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John Buchan Trivia

John Buchan Trivia Quizzes

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As well as writing a large number of adventure novels, many featuring the dashing Richard Hannay, the 1st Baron Tweedsmuir was also the Governor General of Canada from 1935 until 1940.
2 John Buchan quizzes and 20 John Buchan trivia questions.
1.
  The Thirty-Nine Steps   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
"The Thirty-Nine Steps", published in 1915, was the first of John Buchan's adventure novels to feature the character Richard Hannay. This quiz covers the book, which differs greatly from Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 film of the same name.
Average, 10 Qns, PDAZ, Jun 20 20
Average
PDAZ gold member
Jun 20 20
284 plays
2.
  Plunder with the Buchaneers!    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
If you enjoyed "The Thirty-nine Steps" by John Buchan this quiz will be easy!
Tough, 10 Qns, balaton, Jun 20 20
Tough
balaton
Jun 20 20
110 plays
Related Topics
  British Literature [Literature] (49 quizzes)

  Historical Fiction [Literature] (6 quizzes)

  Thrillers [Literature] (5 quizzes)


John Buchan Trivia Questions

1. How did Hannay escape from his flat after Scudder's murder?

From Quiz
Plunder with the Buchaneers!

Answer: He was disguised as a milkman.

He gave the milkman a sovereign in return for the loan of his clothes and milk crate.

2. Hannay's neighbor, Scudder, was an American journalist who had stumbled on an assassination plot that was to take place in London. Who was to be the target?

From Quiz The Thirty-Nine Steps

Answer: The Greek Premier, Karolides

Scudder told Hannay that after college, he had spent time traveling in Europe and made many contacts; through them, he had pieced together a plot against Constantine Karolides. Hannay had just been reading about Karolides in the newspaper that day, so he became particularly interested in the story. Scudder told him that Karolides was being targeted because he was "an honest man" who had interfered with the anarchists' plans. They weren't able to get to Karolides in Greece because he was too well protected, but they believed they could get him in England. Scudder believed that he could stop the assassination if he could just keep alive until June 15th, the day that Karolides was scheduled to be in London. Unfortunately, the group that was after Karolides knew about Scudder, and they were following him now, which was why he faked his death.

3. Where did Scudder hide his notebook?

From Quiz Plunder with the Buchaneers!

Answer: In the tobacco jar

The murderer(s) ransacked the flat but did not find it.

4. What is the ambition of the young inn-keeper Hannay meets on his first adventure in Scotland?

From Quiz Plunder with the Buchaneers!

Answer: He wants to be a writer.

Hannay confides in him and he helps Hannay on his way by misleading the pursuers.

5. Hannay planned to hide out for a while and then return to London in time to prevent the assassination. Where did he decide to go?

From Quiz The Thirty-Nine Steps

Answer: Scotland

Hannay decided to head to Scotland because he believed there would be places to hide there, and since his family was Scottish, he thought he could pass for a Scotsman. He decided on Galloway since it wasn't heavily populated. After ditching the milkman disguise he used to escape his apartment, he went straight to St. Pancras station and got on a train headed north.

6. What is the key word or words that gives Hannay the answer to deciphering Scudder's cipher?

From Quiz Plunder with the Buchaneers!

Answer: Julia Czechenyi

Scudder had given Hannay the clue since he had repeatedly said that this woman was the key to the whole plot.

7. Hannay stole a car being used by agents of the Black Stone, but he crashed it into a stream after nearly colliding with a car being driven by Sir Harry, a would-be politician. What chore did Sir Harry ask Hannay to perform for him?

From Quiz The Thirty-Nine Steps

Answer: Give a speech on free trade at a political meeting

Sir Harry helped Hannay after their near collision; he offered to take him to his house and give him a bed for the night. But when he found out that Hannay was a colonial, he talked him into giving a speech at a meeting that was taking place that evening. Sir Harry was campaigning and had lined up a speaker who had canceled at the last moment. Hannay presented the speech, pretending to be an Australian ("praying there should be no Australian there"). Afterward, Hannay told his true story to Sir Harry, and not only did Sir Harry believe him, he offered to help. Sir Harry's godfather was the Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Office, so Sir Harry wrote him a letter, asking him to listen to Hannay (who was going by the name of Twisdon).

