A Colourful World Miscellany Trivia Quiz

Answer: Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia

"In the blue ridge mountains of Virginia
On the trail of the lonesome pine
In the pale moonshine our hearts entwine
She carved her name and I carved mine..."

"The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" was written by Ballard MacDonald and Harry Carroll and published in 1913. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy featured it in their 1937 movie "Way Out West". They did not sing all of the words, though. Laurel mimed over a deep bass sung by Chill Wills, with the last two lines in falsetto sung by Rosina Lawrence.

In 1975, the song was released as a single in the UK and reached number two on the charts.

The Blue Ridge Mountains is a forest-covered series of peaks that are part of the Appalachian mountain range. The highest peak is Mount Rogers at 5,719 feet. Tourism is the main industry of the area. In the valleys, the main agricultural crop is apples.

As an almost perfect example of a local newspaper finding local news in even the most earth shattering events elsewhere, when the S.S. California was sunk by a German U Boat off the coast of Ireland in 1917 with the loss of 40 lives - an act that brought the USA into WW1 - a newspaper in the Blue Ridge reported that on board were 318 barrels of apples from a local woman. It noted: "Apples of this class are bringing forty-five or fifty shillings in Liverpool. Inasmuch as this fruit was insured for almost six dollars a barrel, the consignment will not prove a total loss." Well, that's all right then!

Answer: Black Forest, Germany

The question mark is important since it is not thought likely that the delicious dish Black Forest Gateau originated in the Black Forest area of Germany. It is, though, based on a German recipe for a dessert, Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte. Additionally, a confectioner called Josef Keller claimed to have invented Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte in Bonn, Switzerland, in 1915.

To make your own Black Forest Gateau, place together several layers of chocolate cake with whipped cream and cherries between each. Alcohol can be added at the mixing stage. Some bakers use rum, although for authenticity use Kirschwasser, a clear liquor distilled from tart cherries - which is known in the Black Forest area.

The name Black Forest was given to the area by the Romans, who thought the dark green foliage of the trees made them look black from a distance.

The Black Forest - the Germans call it Schwarzwald - is in the south west of the country and is a source of the River Danube, among others.

Answer: Greenland

Coming in at 836,330 square miles, 2,166,086 square kilometres, Greenland is three times the size of Texas. It is also twice the size of the second on the list, New Guinea.

Technically we are ignoring Australia, of course, since it is classed as a continent.

The first people to settle on Greenland were Inuits who island-hopped from North America around 2,500BC. The name "Greenland" was given to the island by Erick The Red, who had been banished there from his native Iceland in 982AD. Four years later, he returned to Iceland and organised a range of settlements on the island.

In the 19th Century Greenland came under the authority of Denmark. In the 21st Century Greenland is classed an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark.

Answer: Red River Valley

"Come and sit by my side, if you love me.
Do not hasten to bid me adieu.
Just remember the Red River Valley
And the cowboy who loved you so true."

This was a cowboy song that has been covered many times. It was first recorded as "Cowboy Love Song" in 1925 by Carl T. Sprague, but is thought to be much older. The earliest known written manuscript of the lyrics to "Red River Valley" date to 1879.

Sources differ on the location of the Red River Valley. Some suggest it is named after the Red River on the border between Oklahoma and Texas, others suggest it refers to the Red River in Manitoba, Canada.

Answer: Argentina

The word Argentina comes from the Latin word for silver, argentum. And while minerals are to be found there, it is more commonly known for its agricultural products, and for being the eighth largest country in the world...and for football.

The country we now know as Argentina was a colony of Spain for 300 years, but gained independence in 1816.

The reference in the question is to the song lyrics:
"By the light of the silvery moon
I want to spoon
To my honey, I'll croon love's tune
Honey moon, keep a-shinin' in June
Your silvery beams will bring love's dreams
We'll be cuddlin' soon
By the silvery moon..."

Answer: Greenwich Village, New York City

The coffee bars of Greenwich Village attracted aspiring musicians during the 'folk scare' era. They were, as Tom Paxton, one of those who cut their musical teeth there, put it "a place to be terrible and to learn from being terrible."

Among the best known music venues were The Gaslight (aka Mitchells Cafe), The Cafe Wha?, Gerde's Folk City, The Kettle of Fish, and The Bitter End. Of those, The Bitter End remained the best known still in business in the 21st Century. For many years several musicians would perform in the cafes each night, passing a hat around for audience contributions.

Located in the borough of Manhattan, the Village spread from the Hudson River Park to Broadway, and from West Houston Street to West 14th Street. Greenwich Village was home to musicians, poets and various literary types for decades, but few of the great venues remain - although a few cafes remain in McDougall Street. The area became 'gentrified' after the 1960s, and today is the location of some of the most expensive residences in Manhattan.

Answer: Lime Street Station, Liverpool

Opened in 1836, Lime Street Station was the main railway terminus for Liverpool. The station served the West Coast line between London and Scotland, with connections also to Manchester and into Wales.

The station took its name from Lime Street, a place where lime kilns had existed from 1790. If you want to put some lime paint on your walls, mix two or three parts yellow with one part blue. Lime was described by several magazines in 2022 as one of the year's biggest colour trends.

Answer: White Ciffs of Dover

"There'll be bluebirds over
The white cliffs of Dover
Tomorrow, just you wait and see..."

The song became very popular during WW2 in helping raise the spirits of the British people. It was sung by Vera Lynn.

