It has always bothered me that, as the Government held a monopoly on gunpowder in the time around 1605, how was it possible for the plotters to lay their hands on 36 barrels of the stuff in the run up to the opening of Parliament?

Did they actually HAVE gunpowder, or just a load of apple barrels that fell off the back of a cart and were sold to the first gull that landed?

Were they encouraged into believing that they could organise an explosion by a sting operation in order for it all to be uncovered at the last minute and so send the country into a frenzy over Catholic plots?

Anne the Pleater :ootd: