Boston Pope Night Carts

OriginEdit

Guy Fawkes Day, more commonly referred to as Pope Night in the American colonies, celebrated the foiling of a 1605 plot to blow up Parliament and the king in Britain. Young men and older boys constructed a wagon that displayed moving effigies of the Pope, the Stuart Pretender, various devils, and political enemies—basically a parade float. The youths dressed up in various ways: as devils, in tall pointed caps, some as women. They paraded through town to collect money from various homeowners and finished the night with an informal outdoor banquet and a bonfire of all but the most valuable pieces of their floats.

In Boston, however, there was a big difference, as the city was large enough to form two large groups of young men and teenagers (over 4,000 young men according to the 1765 census). As a result, a rivalry and violence occurred. There was always an inevitable battle between supporters of the crown and leaders of independence movements. As a result of one clash, a young Bostonian boy suffered fatal injuries in 1764.

A history of Pope Night in Boston can be read here.

EffectsEdit

When separated, demon-like figures manifest and torture people in the surrounding areas. The figures try to find a person to reconnect the carts with each other, during which they will gain a brief surge in power and then deactivate.