Velocities of Swallows Trivia Quiz

Answer: Wild Cat

All these are islands in the lake which features in several of the stories, especially "Swallows and Amazons". It is based largely on Windermere in the English Lake District, where Arthur Ransome lived for many years. The Swallows consider several names for the island until they learn that the Amazons have called it "Wild Cat Island".

Answer: John wrecks the boat on a rock.

All these options appears in the stories. Nancy catches the mumps in "Winter Holiday", a lack of drinking water in "Pigeon Post" has made camping out impossible, and in "Secret Water" their planned family holiday is disrupted by their father being called away.

In "Swallowdale" a gust of wind causes John to gybe unexpectedly. This drives the boat onto Pike's rock and John barely has time to escape before it sinks.

Answer: Wild Cat

All of these are boats in the stories. Viper is the enemy vessel in "Peter Duck", Teasel is the boat that Tom Dudgeon and the Ds crew on the Norfolk Broads in "Coot Club", while Goblin is the boat that slips its anchor and takes the Swallows out to sea in "We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea". Wild Cat is named after the island on the lake where they camped in the first book. "Peter Duck" is not a 'real' tale about the Swallows, but rather a story they made up during the Christmas holidays.

Answer: Fram

The weather in "Winter Holiday" has become so cold that the lake freezes over and traps the houseboat (Wild Cat) in its mooring. They re-name the boat "Fram" after the ship that was used in the Arctic and Antarctic expeditions of Nansen and Amundsen.

Answer: Copper

They start out by prospecting for gold and do find a vein of a yellowish mineral. This turns out to be copper, the metal that Uncle Jim and his friend Timothy have actually been looking for.

Answer: Flushing

The Swallows, on holiday by the sea at Pin Mill in Suffolk, are spending the night on a friend's boat. When their friend goes ashore to fill up a tank of petrol, the rising tide associated with a huge storm dislodges the anchor from the harbour bottom and the boat is swept out to sea.

The four children are faced with crossing the North Sea in the dark during a violent storm. They eventually end up at Flushing harbour in the Netherlands, where by sheer coincidence they meet up with their father returning from business abroad and waiting for the daily ferry to England.

Answer: Eels

"Dolphins" and "Turtles" are names that I have made up. The "Death and Glories" are three boys who appear in "Coot Club" and "The Big Six". The Eels are three children (Don, Daisy, Dee) whom the Swallows and Amazons meet while exploring and mapping a tidal estuary. There is abundancy of eels in these muddy waters which is why they have adopted the eel as their totem.

Answer: Latin

"Missie Lee", like "Peter Duck" and perhaps "Great Northern", is one of the imaginary adventures, rather than a 'real' story. The Swallows, Amazons, and their uncle Jim have lost their ship in a fire and been taken captive by South China pirates. The pirate leader is Missie Lee, who went to school in England and really wants only to be a teacher. Everyone, except Roger, does poorly at their Latin lessons and they finally make a plot to escape.

Answer: Common Loon

The point of the story is that great northern divers (known as the common loon in North America) were not known to have nested in the British Isles. The Swallows and the other children are touring the northern isles of Scotland and stumble across a pair of nesting divers, which they must protect from villainous egg-collectors.

The common loon is the official bird of the province of Ontario and their haunting cry is a fixture of cottage life in that province.

Answer: Walker

All are surnames in the "Swallows and Amazons" series. Dick and Dorothea Callum are otherwise known as the Ds, and first appear in "Winter Holiday". Nancy and Peggy Blackett are the Amazons, while Tom Dudgeon is the main character in "Coot Club".