Tag: literature

Today’s the Day—Answers

Here are the answers to the questions in my earlier post.

All of today’s questions are related to the date, January 28th.

Flag of Canada.
Image Encyclopædia Britannica

One

On this day, Charlemagne, the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, died in Aachen, Germany. In what century did this occur?

Answer: 9th Century

Charlemagne, an 8th-century Frankish king, united most of Europe, restored the Western Roman Empire, and facilitated a cultural renaissance. He was crowned ’emperor of the Romans’ by Pope Leo III in 800 CE.

Two

In 1813, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was first published in the United Kingdom. The novel features Mr and Mrs Bennet and their family. How many daughters do they have, and what are their names?

Answer: Five; Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine ‘Kitty’ and Lydia Bennet

Pride and Prejudice follows Elizabeth Bennet’s character development as she learns about hasty judgements and the difference between superficial and actual goodness. The novel examines the societal pressures on the Bennet family, particularly the expectation that their daughters must marry well to secure their future.

Three

On this day, a proclamation by the Monarch of Canada officially introduced a new Canadian flag. In which decade was this, and which monarch made the proclamation?

Answer: 1960s; Queen Elizabeth II

On this day in 1965, Queen Elizabeth II, in her role as Queen of Canada signed the Royal proclamation of the national flag of Canada. The hand written illuminated document on vellum had ben flown to the United Kingdom for the signing.

Four

In 1896, Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, U.K., became the first person convicted of speeding in a horseless carriage after a police chase on 28th January. At what speed was he driving?

Answer: 8mph

Guinness World Records highlights several key points about Walter Arnold’s offence. He received this first speeding ticket on January 28, 1896, for driving at 8 mph in a 2 mph zone. Arnold was charged with multiple violations, including operating a locomotive without a horse, operating it with fewer than three people, exceeding the speed limit, and failing to display his name and address. Found guilty on all counts, he was fined £4 7s, with 10 shillings specifically for speeding. Adjusted for inflation, this total fine would amount to £507 today, as of December 2025.

Five

Pippi Långstrump, a 1945 Swedish children’s novel, was first published in English in 1950. What English title was it published under, and who was its author?

Answer: Astrid Lindgren

Pippi Longstocking, a beloved children’s book by Astrid Lindgren, follows the adventures of a strong, independent nine-year-old girl living alone with her monkey and horse. The book, originally published in Swedish in 1945, has been translated into numerous languages and adapted for film and television. On this day in 2002, Astrid Lindgren died at the age of 94.

Today’s the Day

All of today’s questions are related to the date, January 28th.

Flag of Canada.
Image Encyclopædia Britannica

One

On this day, Charlemagne, the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, died in Aachen, Germany. In what century did this occur?

Two

In 1813, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was first published in the United Kingdom. The novel features Mr and Mrs Bennet and their family. How many daughters do they have, and what are their names?

Three

On this day, a proclamation by the Monarch of Canada officially introduced a new Canadian flag. In which decade was this, and which monarch made the proclamation?

Four

In 1896, Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, U.K., became the first person convicted of speeding in a horseless carriage after a police chase on 28th January. At what speed was he driving?

Five

Pippi Långstrump, a 1945 Swedish children’s novel, was first published in English in 1950. What English title was it published under, and who was its author?

Good luck! I’ll post the answers later today.

Gallimaufry IV | Answers

Here are the answers to the questions from my earlier post.

Today, more gallimaufry — ‘a confused jumble or medley of things’.

Dobby, see question two.
Image Harry Potter Fandom

One

In July 1985, Live Aid was held simultaneously at two venues on either side of the Atlantic. What were the venues?

Answer: Wembley Stadium, London and JFK Stadium, Philadelphia

Live Aid, a benefit concert held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia on July 13, 1985, was organised by Boomtown Rats frontman Bob Geldof and Ultravox vocalist Midge Ure. The event attracted an estimated 1.5 billion television viewers and raised millions of dollars for famine relief in Ethiopia.

Two

Dobby, the house-elf from Harry Potter, was in the news a couple of years ago when the National Trust asked fans not to leave memorabilia at the site of his grave at Freshwater West Beach, Pembrokeshire, Wales. What one item associated with Dobby and Harry Potter have fans been leaving?

