Fairy Tales and Rhymes from Olden Times Quiz

Answer: She used a carving knife

"She cut off their tails with a carving knife.' This nursery rhyme, "The Three Blind Mice", is said to be based on Queen Mary, Roman Catholic daughter of King Henry VIII. The three blind mice are thought to be three of the Queen's Protestant noblemen.

Answer: With chalk and dough

In Grimm's fairy tale "The Wolf and the Seven Kids", the Wolf knocked on the door of the seven little kids' house, and convinced them to let him in by swallowing chalk to make his voice soft like their Mother's and by covering his black paws with the white dough that he forced the Baker to give to him.

Answer: With a poisoned comb

The wicked Queen and stepmother of Snow White in the story "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" tries to kill Snow White with a poisoned comb. Diguised as an old woman, the Queen convinces Snow White to let her enter the house and put the poisoned comb in Snow White's hair. The first attempt by the Queen was with poisoned laces, and the third attempt was with a poisoned apple.

Answer: Spain

"Rain, rain, go to Spain" is the third line of the chant "Rain, Rain Go Away". This third line of "Rain Rain Go Away" is supposedly based on the defeat of the Spanish Armada by the British. It is said the defeat of the Spanish Armada was due to the daring exploits of the British navy helped by very stormy weather.

Answer: To see the Banbury Cross

"Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross / to see a fine lady upon a white horse' is the start of this children's rhyme. There are two interpretations of this nursery rhyme, one of which claims that the "fine lady" was Elizabeth I whose carriage wheel fell off as she tried to go up the hill to see the new Banbury Cross.

The townspeople decorated a white horse for the Queen to ride and had minstrels play while she went to the top.

Answer: Pudding and pie

And the rhyme goes: "Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie, kissed the girls and made them cry'. Georgie Porgie is said to be a portrayal of the Duke of Buckingham, who was a friend of King James I of England (1586-1625). The Duke of Buckingham was also a scandalous friend of the then Queen of France, Anne of Austria (1601-1666).

Answer: Sukey

In the poem/song "Polly Put the Kettle On", the second verse starts, "Sukey take the kettle off...'. In the late 19th century, Sukey was sometimes a nickname for the name Susan. Polly was also a nickname for the name Mary.
This chant is also sung by the bird, Grip, in Charles Dicken's novel "Barnaby Rudge."

Answer: Peppers

"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers...'. Not only is this a tongue twister, but it is also considered a rhyme. The Peter Piper tongue twister was first published in an 1831 pamphlet by John Harris to teach the alphabet and elocution. Another example of a tongue twister is, "If Stu chews shoes, should Stu choose the shoes he chews?"

Answer: A Flounder

In this tale of greed, "The Fisherman and His Wife", the fisherman caught a magic flounder. The wife was not satisfied with the first wish granted by the magic flounder, which was transforming their pig stye house to a lovely hut. Instead, she greedily wished for a stone castle, then to be a King, not satisfied, an Emperor, and lastly, God. All of them came true.

Answer: He rolled down the hill in a butter churn

The wise third little pig in the story "The Three Little Pigs" escaped the wolf by buying a butter churn. When the wolf saw him, the little pig climbed in the butter churn and rolled down the hill, frightening the wolf. This third little pig had fooled the wolf twice before.

The first time he did this by going to the Fair an hour earlier then agreed, and the second time by throwing an apple from the apple tree so that the wolf chased it down the hill instead of chasing the pig.