All Bits and Pieces Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dumplings

Suffolk swimmers, a simple locally made dish in that east county of England, are dumplings, which, if cooked correctly, will float on the top of one's stew or soup. The secret is in their ingredients. These include raw bread dough (not suet), salt, butter, and a small amount of milk instead of water. It is the bread dough and milk that is the secret of their "swimming" ability.

Answer: They would drive away thunder

In the Middle Ages, it was believed that ringing church bells could disperse thunder, and thereby avert big storms. Unfortunately though, because of this belief, many bell ringers were electrocuted if it began to rain. In France, for example, over one hundred bell ringers were killed in only a few years because of this superstition.

In 1786, the parliament of that country, in an attempt to put a stop to the practice, made the ringing of church bells during a storm illegal.

Answer: It became an alcoholic

Whim Creek, which was established in 1872, is basically just a pub, and nothing else. The entire population of the surrounding area was only 140 at the turn of the 21st century. With a very powerful thirst it would seem, as the pub is a large, two storey building built to accommodate that thirst. Most of the population are workers at a local copper mine.

They live near that site in demountable units, known affectionately as dongers. Before he was relocated (date unknown), Whim Creek's thirsty camel used to hang around the pub every day, consuming the drinkers' beers.

He became somewhat of an alcoholic and was finally relocated to a small town called Wiluna, suffering from cirrhosis of the liver. All was not lost, however, as Whim Creek was still left with a large python which hung out on the roof beams above the bar.

Answer: It no longer exists

The dry Eromanga Basin today is a huge area covering parts of the states of Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory - a total area of one million square miles. During the geological Mesozoic era, some 250-60 million years ago, this entire area was an inland sea that filled and disappeared at least four times.

It was also the site of huge rivers, creeks, lakes and coastal estuaries. Now however, it's a deserted, dry wasteland with the sea having disappeared forever some 95 million years ago.

This entire area is being eyed off today by gleaming-eyed mining and oil-seeking company representatives. Who knows though, with science busy scaring us all to death about global warming and melting icecaps, this once lovely area could spring to life once again. If so, the great map of our very thirsty land will be a vastly different shape to what it is at present.

Answer: Letter J

J is the tenth letter of our alphabet. It was once used as part of Roman numerals to represent the number 23. Between 1050 and 1530 however, it began to be used, in the area of the world we know today as Germany, to represent a distinct sound. One Gian Giorgio Trissino (1478-1550), a famous humanist, diplomat and grammarian, was the first person to make a distinct difference between the sounds of I and J, as at one stage the letters used for those two sounds were both the same.

This usage eventually made its way to France, and from there to England to be incorporated into the English language.

Answer: Sits on his head

What dirty tactics! The two humped Bactrian camel sprang from the steppes of central Asia. There are approximately two million of these animals, but most are not roaming free and happy. They have been thoroughly domesticated by man instead, and for the most part are used as pack animals.

They can exist on even the most tasteless and prickly plants and require very little water to survive. Interestingly though, if unable to obtain enough food to keep them going, their distinctive humps will begin to shrink. Well, interesting for us, that it.

The camels would perceive that fact in an entirely different light. During the mating season, which occurs in the season of autumn, males become very aggressive towards one another whenever an alluring female is to be found in their ranks.

They will bite, spit at, and charge at one another quite viciously, with the victor often seen sitting on the loser's head. Very unsportsmanlike of you, chaps.

Answer: Dormouse

Sad but true. The dainty little dormouse is found, for the most part, in Europe, but with smaller populations also in Africa and Asia. In the days of ancient Rome, this little creature was consumed either as an appetiser or dipped in poppy seed and honey as a tasty dessert. Barbaric you think? We'd never do that today? Wrong, alas. The dormouse is still looked upon today as a tasty treat in at least two Europeans countries - Slovenia and Croatia in particular. Interestingly, in Elizabeth England, the fat from this tiny little creature was use by those lusty folk as a type of sleeping tablet. It was most definitely that for the dormouse, that's for certain.

The Roman recipe called for two dormice per person, chopped nuts, breadcrumbs, 6 garlic cloves, broth, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. The method was to gut and skin the dormice. Then chop up their innards - mixing them with the breadcrumbs, garlic, nuts, a little olive oil and the salt and pepper. This was ground to a type of smooth paste. The dormice were then stuffed (well and truly) with same and fried to a nice crispy brown. Oh yummy.

Answer: So everyone present can see him

There is nothing sinister or ego-driven at all about this. It's to do with the shape of the huge oval table in the Cabinet Room. This room is located in the West Wing of the White house, near to the President's Oval Office itself. The mahogany table in its centre features an elliptical shape, but because of this shape, those seated around the table sometimes have difficulty in seeing the President as he speaks.

His chair therefore is just a couple of inches taller than the other chairs in the room to enable them to do so.

The chair is marked "The President" so that nobody else sits in it in error. Interestingly, cabinet ministers purchase their own chairs for this room. Each member is then allowed to keep his or her own as a souvenir when eventually leaving office. That would be one remarkable souvenir indeed. Imagine having a chair warmed by the bottom of a vice-president of the United States sitting in your own home.

Answer: Long jump and high jump

The 1900 Summer Olympics were held in Paris, France. Competitors (and horses) vied for top place in nineteen different sports, which included swimming, water polo, equestrian, archery, athletics, Basque pelota (a racquet game), cricket, croquet, cycling, fencing, soccer, golf, gymnastics, rugby union, rowing, sailing, shooting, tennis and tug of war.

In the equestrian events, riders and their horses competed in hack and hunter, mail coach, normal jumping, and then, astonishingly, in the high jump and the long jump.

The winning riders of these events were Giovani Trissino from Italy, who tied with Dominique Garderas from France, in the high jump. and Constant van Langhendonck from Belgium in the long jump. They just got to sit on their amazing horses - whose names aren't even recorded.

Not even a whinny for their winny.

Answer: Dentures made from teeth of corpses at Waterloo

Replacement teeth were very popular for the wealthy during the 18th and 19th centuries in Europe. Obtaining these replacement teeth, however, either involved the poor having to sell their own in exchange for money to buy food - or scavengers removing teeth from dead bodies.

The most readily available of all those sources were battlefields left strewn with the bodies of fallen soldiers. In that regard, the battlefields of Waterloo (1815), with almost 50,000 dead, proved to be a gold mine for those ghouls who robbed from the corpses of the dead. So popular and so readily available were these goods that they became known as Waterloo teeth.

It was almost a mark of prestige to have some in one's mouth - a souvenir and a memento of a great battle combined.

The American Civil War (1861-1865) was another source of thousands of teeth. Shiploads of them were ferried back to Europe to fill the mouths of the uncaring wealthy.