Gilbert and Sullivan, A Little Light Music Quiz

Answer: He was in prison for flirting

So many people would have fallen foul of the death penalty for flirting that it was decided that the only way to deal with this was to appoint someone who "cannot cut off another's head, until he's cut his own off" (as Pish Tush explains). The character who performed in the Marine Parade was Nanki Poo, as Pitti Sing helpfully reminded Yum Yum.

Answer: A milkmaid

Patience is loved by rival poets Bunthorne and Grosvenor, but she herself has the rather more "earthy" job of village milkmaid. She is looked upon with scorn by the "Twenty love-sick maidens" (who are all of aristocratic stock) for her lack of refinement and appreciation of their art, but her dislike of poetry only serves to inflame the poets' desires.

Answer: Pilot

Ruth, the "stupid nursery maid", didn't quite catch what she was asked to do "through being hard of hearing" and so accidentally apprenticed Frederick to the Pirates of Penzance rather than into the respectable job of (ship's) pilot. This error, combined with her dogged loyalty to, and love for, her master, resulted in Ruth herself becoming a "kind of piratical maid of all work".

Answer: Breach of promise of marriage

Breach of promise of marriage was a genuine crime in Gilbert and Sullivan's day, as an engagement was a young woman's guarantee of financial security. The attitude of the jurors, "O I was like that when a lad", suggests it wasn't considered the most heinous of offences. In the event the judge resolved the issue by marrying Angelina himself.

Answer: Luis

Although Don Alhambra believes one of the Palmieri boys must be the true king, it is in fact the humble drummer boy Luis, who was sent away by his foster mother Inez when traitors threatened to steal the child.

Answer: The Flowers of Progress

The men were designed to lampoon the English self-importance that suggested their way was the only way, as they declare among other things: "we haven't any slummeries in England" and "divorce is nearly obsolete in England". They represent a range of more or less important roles in British society, from the humble county councillor suggesting improvements to the sewers to the Lord Chamberlain.

Answer: Iolanthe

They are "dainty little fairies". Fleta is a very small role with only a few lines whilst Leila and Celia both sing solo parts and end up married to the Earls Tolloller and Mountararat.

Answer: Commit one crime a day forever

A fitting punishment for the Sir Rupert who so enjoyed torturing witches. The last woman he burnt at the stake screamed the curse in her dying breath. If a baronet fails to commit his daily crime he dies in agony. Robin (Sir Ruthven in disguise) is hoping to avoid his fate by hiding out in the village and allowing the baronetcy to pass to his younger brother, Despard.

Answer: He had never been to sea

Sir Joseph's song explains that in Victorian England it was about who you knew not what you knew! His story is told through the patter song "I am the Monarch of the Sea", which satirises W H Smith, who was First Lord of the Admiralty at the time (although he is now better known in the UK for the chain of stationers that carries his name).

Answer: Eating a sausage roll

One strand of the very complex plot involves Ludwig and his co-conspirators explaining that "E'er you open conversation with another kindred soul, you must eat a sausage roll". The conspirators are all part of a theatrical troupe who are putting on a performance of "Troilus and Cressida".

Their unlikely leader Ludwig ends up for a short time as Grand Duke and gets his cast to wear the costumes from the play as he intends to run his new dominion along Classical Greek lines.