X Marks the Plot Trivia Quiz

Answer: Billy Bones

Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Treasure Island' was responsible for introducing various things that have since become a ubiquitous part of the stereotypical image of a fictional pirate. Not only was it the first literary work to feature a treasure map where an "'X' marks the spot" of the hidden loot, but it also included a one-legged pirate, a pet parrot that sits on his master's shoulder and the 'Black Spot' - a warning to its recipient that they have been marked out for deposition or even death.

Billy Bones was the first pirate to make an appearance in 'Treasure Island' when he recruited the novel's young hero, Jim Hawkins, to act as a lookout for a one-legged sailor. The one-legged sailor in question was Long John Silver, one of Bones' former crew-mates when they both sailed with the infamous pirate, Captain Flint. Silver was very keen on tracking down Bones - mainly because he was in possession of Captain Flint's precious treasure map. (Captain Flint should not be confused with his name-sake, the aforementioned parrot.)

Israel Hands and Ben Gunn were other former members of Flint's crew.

Answer: A cryptogram

Edgar Allan Poe might now be best known for his tale 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' or his poems 'The Raven' and 'Annabel Lee', but during his lifetime 'The Gold-Bug' was one of his most popular works and even won him $100 in a writing competition. Its main character, the impoverished William Legrand, found a mysterious beetle-like creature and a scrap of parchment on Sullivan's Island in South Carolina. Legrand discovered a hidden cryptogram on the parchment, which, when decoded, provided instructions on how to locate a treasure chest filled with millions of dollars' worth of gold and jewels. One rather gruesome key to discovering the treasure was the act of dropping the gold-bug through the eye of a skull - presumed to be the remains of one of the unfortunate pirates who buried the treasure in the first place.

Poe's use of a cryptogram was probably inspired by a growing interest in cryptography in the early 1840s. The cryptogram used by Poe in 'The Gold-Bug' was a substitution cypher and the story included detailed instructions for how to solve it.

Answer: Tales of a Traveller

Geoffrey Crayon was a pseudonym that Irving used regularly for his works of fiction, although he published historical and biographical books under his own name. Irving's well known stories 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' and 'Rip Van Winkle' were both originally published in a collection named 'The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.'. 'Tales of a Traveller' was first published in 1824 and consisted of a total of 32 short stories in four "books". The tales in question both come from the fourth book, which is appropriately titled 'Part IV: The Money Diggers'.

'Kidd the Pirate' is a story based on the real-life Scottish sailor and 17th century pirate and privateer William Kidd. In it Kidd buries a significant amount of his ill-gotten gains prior to his arrest and execution and inspires other pirates to secure their treasure in a similar fashion. Although the real-life Kidd is associated with the myth of buried treasure, there is no historical evidence to suggest that any major hoard buried by him remains undiscovered. 'The Devil and Tom Walker' was a story about a man selling his soul to the devil in order to gain access to Captain Kidd's buried treasure.

Answer: Biography

The writer behind the pseudonym Captain Charles Johnson and the actual author of the 1724 work 'A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates' remains unknown, despite the efforts of some literary scholars to attribute the book to Daniel Defoe. The less than snappily titled work contains biographies of a number of well-known pirates of the time and is often credited as the main source of information about their lives. Subjects include the infamous Blackbeard (Edward Teach or Thatch) who was killed in 1718; Anne Bonny and her partner "Calico Jack" Rackham, who were captured in 1720; and Captain William Kidd, who was executed for piracy in 1701.

The book was published in two parts - the first detailed the pirates of the early 18th century and the second dealt with those who were active in the latter part of the 17th century.

Answer: The Red Rover

James Fenimore Cooper may be better known for his tales of the American Frontier in the 18th century, but many of his works relate to the sea and several include pirate characters. 'The Red Rover' was first published in 1827 and told the story of how Wilder, along with his friends Dick Fid and Scipio Africa, joined the crew of the Dolphin - a ship that turned out to be captained by the eponymous wanted pirate, the Red Rover. The novel was also adapted into a play shortly after its initial publication and performed in both the United States and in Europe.

In writing 'The Red Rover' and his other maritime stories, Cooper drew heavily upon his own experience in both merchant shipping and the U.S. Navy. He also wrote several historical and biographical works about the navy and some of its notable sailors. The incorrect options are all novels in the 'Leatherstocking' series that also features Cooper's most famous work, 'The Last of the Mohicans'.

Answer: The Waverley Novels

'The Pirate', a novel set in the 1690s on various islands in the far north of Scotland, was first published in 1822 by "the author of 'Waverley'". It was the eighth novel after the publication of 'Waverley' to be attributed in this manner and it took a further five years before the author of the whole series was identified as the famous Sir Walter Scott - who had earned his baronetage by leading a successful search for the Scottish Crown Jewels on behalf of the Prince Regent a few years earlier. Other well-known works included in the collection were 'Rob Roy', 'Ivanhoe' and 'Kenilworth'.

In 'The Pirate', the local people of Shetland rescued and cared for a shipwrecked sailor, oblivious to the fact that he was actually (or at least had been until his unfortunate shipwreck) the captain of a pirate ship. Dramatic scenes then unfolded when one of the local women fell in love with the pirate and it turned out that the mysterious man had an unexpectedly close family connection to the area.