Answer: Sock

Many fans have been leaving a sock for Dobby, referencing the fact that it was a sock Harry Potter used to trick Lucius Malfoy to set the house-elf free. Freshwater West, a ‘Site of Special Scientific Interest’, is home to large grey seals, harbour porpoises, and some of the world’s largest seabird populations. The National Trust asks visitors to leave no trace – no socks included.

Three

What creature, from Greek mythology, is being described here: ‘a creature with the head, arms, and torso of a man and the body and legs of a horse’?

Answer: Centaur

Centaurs, creatures from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse, were known for their wild nature and inhabited various regions in Thessaly and beyond. They also appear in Roman mythology and medieval bestiaries. In modern fiction, centaurs appear in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter.

Four

What song opens ‘We’re caught in a trap, I can’t walk out’?

Answer: Suspicious Minds

Mark James’s 1968 song Suspicious Minds initially failed to chart, but Elvis Presley later recorded it, transforming it into a number one hit and earning it a Grammy Hall of Fame induction.

Five

An African dictator who was in office as the President between January 1971 and April 1979 declared himself the uncrowned King of Scotland. Who was this dictator, and what country did he rule?

Answer: Idi Amin; Uganda

Idi Amin, a Ugandan military officer, ruled as a dictator from 1971 to 1979 after overthrowing President Milton Obote. His regime was marked by human rights abuses, economic collapse, and international isolation. Amin, who had become known as ‘The Butcher of Uganda’, was ousted by Tanzanian forces in 1979 and lived in exile until his death in 2003.

Gallimaufry IV

Today, more gallimaufry — ‘a confused jumble or medley of things’.

Dobby, see question two.
Image Harry Potter Fandom

One

In July 1985, Live Aid was held simultaneously at two venues on either side of the Atlantic. What were the venues?

Two

Dobby, the house-elf from Harry Potter, was in the news a couple of years ago when the National Trust asked fans not to leave memorabilia at the site of his grave at Freshwater West Beach, Pembrokeshire, Wales. What one item associated with Dobby and Harry Potter have fans been leaving?

Three

What creature, from Greek mythology, is being described here: ‘a creature with the head, arms, and torso of a man and the body and legs of a horse’?

Four

What song opens ‘We’re caught in a trap, I can’t walk out’?

Five

An African dictator who was in office as the President between January 1971 and April 1979 declared himself the uncrowned King of Scotland. Who was this dictator, and what country did he rule?

Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

Gallimaufry III—Answers

Here are the answers to my earlier post. According to the Oxford English Dictionary ‘gallimaufry’ originated: mid-16th century: from archaic French galimafrée ‘unappetizing dish’, perhaps from Old French galer ‘have fun’ + Picard mafrer ‘eat copious quantities’.

Today we have gallimaufry, ‘a confused jumble or medley of things’.

Robert Langdon, The Da Vinci Code.
Image Screenrant

One

What ’S’ is a subject in which Professor Robert Langdon specialises at Harvard in the novel and film The Da Vinci Code?

Answer: Symbology

Langdon is Professor of Religious Iconology and Symbology at Harvard University. The Oxford English Dictionary defines symbology as ‘the study or use of symbols’ or ‘symbols collectively’.

Two

What ‘S’ is the town of Freddie Mercury’s birth?

Answer: Stone Town (in Zanzibar)

Freddie Mercury, born Farrokh Bulsara in Stone Town, in the British Protectorate of Zanzibar (now Tanzania) in 1946. He spent a large part of his childhood in India, where he attended St. Peter’s School and formed a band, the Hectics.

Three

What ‘W’ does an oenophile love?

Answer: Wine

Oenophile is defined as ‘a connoisseur of wines’. Its origins are from the mid-19th century: from Greek oinos ‘wine’ + -phile. Oxford English Dictionary.

Four

What ‘A’ is the name of the submarine commanded by Gene Hackman’s character in Crimson Tide?

Answer: Alabama (USS Alabama)

The film centres on a conflict between a submarine commander and his XO over a missile launch order, mirroring a Cuban Missile Crisis incident onboard the Soviet submarine B-59.

