Bye Plot
Preserved but no longer current.
This was a plot hatched in 1603 by a Catholic priest, Watson, who worked up a number of Catholic gentry to secure the person of James I and force him to grant toleration to Catholics and Puritans. The plot was muddled and mismanaged from the outset, Watson was beheaded, his fellow conspirators were imprisoned or banished.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Bye Plot” mean?
This was a plot hatched in 1603 by a Catholic priest, Watson, who worked up a number of Catholic gentry to secure the person of James I and force him to grant toleration to Catholics and Puritans. The plot was muddled and mismanaged from the outset, Watson was beheaded, his fellow conspirators were imprisoned or banished.
Is “Bye Plot” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.