The incorrect options are all works by other famous Scottish authors. 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' is a short story collection by Arthur Conan Doyle; '44 Scotland Street' and its sequels are by Alexander McCall Smith; and the Culture Novels are a collection of science fiction works by Iain M. Banks.

Answer: The Coral Island

'The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Ocean' was first published in around 1858 and told the story of three boys who had survived a shipwreck and their subsequent life as castaways on an remote island. It was one of the earliest novels aimed at children that also featured children as the main protagonists.

The three teenagers marooned on the coral island were Ralph Rover (the story's narrator), Jack Martin and Peterkin Gay. They had all been members of the crew of a merchant ship on a voyage from England that was wrecked on the island's reef during a fierce storm. Although uninhabited, the island turned out to have plentiful food and shelter and the trio's life there would have been idyllic if not for the intrusion of cannibalistic Polynesian islanders and bloodthirsty British pirates - the latter of which captured and sailed off with Ralph. Luckily, the pirates were later attacked and killed, leaving Ralph in possession of their ship and able to sail back to the coral island to rescue his friends.

The incorrect options all involve groups of people stranded on uninhabited islands; however 'Lord of the Flies' (which was inspired by 'The Coral Island') is by William Golding, 'The Mysterious Island' (which also features pirates) is by Jules Verne and 'The Blue Lagoon' is by Henry De Vere Stacpoole.

Answer: Gold ingots

'Five on a Treasure Island' was the first of the 21 'Famous Five' novels written by Enid Blyton between 1942 and 1962. The treasure island in question was called Kirrin Island and belonged to Quentin Kirrin - the father of George; uncle of Julian, Dick and Anne; and reluctant friend of his daughter's dog, Timmy. In the events of the novel, the cousins went on a farewell camping trip to the island (which was due to be sold due to the family's financial difficulties) and came across new evidence of the location of the fabled treasure rumoured to have been hidden on the island by George's ancestor. Unfortunately, a group of unscrupulous criminals were also in pursuit of the treasure and had no compunction about capturing the children and locking them in the dungeon where the treasure - dozens of gold bars (or ingots) - was stored. However, the children used a combination of bravery, ingenuity and athleticism to outwit the criminals and save the gold for its rightful owners - the Kirrins.

Enid Blyton was a prolific children's author active in the early to mid-20th century. In addition to her 'Famous Five' series, she was also responsible for various other children's adventure novels such as the 'Secret Seven' series, the 'Five Find-Outers' series and the 'Adventure' series; novels set in boarding schools, including the 'Mallory Towers' series; and books for younger children, such as the many stories that featured Noddy and his friends. In all, Enid Blyton produced over 750 books, of which hundreds of millions of copies have been sold.

Answer: Allan Quatermain

Published in 1885, H. Rider Haggard's novel told the story of a group of adventurers who went in search of man who had gone missing while on an expedition to find the eponymous 'King Solomon's Mines'. The story was set in the unexplored interior of southern Africa and the little group of explorers/rescuers featured a noted adventurer named Allan Quatermain; the missing man's brother, Sir Henry Curtis; Captain Good; and a native man named Umbopa. Although Quatermain owned a mysterious map showing the location of the mines, the group were only able to find them after encountering a group of warriors, defeating a usurper king (and installing Umbopa as his rightful successor) and demanding the location from an evil hag. They were duly shown the location of the mine and how to enter, but were double-crossed and trapped inside with the treasure - which consisted of an almost unimaginable quantity of gold and diamonds. They eventually escaped in the nick of time (with a very small, but very valuable amount of the treasure in tow) and also managed to rescue Sir Henry's brother on their way back to civilisation.

Quatermain also appeared in many of H. Rider Haggard's other works, including one entitled 'Allan Quatermain'. The incorrect options are all characters from "Lost World" novels - Professor Challenger and Professor Summerlee both appeared in Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Lost World', while Ian Malcolm was a character from Michael Crichton's 'The Lost World' (and his earlier novel 'Jurassic Park').

Answer: Captain Hook

The "boy who wouldn't grow up" is a common description applied to J.M. Barrie's famous character Peter Pan and came from the full title of the 1904 play, 'Peter Pan; or, The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'. A novel based on the play, called 'Peter and Wendy', was first published in 1911. Peter Pan was an inhabitant of a mysterious world named Neverland, where he lived a perpetual youth along with his friends who were collectively known as the "Lost Boys". Wendy Darling was a young girl who Peter brought to Neverland to act as a mother figure for the group. During their time together in Neverland, Peter and Wendy had a series of adventures that culminated in the kidnap of Wendy and the Lost Boys by an evil pirate named Captain Hook. After Peter rescued the group, Wendy returned to her home in London with all the boys in tow; Peter chose to return to Neverland as he was afraid that he would be forced to grow up if he remained in the real world - proving that he was the "boy who wouldn't grow up" rather than the "boy who couldn't grow up".

J.M. Barrie, who died in 1937, donated the copyright to all his works featuring Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street children's hospital in London. Ultimately, Peter Pan's legacy was to ensure that thousands of very ill children were able to access the medical treatment they needed to have the opportunity to grow up themselves.

Captain Pugwash was a pirate who was the eponymous hero of a British cartoon comic strip and children's TV series; Captain Jack Sparrow was the hero of Disney's 'Pirates of the Caribbean' series of films; and Captain Haddock was a merchant seaman created by Hergé, who appeared in the 'Adventures of Tintin'.