Five

‘G’ was the first initial of the author of The Canterbury Tales. What are this writer’s first and last names?

Answer: Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer, an English poet and writer, is best known for The Canterbury Tales and is considered the ‘father of English literature.’ The Canterbury Tales, an anthology of twenty-four stories written by Chaucer between 1387 and 1400, are widely regarded as his magnum opus and a paramount work of English literature. The tales, presented as part of a fictional storytelling contest, are incomplete, with Chaucer’s intention being to write four stories from the perspective of each of the 30 pilgrims.

Gallimaufry III

Today we have gallimaufry, ‘a confused jumble or medley of things’.

Robert Langdon, The Da Vinci Code.
Image Screenrant

One

What ’S’ is a subject in which Professor Robert Langdon specialises at Harvard in the novel and film The Da Vinci Code?

Two

What ‘S’ is the town of Freddie Mercury’s birth?

Three

What ‘W’ does an oenophile love?

Four

What ‘A’ is the name of the submarine commanded by Gene Hackman’s character in Crimson Tide?

Five

‘G’ was the first initial of the author of The Canterbury Tales. What are this writer’s first and last names?

Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

Of Brownyis and of Bogolis—Answers

Of Brownyis and of Bogolis

The post title is from the epigraph in Tam o’ Shanter.

Here are the answers to the questions I posted earlier.

Today’s questions begin with a person born on this day and continue in a theme from there.

Robert Burns, engraving from A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen, 1870.
Image Encyclopædia Britannica

One

Robert Burns, the national poet of Scotland, was born in Alloway, Ayrshire on this day. In what century did he life?

Answer: 18th century

Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet, was born in 1759 to a struggling farmer. Witnessing his father’s hardships fuelled Burns’ rebellion against the social order and his satirical writing. He received some formal education and was influenced by 18th-century English writers, Scottish folk songs, and his own experiences. He died in 1796.

Two

The title character in a Robert Burns narrative poem had a horse, Maggie, which was left without a tail — ‘And left poor Maggie scarce a stump’ — who was this title character?

Answer: Tam o’ Shanter

Tam o’ Shanter by Robert Burns tells of Tam, who, after a long drinking session, rides home late at night and encounters witches and the Devil dancing in a haunted church. His drunken curiosity nearly kills him, and he escapes only by fleeing across a river, losing his horse’s tail.

Three

In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield bases his fantasy of being a ‘catcher in the rye’ on a misheard line from a song. What song?

Answer: Comin’ Thro’ the Rye

Holden mishears the lyric ‘If a body meet a body coming through the rye’ as ‘If a body catch a body coming through the rye’, and the mishearing symbolises his desire to protect the innocence of children by saving them from the loss of childhood and the corruption of the adult world.

Four

Where did Robert Burns die in 1796, and where is he buried?

Answer: Dumfries

Living in Dumfries, Robert Burns died aged 37, possibly due to a rheumatic heart condition and a bacterial infection, and was initially buried in St. Michael’s Churchyard before being moved to the Burns Mausoleum in the same churchyard. His son, Maxwell, was born on the day of his funeral. In 1834, his widow, Jean Armour, was buried beside him.

Five

What item was Burns describing with these words?

Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
Great Chieftain o’ the Puddin-race!

— Scottish Poetry Library

Answer: Haggis

The quote in the question is from Burns’s Address to a Haggis (1786) and might be translated from Scots into English as ‘Good luck to your honest, cheerful face, / Great leader of the sausage race!’.
Address to a Haggis is described by Burns Country as —

A humorous and celebratory poem by Robert Burns, addressed to a haggis, a traditional Scottish dish made of sheep’s stomach. The poem praises the haggis as a symbol of Scottish identity and culture, and contrasts it with the French cuisine of the elite.

— Scottish Poetry Library

The full text of Address to a Haggis is shown below.


‘His knife see Rustic-labour dight,
An’ cut ye up wi’ ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!’
Image Wikimedia Commons
Verse Scottish Poetry Library

Address to a Haggis (1786)

Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
Great Chieftain o’ the Puddin-race!
Aboon them a’ ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang ‘s my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o’ need,
While thro’ your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

His knife see Rustic-labour dight,
An’ cut ye up wi’ ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!

