MotherGoose's "Mother Goose" Quiz

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. Who was the original Mother Goose? Charles Perrault of France Jean Loret of France Elizabeth Goose of Boston historians cannot agree on the identity of Mother Goose

2. When is Mother Goose Day? September 30 April 1 May 1 October 31

3. Which famous Impressionistic composer wrote the ballet music "Mother Goose"? Maurice Ravel Richard Wagner Frederick Chopin Johann Sebastian Bach

4. Mother Goose became popular in England when John Newbery published "Mother Goose’s Melody" in 1765. The editor of this book is widely believed to have been an Irish writer, the author of "The Vicar of Wakefield" and "She Stoops to Conquer". Who was he? Oscar Wilde Oliver Goldsmith WIlliam Butler Yeats Jonathon Swift

5. Nursery rhymes are often thinly disguised descriptions of real people and historical events. "The Grand Old Duke of York" is commonly believed to relate to the War of the Roses – the struggle for the English crown between the Houses of York and Lancaster. Who was the Duke of York? Richard Plantagenet Edward IV Henry VI Andrew I

6. Some scholars have claimed that "Little Miss Muffet" represents a particular queen and the spider represents John Knox, a Scottish religious reformer and founder of Presbyterianism. Which queen is said to be "Little Miss Muffet"? Mary I of England (“Bloody Mary”) Mary Queen of Scots Elizabeth I of England Lady Jane Grey

7. One of the most common "urban legends" is that the nursery rhyme "Ring Around the Rosey" or "Ring-a-Ring o' Roses" is about an epidemic of which disease? bubonic (black) plague smallpox malaria cholera

8. Which of the following nursery rhymes is said to have been written as a protest against an export tax on fleece imposed in Britain? Sing a Song of Sixpence Little Bo Peep Baa, Baa, Black Sheep Mary had a Little Lamb

9. In 1714 George I ascended the throne of England. However, a political group called the Jacobites supported the son of the deposed James II's claim to the throne. Which of the following nursery rhymes is NOT a political commentary of (alleged) Jacobite origin? Georgey Porgey, Pudding and Pie Hark, Hark, the Dogs do Bark There was a Crooked Man Jim and George were Two Great Lords

10. Which of King Henry VIII's ministers is said to be immortalised in the nursery rhyme "Little Boy Blue" because of his failure to secure Henry's divorce from his first wife? Thomas Cromwell Thomas Wolsey Thomas More Thomas Cranmer