Lost, Stolen or Strayed Trivia Quiz

Answer: his fiddlers

A fiddler is someone who plays a violin. A violinist usually plays music that has been written down. A fiddler often plays music that he has heard someone else play. This means a fiddler often plays folk music, but the two words are often interchangeable. And it is possible to be a violinist and a fiddler.

"Old King Cole was a merry old soul and a merry old soul was he.
He called for his pipe and he called for his bowl
and he called for his fiddlers three."

Answer: The Jack of Hearts

"The Queen of Hearts she made some tarts all on a summer's day.
The Knave of Hearts he stole those tarts and took them far away.
The King of Hearts called for the tarts and beat the knave full sore.
The Knave of Hearts brought back those tarts and vowed he'd steal no more"

The Queen, King and Knave of Hearts are three cards in a pack of playing cards. They are called Picture Cards.
A knave is a rogue or petty criminal.

Answer: Give her another

"Little Betty Blue has lost her holiday shoe
What shall little Betty do?
Give her another
To match the other,
And then she will walk with two."

Betty must have had two pairs of shoes, one for everyday and one for best, in other words a holiday shoe.
Once upon a time, not everyone could afford two pairs of shoes, especially as they had to be made by hand.
Many poor people had only one pair of shoes, or even none at all, so losing one of her best shoes was a calamity. She was either lucky or rich to have someone who would think of giving her another.

Answer: Ran away with the spoon

"Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon,
The little dog laughed to see such fun
And the dish ran away with the spoon."

This is a good rhyme to illustrate, which means to draw pictures of. Each line gives an idea for a new picture.
People always love riddles and there is one in this rhyme; can you tell me how a cow could jump over the moon?
The answer is to find a puddle with the moon reflected in it and jump over that!

Answer: In a Christmas pie

This, like many other nursery rhymes, has several possible derivations (places it came from). This is the one I like best: When King Henry VIII was closing the monasteries, they often owned a lot of farms and estates that the king stole. The head of one monastery gave away a lot of his properties to a friend to keep them from the King's hands. He sent the deeds of ownership to him in what looked like pie, but was only a pie dish filled with the papers and covered with a pie crust. On the way, the messenger, Jack, took a rest and decided to have a taste of pie filling. When he saw what was inside he took one paper for himself.

"Little Jack Horner sat in a corner
Eating a Christmas pie.
He stuck in his thumb and pulled out a plum
And cried, 'What a good boy am I!'"

Answer: Under a haystack

There are several suggestions about what this rhyme meant. It seems to date back to the 1500s and possibly refers to the fact that there were no hedges or fences at that time. Farm animals were inclined to stray, so children were given the job of seeing that they did not get into fields they were not supposed to enter. Boy Blue may have had a horn to call the animals back, as they would learn to return to the sound of a horn at night time or to get away from wolves.

"Little Boy Blue, come blow up your horn.
The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn.
Where is the boy who looks after the sheep?
He's under the haystack fast asleep.
Will you wake him?
No, not I, for if I do he'll be sure to cry."

Answer: Their mittens

The little kittens had no tea because that was their punishment for losing their mittens. Being sent to bed without tea or supper was a regular punishment for naughty children when I was small and there were no snacks between meals then, either.
For these little kittens it all turned out well, though, because they found their mittens and got their tea.

"'Oh mother dear, see here, see here,
Our mittens we have lost.'
'What, lost your mittens? You naughty kittens, than you shall have no pie.'
'Oh mother dear, see here, see here
Our mittens we have found.'
'What, found your mittens? You admirable kittens!
Then you may have your pie.'"

Answer: The farmer's wife

Many nursery rhymes sound cruel but they ARE only rhymes and the words are often made up just to fit the rhyme and rhythm.
Anyway, if you were being chased by mice, wouldn't you want to do something to get rid of them?
"Three blind mice, see how they run.
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tales with a carving knife.
Did ever you see such a thing in your life as
three blind mice?"
This rhyme is so old that no one really knows what it means although many people have tried to guess. One of those guesses is that it is about three bishops who annoyed a Queen of England and were punished by her.

Answer: The man in brown

This is the less known second verse of "Hickory Dickory Dock"

"Hickory dickory dare
The pig flew up in the air,
The man in brown
Soon brought him down,
Hickory dickory dare."

Some people say "Dickory, Dickory Dare". It doesn't matter which. They are both equally as good.
Many rhymes are so old that no one remembers what they really mean. It is possible that this was used to teach children to count, or tell the time. There is one other verse which goes
"Dickory Dickory Dock, the mouse ran up the clock,
The clock struck two and down he flew,
Dickory Dickory Dock." This suggests that it may indeed be part of a teaching rhyme.

Answer: Norwich

The moon has markings on its surface which can be seen from Earth.
Some people can see them as a face, others as a hare.
H.G. Wells wrote a book called "The First Men in the Moon" but the first man who really walked on the moon was the astronaut Neil Armstrong. He walked there when the Space Ship Apollo 11 landed there.

"The man in the moon came down too soon
and asked his way to Norwich.
He went by the south
and burnt his mouth
through eating cold pease porridge."