Your Majesty... My Telegram, Please? Quiz

Answer: The Gordon Highlanders

The Gordons, whose motto was 'Bydand' which meant 'Steadfast', were raised in 1794 as the 100th Regiment of Foot by the Duke of Gordon but were renumbered as the 92nd in 1798. In 1994 the regiment was amalgamated with the Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons) to become 'The Highlanders'.

The regiment were betrayed again when, in 2006, they were merged with the other infantry regiments of the Scottish Division to form the present Royal Regiment of Scotland. The red herrings here are Campbell's Highlanders, although the regiment did exist; they were raised in 1760 and served in both the Channel Islands and in Martinique against the French.

The regiment was very short-lived however, being disbanded just three years later in 1763 on its return home to Scotland.

Answer: Peacock

Argus, a giant in the service of the goddess Hera, was responsible for protecting a white heifer from the amorous attentions of her husband Zeus. Hera, discovering that the heifer was the beautiful nymph Io, sent Argus to prevent her from falling pregnant by her husband. Zeus, the leader of the Olympian gods sent Hermes to slay Argus.

Hermes lulled Argus to sleep with beautiful music and then cut out his eyes and struck him dead with a stone. After this act had been carried out Hera retrieved his eyes and placed them within the tail feathers of the Peacock.

Answer: False

The long-hundred had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with accountancy.

The long-hundred is a unit of weight still known today as an Imperial hundredweight, and is a measure which actually weighs 112 lbs. In the United Kingdom it is still possible to buy certain commodities in hundredweight and half-hundredweight bags, coal and certain kinds of vegetables such as potatoes and onions, being particular examples. The short hundred, a measure of weight used mainly in the United States, consists of a far more sensible 100 lbs.

Answer: Napoleon Bonaparte

'The Hundred Days', also known as the 'Hundred Days of Napoleon', is the name given to the period of time during 1815 between the return to Paris of Napoleon Bonaparte from his exile on the island of Elba and his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, a period that more actually encompassed one hundred and eleven days. Napoleon had escaped from his enforced exile on the island of Elba and returned to Paris, arriving there on the 20th March 1815 after leaving Elba on the 26th February. Napoleon's second rise to power was short-lived however, and on the 18th June 1815 he was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo by the coalition armies of the United Kingdom, Prussia, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and a number of smaller German states. With the restoration of King Louis XVIII on 18th July 1815, Napoleon began his second journey into exile on the remote island outcrop of St.

Helena.

Answer: Whooping cough

Whooping cough, or pertussis, can strike anyone of any age. The disease is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis, first identified in 1906. Early symptoms of the disease include running nose, higher than usual temperature and, as with anyone infected with the common cold, a slight cough.

As the disease develops it is accompanied by severe bouts of a dry hacking cough with which the sufferer makes a whooping sound whilst trying to catch their breath from which the disease takes its name; this cough may last for a considerable amount of time causing it to become known as the Hundred Day Cough. Vaccines are available but have only limited effectiveness and, unfortunately, suffering with pertussis does not confer immunity later in life and the disease may affect some adults more severely than it does children and young people.

Answer: Cornwall

In pre-Norman England and Wales a 'hundred' was an administrative division of a larger geographical area with each hundred consisting of a smaller packet of land known as a hide; an area just large enough at about 120 acres to support a single household.

The first records of hundreds in England appear in 939CE during the reign of King Edmund I and today many of the names of these old hundreds are maintained as wards within many modern parliamentary constituencies; with Kerrier ward and Penwith ward in Cornwall both being prime examples.

Answer: The Hekatonkheires

The Hekatonkheires were three Titans of Greek myth; Briareos, Gyges and Cottus were the offspring of the earth goddess Gaia and the sky god, Uranus. These powerful giants so terrified their father that he banished all three to Tartarus where they represented the forces of nature such as earthquakes and volcanic activity. During the war known as the Titanomachy they fought on the side of Zeus and the other Olympian gods, helping to depose Uranus.

After the war had been won the Hekatonkheires were given the task of guarding those Titans deposed during the war, ultimately finding themselves back in Tartarus from where they had come... That's gratitude for you!

Answer: Mr. Edward Bear

What is it with bears and writers? They're everywhere! Winnie-the-Pooh made his first appearance in 1924 in a book of poetry titled 'When We Were Very Young', written by the author A. A. Milne. Winnie-the-Pooh began life as Mr Edward Bear, his name being changed by 1926 when the book 'Winnie-the-Pooh' was published as a collection of stories about the character. Over the decades since this beloved character from children's literature first appeared, the stories about Winnie and his friends which are all based upon Christopher Robin Milne's toy collection, have been translated into numerous languages including Latin; this issue being the only publication in this language to have appeared on the best seller list published in the newspaper, The New York Times.

Answer: Snooker

The game of snooker is believed to have been invented by British army officers serving in India during the nineteenth century; the game was further developed during the early part of the twentieth century with the sport holding its first World Snooker Championship tournament during 1927, with qualifying matches taking place around the United Kingdom and the finals being held in the city of Birmingham.

The point values for each ball in the game are one point for each red ball, two points for the yellow, the green balls scores three, the brown scores four points, the blue earns five points, next is the pink ball at six points and finally, the black ball scoring seven points. To score a player is required to pot each red ball followed by any coloured ball until all the red balls have been potted; at this point in the game the player then pots each of the coloured balls, in sequence, ending with the black. From its humble beginnings, top professional players can now earn many, many millions of pounds in prize monies and in advertising and sponsorship deals.

Answer: The Ton-Up Boys

Between 1958 and 1966 my father changed his motorcycles as regularly as he changed his underpants... At least according to my mother he did!

The unofficial 'sport' of café racing during the 1950s and 1960s gave rise, not only to the development of the fastest custom built motorcycles of the day, but also to an entire youth sub-culture. In the early 1960s my own father was a 'Ton-up Boy' frequently riding his Norton motorcycle from home in Weymouth to work at HMS Osprey at Portland's Naval Base, at speeds well in excess of one hundred miles per hour, much to the chagrin of the local constabulary and my mother! At weekends he and his 'Ton-up' friends would congregate in the street outside our house revving their engines and irritating the entire neighbourhood... The bonus for me was that by the time I was ten years old, I'd sat on, been pillion on or had ridden in a sidecar on pretty much every classic British motorcycle from the 1940s to the 1970s from the little Ariel Arrow to the massively powerful Vincent Black Shadow and all points in between... Ah, the memories!