Meet the Willoughbys: 'Seven Scamps' Quiz

Answer: Maidie, Rex, Marjolaine, Peter, David, Dina, Tim

Maidie - real name Madeleine - is 17, the oldest of the children and in charge of the house while their father, Sir Piers Willoughby, is away. Rex is 16, and has heart trouble. Marjolaine, the next of the girls, is 14. Peter is 13, and likes to read. David is 11, and has no brain-to-mouth filter. Dina - real name Bernadine - also has health problems, and is the most conscientious of the children. Finally, Tim is 5, and the baby. None of the children go to school; the boys all have home tuition from Mr Eltringham, the curate, who they dislike.

'Chalet School' fans may recall that later in the 'La Rochelle' series, David marries Nan Blakeney, a friend of Janie Lucy, Maidie marries Rex's uni friend Cuthbert Clitheroe, and Rex marries Con Atherton.

Answer: The children sleep outdoors, and Rex, Maidie and Dina become ill

The Willoughbys decide to take some hammocks and sleep outside for a prank. Dina is reluctant to sleep outside, but goes along with it. However, she barely sleeps and ends up becoming ill, while Maidie gets a cold and Rex has a rheumatic fever relapse.

While all this is going on, Sir Piers is in Egypt, and Mr Eltringham, Dr McAllister - the family doctor and an old friend - and Mrs Welland all write to him, as do Maidie, Dina and Rex. Mr Eltringham also sends Peter and David to a local school. Mrs Welland complains that Maidie is vain and acts older than she is, and all three adults agree that she and Rex are a bad example to the younger ones.

Answer: Norway

Sir Piers meets Sigrid Lundgren and Britta in Algeria, where he falls in love with her. Britta stays with Sigrid's old nanny while Sigrid and Sir Piers go on honeymoon, and then they sail to England. Sigrid is young and nervous, and tries her hardest to get on with the Willoughby children, but they reject her. Britta immediately makes herself unpopular with the Willoughbys when she accuses Maidie of being rude to her mother, and constantly cries and tells tales.

The Willoughbys exclude her from their games in return. Britta also angers Maidie by accidentally breaking a china ornament that Maidie's dead mother gave her, and Maidie is furious and locks her out of the playroom.

The Willoughbys also drive the point home by removing all their things from the playroom.

Answer: Dina

Dina was born with one shoulder higher than the other and is sent to London for spinal surgery. Sir Piers receives a telegram from the hospital saying that Dina is due to have surgery, and he and Maidie go to the hospital to see her. Sigrid comforts Maidie and encourages her to keep her strength up, and she and Maidie grow closer as a result. Dina is in recovery from the anaesthetic, but is very weak and the doctors are concerned that she might not make it. Maidie stays with her overnight and holds her hand, and Dina pulls through.

Answer: A donkey

Peter, David and Britta are hanging out in a field on Sunday with Sancho Panza, a pet donkey Sir Piers rescued from a cruel owner. Britta reads a Kipling poem called 'Eddi's Service' and asks if animals really did go into church (because of the line 'The altar candles were lighted - /An old marsh donkey came,/Bold as a guest invited,/And stared at the guttering flame'). Peter and David decide to play a prank on Mr Eltringham, who is leading the service at their local church, as revenge for sending them to school.

The three children take Sancho Panza into the church. Unfortunately for them, Sir Piers catches them in the act.

Answer: Heather Raphael

Dina's doctor suggests the Willoughbys go on holiday to Guernsey to help her recuperate, as the air is fresher there and the local milk, butter and eggs will be good for her. They sail out to Guernsey and meet up with Janie Temple and Pollie Ozanne, who originally appeared in 'The Maids of La Rochelle', after the two girls nearly crash their bicycles into Maidie and Britta. The Atherton family are also staying nearby. Rosamund, who originally appeared in 'Gerry Goes to School', meets Maidie while out swimming, and the rest of the Atherton children - along with Janie's friend Julian Lucy - meet the Willoughbys and form various friendship groups.

