Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes,
'twas his intent
to blow up the King and the Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below,
Poor old England to overthrow:
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and a burning match.

Holloa boys, holloa boys, make the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
Hip hip hoorah!

My thoughts on the day, from a 2001 NRO column, are here. Actually, my NRO article is less about the Guy Fawkes case itself than about A Treatise of Equivocation and juror nullification.

Some background on English Catholics' legitimate resistance to government efforts to stamp out their religion are in this article, on Nicholas Owen, the great builder of hiding places for priests.

To state the obvious, the Gunpowder Plot was counterproductive to efforts to protect the religious freedom of English Catholics.