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Quiz about The Rolling English Drunkard Gives Directions
Quiz about The Rolling English Drunkard Gives Directions

The Rolling English Drunkard Gives Directions Quiz


G. K. Chesterton's famous poem 'The Rolling English Road' has inspired this literary tour of England. Your challenge is to identify the authors, works or places from the drunken clues.

A multiple-choice quiz by bracklaman. Estimated time: 7 mins.
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Author
bracklaman
Time
7 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
242,512
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
548
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. The opening line of the poem 'The Rolling English Road':
'Before the Roman came to Rye or out to Severn strode,' identifies Rye as the first place visited in our literary gazetteer. Rye provides the setting for several Miss Mapp stories. Which novelist created this character?
Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. As G. K. Chesterton had it in his poem about the 'Rolling English Road' the Severn was there even before the Romans came.

But which great English poet had earlier identified the Severn with the river goddess Sabrina and said:
'Sabrina is her name, virgin pure'?
Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. The next place visited in our literary gazetteer comes from the G. K. Chesterton poem 'The Rolling English Road':

'A merry road, a mazy road, and such as we did tread
The night we went to 'Birmingham by way of Beachy Head.'

Birmingham was the birthplace of the creator of the arch villain 'Fu Manchu'. Who was this author?
Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. 'Beachy Head' was not only one of the the geographical stopping points in the G K Chesterton poem 'The Rolling English Road' but also the highly significant poetical work of which female Romantic Poet? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. The famous Chesterton poem 'The Rolling English Road' provides us with a lovely sounding clue for our literary gazetteer and tour of England:

'Where you and I went down the lane with ale-mugs in our hands,
The night we went to Glastonbury by way of Goodwin Sands'

This time I'm looking for you to identify the novelist and playwright born near Glastonbury who had a hero with the same name as a world famous Welsh singer (also known as a sometime collector of undergarments) from Pontypridd.

So who was the writer?
Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. G. K. Chesterton's poem about the rolling roads of England provides us with a clue about the identity of the author we are seeking on this occasion:

'God pardon us, nor harden us; we did not see so clear ,
The night we went to Bannockburn by way of Brighton Pier. '

But, who wrote, not Brighton Pier, but 'Brighton Rock'?
Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. The famous Chesterton poem about the rolling English road identifies a famous meeting place where the Scots and English exchanged unpleasantries.

'God pardon us, nor harden us; we did not see so clear ,
The night we went to Bannockburn by way of Brighton Pier. '


Bannockburn was of course a famous victory long celebrated by the Scots. Several poets and playwrights have added their poetic contributions to the subject over the years. The one I'm asking you to identify penned these lines:

'Then the Scots did shout and sing
Long live Sir Robert Bruce our King'
That made King Edward mourn
The day he came to Bannockburn!'

So who was he?
Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Chesterton's 'The Rolling English Road' is a wonderfully comic and sad poem which has also provided a clue about our next poet to identify:

'For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen,
Before we go to Paradise by way of Kensal Green'

This English poet uniquely gifted in Latin and scholarship though physically impaired wrote two mainstream epics showing both how paradise was lost and then regained. Who was he?
Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. According to the poem by Chesterton 'The Rolling English Road', Kensal Green is the final resting place. It was of course one of the largest cemeteries in London.

Kensal Green is the resting place of this poet's wife, half-sister, publisher, best man and most faithful servant; and a further clue to help you identify him are these lines taken from one his many very successful poems which to many give an insight into the innate character of this poet.

'He learned the arts of riding, fencing, gunnery,
And how to scale a fortress--or a nunnery.'

So who is our noble poet?
Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. G.K. Chesterton wrote the poem 'The Rolling English Road' and many other works of poetry, plays and even crime novels. You will no doubt have heard of Father Brown, one of his best known sleuths. But can you identify any more of Chesterton's creations from this list? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The opening line of the poem 'The Rolling English Road': 'Before the Roman came to Rye or out to Severn strode,' identifies Rye as the first place visited in our literary gazetteer. Rye provides the setting for several Miss Mapp stories. Which novelist created this character?

Answer: Edward Frederick Benson

Edward Frederick Benson (1867-1940) lived in Lamb House, Rye the former residence of Henry James (1834-1916) who wrote some of his most notable works there. Benson used it as the setting for his novels featuring Miss Mapp.
Marguerite Radclyffe Hall
(1886-1943) also lived in Rye and Russel Thorndike
featured Rye's Mermaid Inn in several of his 'Dr Syn' stories.
2. As G. K. Chesterton had it in his poem about the 'Rolling English Road' the Severn was there even before the Romans came. But which great English poet had earlier identified the Severn with the river goddess Sabrina and said: 'Sabrina is her name, virgin pure'?

Answer: Milton

Milton (1608-1674) the wonderful blind poet used this phrase in his masque 'Comus'.
The lines are more fully:
"There is a gentle nymph not far from hence,
That with moist curb sways the smooth Severn streams,
Sabrina is her name, a virgin pure."
3. The next place visited in our literary gazetteer comes from the G. K. Chesterton poem 'The Rolling English Road': 'A merry road, a mazy road, and such as we did tread The night we went to 'Birmingham by way of Beachy Head.' Birmingham was the birthplace of the creator of the arch villain 'Fu Manchu'. Who was this author?

Answer: Sax Rohmer

Sax Rohmer(1886-1959) was born in Birmingham. I was disappointed to find out his real name was actually Arthur Sarsfield Ward and not Sax Rohmer.

He not only created the character Fu Manchu but wrote many thrillers round this oriental arch villain.
4. 'Beachy Head' was not only one of the the geographical stopping points in the G K Chesterton poem 'The Rolling English Road' but also the highly significant poetical work of which female Romantic Poet?

