5 November to celebrate its failure and the saving of the King’s life. They have done so ever since, often burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on top of the flames.

  Every year, on the night before the state opening of Parliament by the British monarch, the cellars beneath the Palace of Westminster are searched by members of the Yeoman of the Guard (‘Beefeaters’) in a ceremony marking the thwarting of the plot which, had it succeeded, would have changed the face of the country for ever.

  And the events are also commemorated in the famous rhyme: ‘Remember, remember, the fifth of November, Gunpowder Treason and Plot.’

  Were the plotters wholly bad men? Tom puzzles on this himself when he thinks about his friendship with the Falcon. To help you make up your own mind, here are some suggestions for more reading and possible visits you can make to find out more about the Gunpowder Plot and the people caught up in it.

  More Information

  Read

  • Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot by Peter Brimacombe (Pitkin Publishing 2009)

  • www.bbc.co.uk/history/the_gunpowder_plot – BBC web pages on the Gunpowder Plot

  • www.gunpowder-plot.org/ – website of The Gunpowder Plot Society

  For adults

  Antonia Fraser’s book The Gunpowder Plot: Terror and Faith in 1605 is an excellent historical account which is also a page-turning read and one I am much indebted to for the facts which lie behind my own story.

  Visit

  • Cowdray House, Midhurst, West Sussex – home of the Montagues. www.cowdray.co.uk/historic-cowdray/

  • The Tower of London – where Guy Fawkes was tortured and impri
soned after he was captured. www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/

  • The Clink Prison Museum – built on the original site of one of London’s most notorious prisons. The Clink is where Tom’s father is taken after his arrest. www.clink.co.uk/

  There are also a number of National Trust properties with links to the Gunpowder Plotters including Coughton Court, Baddesley Clinton and Lyveden New Bield. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/

  Acknowledgements

  If an author is very lucky, the seed for a story may blow in their direction and plant itself in their head. But it requires the care, nurturing and hard work of a whole bunch of other people for it to take root and grow into a published book.

  Black Powder has been very lucky to have so many loving and green-fingered gardeners to help it thrive and bloom. Without further ado, my sincere and heartfelt thank you to:

  My parents, George and Beryl Burt, and my sister, Elisabeth, for providing the essential compost of bedtime stories and make-believe games in the garden, all bound together by a huge dose of unconditional love and support.

  The many wise teachers and tutors who have, over the years, raked the soil and provided the fertilizer of inspiration, wise words and sound advice including: Mrs Branson, Mrs Laub, Judith Heneghan and Vanessa Harbour. And Lady Antonia Fraser for her excellent book on the Gunpowder Plot which was my bible and guide on what happened and when in the real plot – all historical inaccuracies and inventions are my own . . .

  My many dear friends – you know who you are! – and fellow writers and early readers – Cath, Jill, Lizzie, Sharon, Barbara, Patty and Shelley – who kept the soil moist and aerated with a generous watering of interest, encouragement and critical feedback.

  My wonderful publishers at Chicken House and in particular Barry Cunningham for spotting the first green shoots of something he thought might be promising; Rachel Leyshon, Kesia Lupo, Esther Waller, Sue Cook and the rest of the editorial and production team for their nimble-fingered weeding, training of the tendrils and pruning of wayward stalks and stems; and Rachel Hickman, Jazz Bartlett, Laura Smythe and Elinor Bagenal for planting Black Powder out in the sunshine and giving it the chance to bloom.