From the diary of Samuel Pepys (1663-1703)
And then about 9 a-clock, to Mrs. Mercers gate, where the fire and boys expected us and her son had provided abundance of Serpents and rockets; and there mighty merry (my Lady Pen and Pegg going thither with us and Nan Wright) till about 12 at night, flinging our fireworks and burning one another and the people over the way. -- Pepys' Diary, 14 Aug. 1666