Answer: Charlotte Turner Smith

Charlotte Turner Smith (1749-1806) is nowadays increasingly studied as a significant novelist and poet, especially in modern women studies course. She was also recognized by Wordsworth and her other contemporaries as a valued contributor to the British Romantic Movement.
Wordsworth rightly foresaw her status as a poet 'to whom English verse is under greater obligations than are likely to be either acknowledged or remembered'.
5. The famous Chesterton poem 'The Rolling English Road' provides us with a lovely sounding clue for our literary gazetteer and tour of England: 'Where you and I went down the lane with ale-mugs in our hands, The night we went to Glastonbury by way of Goodwin Sands' This time I'm looking for you to identify the novelist and playwright born near Glastonbury who had a hero with the same name as a world famous Welsh singer (also known as a sometime collector of undergarments) from Pontypridd. So who was the writer?

Answer: Henry Fielding

In full the novel is more correctly 'The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'. Usually it is referred to as 'Tom Jones'. It is a comic novel by Henry Fielding. It was published in 1749 and enjoyed immediate popularity. It has inspired several adaptations, including an Academy Award-winning film.

The other 'Tom Jones' is a fellow Welshman (but there the similarity ends) veteran singer and mega recording star.


Henry Fielding (1707-1754) was a British writer, playwright and journalist. He was a co-founder of the English Realistic School in literature with Samuel Richardson, a great friend and literary rival.
6. G. K. Chesterton's poem about the rolling roads of England provides us with a clue about the identity of the author we are seeking on this occasion: 'God pardon us, nor harden us; we did not see so clear , The night we went to Bannockburn by way of Brighton Pier. ' But, who wrote, not Brighton Pier, but 'Brighton Rock'?

Answer: Henry Graham Greene

Henry Graham Greene (1904-1991) was born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. He was the fourth of six children.

Greene was a shy and sensitive youth who very much hated school sports and was frequently absent from school so that he could indulge his private passion for reading adventure stories by authors such as Rider Haggard. These novels had a deep influence on him and helped shape his writing style.

According to Greene, his own view of Brighton Rock was a bit mixed:
'Brighton Rock I began in 1937 as a detective story and continued, I am sometimes tempted to think, as an error of judgment...The first fifty pages of Brighton Rock are all that remain of the detective story; they would irritate me, if I dared to look at them now, for I know I ought to have had the strength of mind to remove them, and to start the story again..'
7. The famous Chesterton poem about the rolling English road identifies a famous meeting place where the Scots and English exchanged unpleasantries. 'God pardon us, nor harden us; we did not see so clear , The night we went to Bannockburn by way of Brighton Pier. ' Bannockburn was of course a famous victory long celebrated by the Scots. Several poets and playwrights have added their poetic contributions to the subject over the years. The one I'm asking you to identify penned these lines: 'Then the Scots did shout and sing Long live Sir Robert Bruce our King' That made King Edward mourn The day he came to Bannockburn!' So who was he?

Answer: William Topaz McGonagall

William Topaz McGonagall (1830 - 1902) was a great self publicist poet and tragedian of Dundee. He has been universally acclaimed, (well almost, as some people do like his poetry), as one of the worst writers of poetry in the English language.

He was very popular at various stages of his career and attracted large audiences for his recitals

According to the website (www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk) set up to celebrate his life McGonagall was:

'A self-educated hand loom weaver from Dundee, he discovered his discordant muse in 1877 and embarked upon a 25 year career as a working poet, delighting and appalling audiences across Scotland and beyond.'

Who am I to argue? Though I must admit I would have loved to have been able to attend one of his recitals.
8. Chesterton's 'The Rolling English Road' is a wonderfully comic and sad poem which has also provided a clue about our next poet to identify: 'For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen, Before we go to Paradise by way of Kensal Green' This English poet uniquely gifted in Latin and scholarship though physically impaired wrote two mainstream epics showing both how paradise was lost and then regained. Who was he?

Answer: John Milton

John Milton (1608 -1674) was an English poet, best-known for his epic poem 'Paradise Lost'. After graduating from Christ's College, Milton undertook six years of private study in both the ancient and modern disciplines of theology, philosophy, history, politics, literature and science, in preparation for his prospective poetical career.

He is considered as probably the most academically accomplished of all English poets. He was a remarkable man who dictated 'Paradise Lost' and his later works because of his blindness.
9. According to the poem by Chesterton 'The Rolling English Road', Kensal Green is the final resting place. It was of course one of the largest cemeteries in London. Kensal Green is the resting place of this poet's wife, half-sister, publisher, best man and most faithful servant; and a further clue to help you identify him are these lines taken from one his many very successful poems which to many give an insight into the innate character of this poet. 'He learned the arts of riding, fencing, gunnery, And how to scale a fortress--or a nunnery.' So who is our noble poet?

Answer: Lord Byron

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) was one of the key members of the English Romantic Movement and was quite simply the most prolific and controversial of the great English Romantic poets.

The extract quoted in the question is from his poem 'Don Juan'. (canto 1, stanza 38)
10. G.K. Chesterton wrote the poem 'The Rolling English Road' and many other works of poetry, plays and even crime novels. You will no doubt have heard of Father Brown, one of his best known sleuths. But can you identify any more of Chesterton's creations from this list?

Answer: All of these

The American author John C. Tibbetts has written an interesting book chronicling the less well known detectives created by Gilbert Keith Chesterton. Entitled the 'The Case Of The Forgotten Detectives: The Unknown Crime Fiction Of G.K. Chesterton' it is worth reading if you want to find out more about Chesterton's detectives.
Source: Author bracklaman

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