Pedantically, bluebirds are not native to the United Kingdom, however its was said that the bluebirds were metaphorically Royal Air Force pilots battling German bombers.

The lyrics were written by an American, Nat Burton, with the music composed by his fellow countryman Walter Kent. Vera Lynn (later Dame Vera Lynn) recorded the song in 1942. It became seen as a song hoping for a brighter future at a time when Britain was fighting virtually alone, and victory was far from certain.

Answer: Yellow Sea

The Yellow Sea is an area of water between China and the Korean peninsula. The name is said to come from the huge volumes of sand that are carried into the sea from rivers on the mainland and turn the water a yellowish colour. The sea itself is shallow, with a maximum depth of about 150 metres.

To get yellow light, you need to mix red and green.

The clue in the question alludes to a hymn with lines
"O hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in Peril on the sea."

Answer: Orange Bowl

Annually, American college football teams contest the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. The first game was played in 1935. Three stadiums have been three venues, initially Miami Field, then Miami Orange Bowl and subsequently at a stadium in Miami Gardens named after a succession of sponsors.

"Eight in the box" and "forward" progress" are just two of many American Football sayings that are beloved of aficionados and baffling to everyone else.

Answer: White City, London

The first Olympic Games marathon was run in 1896 and from then the event was 25 miles in length.

For the 1908 games, a number of changes were made so that the race would start at the home of the Royal Family at Windsor Castle and end at White City stadium. In order for the finishing line to be below the Royal box, the athletes had to enter the stadium and run clockwise (rather than the usual anti-clockwise.)

This gave a total length of 26 miles and 385 yards, and this became the standardised length of subsequent marathons.

Answer: Orange County, California

The first evidence of people living in the place now known as Orange County, California, dates back 9,500 years. A number of indigenous tribes lived in villages throughout the area and there is evidence of them living by fishing up and down the coast, as well as off the natural flora and fauna.

The first Europeans to arrive were Spanish in the late 1700s. They lived by agriculture and quickly established the area as a wine-growing region. The area became part of the USA in 1848 following the war between America and Mexico.

The name Orange County was coined to attract businesses and people, and it was a good marketing move. Celebrities moved in, as well as the Disney Corporation, all adding up to an attractive place to live in and visit. By the start of the 21st Century, Orange County was he sixth-largest county by population in the USA.

The question name-checked just two of the many varieties of the citrus fruit orange, as well as the TV show "The O.C.", which was short for Orange County. In terms of this quiz, you get the colour orange by mixing red and yellow.

Answer: Côte d'Azur

Also known as the French Riviera, La Cote D'Azur in on the Mediterranean Sea and is said to have earned its name from the blueness of the water. The name was given to the area by Stephen Liegeard in his book "La Côte d'Azur" in December 1887. It was named because of the azure blue of the sea.

At that time it was a typically average French region, but became famous and glamorous when British doctors began to recommend its benign climate for patients.

It became popular among the British upper classes and aristocracy: Queen Victoria encased at the the Grand Hotel in Grasse for lengthy periods. Artists, too, were attracted to the area.

In the 1860s the spread of railways brought patrons to the casinos of Monte Carlo. If you have heard the song "The Man Who Broke The Bank At Monte Carlo", that man was Charles Wells, a noted gambler and fraudster who broke it not once but 12 times in 1891. The Casino ran out of chips, and he took home one million Francs. (In context, those million Francs, or $500,000 at the time, is the equivalent of $13m in today's money.

Answer: Mont Blanc

Mont Blanc, as the French call it, or Monte Bianco, as it is known in Italian, is the tallest mountain in Western Europe - 15,777ft (4,809m). France and Italy once disputed ownership, depending on where their border is drawn. Switzerland also lays claim to a lower portion. The summit is in France.

The mountain is known as the birthplace of mountaineering and many expeditions have practiced there before moving on to higher peaks. You can, though, walk up - it takes three days. Some daring athletes have been known to run to the top in a day. Caution: Don't do it on a whim, you must hire experienced guides. If you are particularly energetic, try walking up and skiing down. (There is also a cable car.)

On a more serious note, Mont Blanc is rated as a dangerous mountain with an average of 100 death recorded each year. It is the apparent easiness of ascent that catches people unaware. Many of the who died were not prepared for the sudden changes in weather conditions.

Mont Blanc has also featured in a number of movies, both feature films and documentaries. It appears in the James Bond movie "The World Is Not Enough". Ski scenes have featured in seven 007 movies to date, and you can view them all by searching the internet for "All the Ski Chase Scenes from James Bond Movies".

Its name comes, obviously, from the snow covering its upper reaches.

Answer: Black Hills of Dakota

In the 1953 movie "Calamity Jane", Doris Day sang:
"Take me back to the Black Hills
The Black Hills of Dakota
To the beautiful Indian country
That I love..."

The hills themselves are in western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming. They are administered as part of the Black Hills National Forest, which is 125 miles long and 65 miles wide. The name comes from the indigenous Lakota words "Paha Sapa" - "hills that are black".

The highest peak is Black Elk Peak, also called Harney Peak, at 7,242 feet (2,207 metres). The US Forest Service notes there are hundreds of plotted climbing and walking routes for people of varying skill levels.

Depictions of four US Presidents (to date) have been carved into the rocks at Mount Rushmore. The Black Hills are a popular visitor attraction. In 2022 3.6 million people visited, thus supporting more than 3,300 jobs and contributing $301.4 million to the economy of the area.