'Chalet School' fans will know that Janie later marries Julian, and they have several children, four of whom - Julie, Betsy, Vi and Kitten - go to the Chalet School. Julie and Betsy are also Head Girls. Rosamund Atherton marries Nigel Willoughby and their daughters, Blossom and Judy, are also Chalet School pupils. Janie's baby niece and another future Chalet School Head Girl, Beth Chester, gets a mention in the book as well.

Answer: A storm arises

Without Sir Piers' knowledge or consent, Nigel takes Julian and Rex out on his yacht for a run to Alderney, purposely leaving its captain behind as he does not want him interfering. Back on Guernsey, the Willoughbys notice that a storm is coming, and Sir Piers finds out from Maidie and Peter that Nigel is at sea with Rex and Julian. Maidie is worried as not only are they in danger, but also Julian's mother is in poor health, and if anything happens to Julian, the shock could kill her. Nigel and the boys have a terrible journey, but manage to land safely in France and contact the families. They have to stay in Bordeaux for a couple of days as Rex is ill. Sir Piers is angry with Nigel and makes him promise never to go in the 'Sea Dweller' without letting him know first.

Nigel does not meet Joey Maynard (née Bettany) until the Chalet School moves to Guernsey. In 'The Chalet School Goes to It', he takes Joey, Frieda, Miss Wilson and the baby Maynard triplets over the sea to Devon in his yacht, the 'Sea Witch', and they have a nasty experience with a U-boat. Fortunately, they make it to land thanks to a British destroyer, though Joey is ill as a result of the incident.

Answer: The Lyke-Wake Dirge

The people of Lihou Island are said to be very superstitious and believe in ghosts, so Con, Maidie, Rex, Janie and Julian plan to sneak out there at night in one of the boats, dress up as ghosts and walk around the island carrying torches. Janie is forced to bring Pollie with her after accidentally waking her up.

They walk around the island singing 'The Lyke-Wake Dirge', a traditional Yorkshire song about the journey of the soul to the afterlife (I can recommend the Pentangle version). Unfortunately, they are forced to stay on the island until the causeway becomes safe to walk on, after their boat comes loose and is carried away by the tide.

The boys take another boat and sail out to get the original one, while the girls walk home and run into Sigrid.

It turns out that she went to check on Peter, who was ill from smoking one of Sir Piers' cigars, found Rex missing and guessed he had gone to Lihou. She promises not to tell on them, but asks them not to do it again.

Answer: Cesca

Some of the older children wind the younger children - Noel and José Atherton, Tim, David, Peter, Dina, Britta and Pollie - up after they read a newspaper article about Judgement Day, panic, and spend all day being on their best behaviour. The younger children decide to get their own back and enlist the help of Cesca, the oldest Atherton girl, to dress up as their Great Aunt Ella from Australia, and make judgemental comments about all of them.

She scolds Maidie for not being neat, accuses Allegra of being vain, annoys Rex by calling him 'Reginald', and criticises Pollie's posture. Marjolaine figures out what is going on and reveals that 'Great Aunt Ella' is Cesca in disguise by pulling her hat off. Dina reveals that she told Cesca about their great aunt, though Dina has never met her personally. Cesca also reveals that Julian's grandmother helped do her hair and lent her clothes.

Answer: Mr Eltringham

Mr Eltringham comes to visit, and he and the younger Willoughbys - with help from Julian - engage in a prank war with each other. He also becomes interested in Cesca. The family all go down to the beach at Petit Bôt, and David slips on the grass and falls down the cliff, landing on a piece of rock jutting out. Mr Eltringham climbs the cliff and keeps David safe, while Mr Atherton fetches some local men, and they climb down the cliff and get David to safety.

As Mr Eltringham is heavier, getting him up is harder, but luckily some passing soldiers help out and Mr Eltringham manages to climb up the cliff.

At the end of the book, he and Cesca become engaged. 'Chalet School' fans will know that they will go on to have several children, one of whom, Nita, becomes a Chalet School pupil.