No Man is an Island. Or is he? Quiz

Answer: Thomas Mann

Thomas Mann, novelist, is best remembered for "Buddenbrooks", the story of the decline of a merchant family in Lubeck over three generations, and for "Death in Venice".

The Isle of Man (alternatively called Mann) is in the Irish Sea. It is more or less the same area and shape as Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland. The legendary reason for this is that the Irish folk hero, Finn McCool, lost his temper with a Scottish rival, scooped up a huge chunk of earth and flung it at him! It fell in the sea and became The Isle of Man, while the hole it left became Lough Neagh! Its capital is Douglas and it is world renowned for its motor cycle racing.

The island has a fund of mythology and folklore. According to legend, the name comes from the Celtic sea-god, Manannan Mac Lir who was the island's protector. St. Patrick's Isle, connected to Mann by a causeway, boasts Peel Castle, the fortress of Magnus Barefoot, an ancient Viking King of Mann, and is said to be haunted by Moddy Dhoo, a ghastly black dog.

On April 30 the islanders used to fasten, with sheep's wool, a wooden cross to the front door to ward off malicious fairies. On the Douglas to Castletown Road is a bridge called the Fairy Bridge and any who pass over it must call "Laa Mie" ("Good day") to the fairies to avoid misfortune.

Answer: Lewis

C.S.Lewis was an academic who was latterly Professor of Mediaeval Literature at the University of Cambridge. Earlier, as a Fellow of an Oxford College, he was a member of "The Inklings", a group of academics and writers who met in an Oxford pub to drink beer and discuss their writings. He wrote "The Chronicles of Narnia", a Christian allegory, where the land is ruled by the lion Aslan, a type of Christ

Lewis is the northern part of the island of Lewis and Harris, the largest island in The Outer Hebrides. Stornoway is its biggest settlement. The island is well known for its stone circles and burial cairns. Local folklore accounts for them by saying that the original giants who inhabited the island refused to become Christians and were turned into stones as a punishment. Strange! Scholars date the stones from about 3000 BC.

Lewis is known world wide for its woven woollen cloth. The famous Harris Tweed is woven in Lewis.

Answer: Gilbert and Ellice Islands

The Gilbert Islands, now Tuvalu, consist of 16 atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean, while the Ellice Islands, now Kiribati, consist of six atolls and three coral islands, midway between Hawaii and Australia. The Gilbert Islands were named in 1820 after a British sea captain while the Ellice Islands were named for a British politician and merchant.

In 1916 the Islands became a British Crown Colony, the capital being Tarawa. The colony was dissolved in 1974 and soon afterwards Tuvalu and Kiribati were established as separate political entities.

Emily Bronte published "Wuthering Heights" under the name of Ellis Bell to hide the fact that she was a woman. Her sisters Charlotte and Anne called themselves Currer and Acton Bell. Branwell was their brother.

W.S Gilbert collaborated with Arthur Sullivan to produce many comic operas including "The Gondoliers" and "The Pirates of Penzance".

Answer: Thanet

DI Luke Thanet is a creation of Dorothy Simpson. He is a sensitive and caring family man who empathises well with his children Bridget and Ben. He is careful not to make snap judgements, trying to analyze and understand both victim and criminal.

The Isle of Thanet appeared after the last Ice Age. It was separated from the main coastal area of Kent by the Wantsum Channel. This channel gradually diminished as pebble beaches built up and the island was an island no more, the former channel being now flat marshy land.
Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs are among its better known settlements.

Answer: Elba

The Isle of Elba is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany.
After the Treaty of Fontainebleau in 1814, Napoleon was exiled there with a personal guard of 600 men. He stayed for three hundred days and then returned to France for the Hundred Days until his defeat at Waterloo, after which he was exiled to St Helena.

Idris Elba is a British actor, producer, singer and DJ. He is best known for his roles in "The Wire" and "Luther". He also played the part of Nelson Mandela in the film "The Long Walk to Freedom".

Answer: Lundy

Lundy Island is a small granite island off the coast of North Devon in the Bristol Channel. It has its own currency known as the puffin, really only a tourist attraction, which cannot be used off the island but can be used to buy postage stamps.

Answer: St Helena

There are various places named after Saint Helena including the small island situated midway between Africa and South America, a place of exile for Napoleon.

Answer: The Isle of Wight

Charles I was imprisoned in Carisbrooke Castle on the island. Captured while fleeing from the mainland, he was retaken and imprisoned until his final execution in London.

Fanny Price is the heroine of Jane Austen's novel, "Mansfield Park". Her family live in Portsmouth and regard the island as the acme of foreign experience. Alan Titchmarsh, TV and radio presenter, novelist and gardener, lives there.

The Isle of Wight is very close to the English coast. It is famous for its annual regatta.

Answer: Faeroes

The Faeroe Islands are largely inhabited, the biggest being Stromo. Fishing is very important.
The rulers of Egypt were of course, the Pharaohs.

Answer: Ireland

John Ireland was an English composer of choral music.

Ireland is divided into Northern Ireland and Eire. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom. Between 1556 and 1660 British families were settled in Ulster. The "Irish Plantation" of English and Scots in the early seventeenth century was very successful.

Eire replaced the name Irish Free State in 1937. The country left the British Commonwealth in 1949.