8. How was Hannay to identify himself to Sir Walter Bullivant?

From Quiz Plunder with the Buchaneers!

Answer: Mention The Blackstone and whistle " Annie Laurie"

Sir Walter Bullivant was permanent Secretary to the Foreign Office.

9. After leaving Sir Harry's place, Hannay found himself in an open area trapped on three sides by men searching for him. But instead of escaping, he traded places with a man he found along the way. What was the man's job?

From Quiz The Thirty-Nine Steps

Answer: Road construction worker

In the chapter, "The Adventure of the Spectacled Roadman", Hannay had spotted the roadman, Alexander Turnbull, as Hannay was trying to find somewhere to hide from his pursuers (not only were the Black Stone agents looking for him, the police were also pursuing him as a suspect in Scudder's murder). Turnbull was a bit the worse for wear, as he told Hannay, because he'd been up late drinking at his daughter's wedding, and he was worried because the new road surveyor was doing an inspection that day, and he'd be in trouble because of his condition. Hannay volunteered to take his place since the surveyor didn't know what Turnbull looked like. Turnbull was apparently too much out of it to question why Hannay would do so; he just gladly turned over his coat, hat and glasses to Hannay, and he returned to his house to sleep it off. Hannay meanwhile scuffed up his boots and rubbed dirt into his skin to disguise his appearance and then set to work in Turnbull's place. The disguise worked; when agents of the Black Stone stopped and questioned him, they believed him to be a workman.

10. In the chapter entitled "The Adventure of the Spectacled Roadman", why does the roadman want to leave his work and go home?

From Quiz Plunder with the Buchaneers!

Answer: He had a hangover.

He had celebrated too well at his daughter Merrin's wedding. His name was Alexander Turnbull, otherwise known as Specky.

11. How did Hannay realize that the bald archaeologist was an enemy?

From Quiz Plunder with the Buchaneers!

Answer: He could hood his eyes like a hawk.

In the many film versions other means of recognition have been used, presumably because of the difficulty of hooding one's eyes like hawk!

12. What was the name of the house at the head of the thirty nine steps?

From Quiz Plunder with the Buchaneers!

Answer: Trafalgar Lodge

The house was on the Ruff, a big chalk headland in Kent, and had thirty nine steps leading down to the beach.

13. What was the name of the enemy vessel waiting off the coast near the thirty nine steps?

From Quiz Plunder with the Buchaneers!

Answer: Ariadne

One of the villains escapes to the Ariadne but finds she has been taken over by the British.

14. Hannay knew that the clue to catching the Black Stone was in the notebook where Scudder had written "Thirty-nine steps - I counted them - High Tide 10.17 pm". What were the thirty-nine steps?

From Quiz The Thirty-Nine Steps

Answer: A staircase from a villa to the sea

Hannay determined that the Black Stone spies were going to leave the country from some place where high tide would occur at 10:17 pm and that somehow, there were thirty-nine steps at that location. He guessed that the location was probably a remote site on the east coast and that the high tide was necessary for a boat to reach the location. A Coastguard Inspector was brought in and questioned regarding possible locations, and he mentioned the Ruff, "a big chalk headland in Kent, close to Bradgate. It's got a lot of villas on the top, and some of the houses have staircases down to a private beach." Hannay then went to the Ruff and asked a house agent to count the steps on the private staircases; sure enough, one of them had a staircase with thirty-nine steps. The house belonged to a retired gentleman named Appleton, and both he and his property appeared to be traditionally British. But Hannay knew better than to trust appearances, and he arranged for Scotland Yard to send some men to station around the property. Meanwhile, he went on a fishing trip that gave him an opportunity to see the property from the sea. He also was able to get a close-up view of a yacht that had dropped anchor offshore and realized that the officer on board was German. When he later went to the villa and confronted Appleton and his guests, he began to think that he made a mistake; the men seemed to truly be English gentleman living a quiet life. But then he noticed Appleton tapping his fingers on his knee, the same gesture that the bald archaeologist had made when he trapped Hannay in the farmhouse. He saw through their disguises and blew his whistle to alert the authorities who captured the men.

15. What is Hannay doing when he recognizes the three men at the villa?

From Quiz Plunder with the Buchaneers!

Answer: Playing bridge with them

He recognizes that Mr Appleton is the same man as the bald archaeologist who could hood his eyes like a hawk.

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