Fawkes, Guy, 1570 - 1606

Guy Fawkes is the best known member of the gang which planned Gunpowder plot of 1605. The originators of the plot were Robert Catesby, Thomas Winter, Thomas Percy and John Wright. Fawkes was only brought in later by Catesby, who knew of his reputation for courage. All were Roman Catholics and their plan was to destroy James I and his Protestant parliament by blowing them up. Percy rented a house next to parliament and later the cellar below the House of Lords. There Fawkes hid thirty-six barrels of gunpowder, covering them with wood and coal. The plot was discovered when one of the conspirators sent a letter to Lord Monteagle in October 1605 asking him not to attend the opening of parliament on 5th November. Suspicions were aroused and on the night of 4th November Fawkes was arrested in the cellar. He had been given the task of lighting the fuse to set off the explosion. Tortured, he refused to give the names of his fellow conspirators until they had either been killed or captured. He was executed by hanging on 31st January 1606.

Find in the text the words that mean:

- a group of criminals;

- a secret plan to do sth.;

- destroying sth. using explosives;

- a feeling of doubt or mistrust;

- a group of people involved in a secret operation;

- to cause intense suffering to sb.

20. Guess the name of the character.