Then, horn for horn, they stretch an’ strive:
Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,
Till a’ their weel-swall’d kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
Bethankit hums.

Is there that owre his French ragout,
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi’ perfect sconner,
Looks down wi’ sneering, scornfu’ view
On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither’d rash,
His spindle shank a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro’ bluidy flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He’ll make it whissle;
An’ legs, an’ arms, an’ heads will sned,
Like taps o’ thrissle.

Ye Pow’rs wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o’ fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu’ prayer,
Gie her a Haggis!

— Scottish Poetry Library

Of Brownyis and of Bogolis

Today’s questions begin with a person born on this day and continue in a theme from there.

See question two. Robert Burns Statue,
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Image Wikimedia Commons

One

Robert Burns, the national poet of Scotland, was born in Alloway, Ayrshire on this day. In what century did he life?

Two

The title character in a Robert Burns narrative poem had a horse, Maggie, which was left without a tail — ‘And left poor Maggie scarce a stump’ — who was this title character?

Three

In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield bases his fantasy of being a ‘catcher in the rye’ on a misheard line from a song. What song?

Four

Where did Robert Burns die in 1796, and where is he buried?

Five

What item was Burns describing with these words?

Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
Great Chieftain o’ the Puddin-race!

— Scottish Poetry Library

Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

Omnium Gatherum—Answers

Here are the answers for the questions in my earlier post, Omnium Gatherum.

Today we have five random questions with no connections or related dates.

Olympic Rings in 2023.
Image Wikimedia Commons

One

In sport, where were the Games of the XXX Olympiad held?

Answer: London, United Kingdom

The 2012 Summer Olympics, held in London, featured 10,518 athletes from 206 countries. The United States topped the medal table, while Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian. The Games were praised for their organisation and the opening ceremony, directed by Danny Boyle.

Two

For what film did James Cagney win the Best Actor Oscar in 1942?

Answer: Yankee Doodle Dandy

Yankee Doodle Dandy is a 1942 biographical musical drama film about George M. Cohan, starring James Cagney. The film was a major hit, winning three Academy Awards, and was later selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Three

In what country did the artist Pablo Picasso die?

Answer: France

Pablo Picasso, a Spanish artist, was a leading figure in 20th-century art. He co-founded the Cubist movement, invented constructed sculpture and collage, and explored various styles throughout his 76-year career. Picasso’s most famous works include Les Demoiselles d’Avignon and Guernica.

Four

What sporting organisation does the abbreviation WPBSA stand for?

Answer: World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), headquartered in Bristol, England, governs professional snooker and English billiards. It devises rules, promotes global development, enforces conduct regulations, combats corruption, and supports various related organisations.

Five

An 1831 novel’s major characters include the following: Claude Frollo — the Archdeacon; Pierre Gringoire — a struggling poet; Phoebus de Chateaupers — the Captain of the King’s Archers. What novel, and who was its author?

Answer: The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (French title: Notre-Dame de Paris); Victor Hugo

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, was published in 1831. The novel, set in 15th-century Paris, focusses on the story of Quasimodo, Esmeralda, and Claude Frollo. Hugo championed historical preservation, particularly of Gothic architecture, through this work.

Omnium Gatherum

The post title —

Definition of omnium gatherum in English:

omnium gatherum
NOUN 

A collection of miscellaneous people or things: 

‘an omnium gatherum of anecdotes’


Origin

Early 16th century: mock Latin, from Latin omnium ‘of all’ and gather + the Latin suffix –um.

— Oxford English Dictionary

Omnium Gatherum

Today we have five random questions with no connections or related dates.

Olympic Rings.
Image Wikimedia Commons

One

In sport, where were the Games of the XXX Olympiad held?

Two

For what film did James Cagney win the Best Actor Oscar in 1942?

Three

In what country did the artist Pablo Picasso die?

Four

What sporting organisation does the abbreviation WPBSA stand for?

Five

An 1831 novel’s major characters include the following: Claude Frollo — the Archdeacon; Pierre Gringoire — a struggling poet; Phoebus de Chateaupers — the Captain of the King’s Archers. What novel, and who was its author?

Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.