A primer on Guy Fawkes Day

SUSAN Spano’s article on the Gunpowder Plot [“England’s Dark Intrigue,” Nov. 2] should be required reading for all British schoolchildren. Many of them don’t seem to know the significance of bonfire night on Nov. 5. When I was a child, the adults in the area where I lived organized a big bonfire, and every year a man came out of his house to throw a symbolic bucket of water on it as it was about to be lighted. I will refer to your article to enhance sightseeing opportunities.

Avril O’Donnell

Oxfordshire, England