There was a howling great bonfire at the back of St George's Quay.

All evening I'd had it in mind that the origins of Bonfire / Guy Fawkes Night are much older than when Mr. Fawkes made his foiled, and failed, attempt at blowing up the Houses of Parliament. 

This Saturday was three nights later than November 5th, but it doesn't matter, does it, because the (pre-) history of Bonfire Night is thoroughly mixed up.

The evening was clear and dry with a full moon and a brisk wind.

I doubt all those pallets were beyond repair and I found it hard to suppress the thought that enough softwood was going up in flames to keep two woodstoves going every evening for 2 - 3mths, or more.

Yes, it's the moon.

Although most people think of Samhain (click for loads of info), as being on 31 October and related to Halloween, it's probably more accurately dated at 6 November and it's called all sorts of things, ShadowFest, Martinmas, Old Hallowmas, The Last Harvest, (etc?). 

6 November for the Celts started on the evening of 5 November, because the Celtic day was a night followed by a day, (a fine cheerful way to look at things).

The Celts' celebrations probably involved some form of human sacrifice as well as the building of bonfires. The sacrificed individuals are thought to have been selected based on the taking of a specially baked cake or biscuit, one piece of which had been blackened over the bonfire. The person who chose it was burnt, though more recently that was modified to his / her having to walk over the dying embers of the fire. Either way the smell must have been very bad.

The ritual evolved again, to the burning of effigies, often of (local) criminals. During the Reformation the effigies were of the Pope, but at some point following the Gunpowder Plot in 1605, the Roman Catholic Guy Fawkes' effigy took over.