Nursery Rhymes: The Horrible Truth

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. "Little Jack Horner sat in a corner eating a Christmas pie; He put in his thumb and pulled out a plum and said 'what a good boy am I?'" What is the plum that this rhyme refers to? A young maiden Money from the treasury A plum piece of real estate A Catholic priest

2. "Ring-a-Ring o' Roses" is about the bubonic plague. True False

3. A worker in London pawns his coat in order to pay for basic food and then uses up the rest of the money by going on a pub crawl. Which nursery rhyme, some historians suggest, might this be the real meaning behind? The Grand Old Duke of York Pop Goes the Weasel Jack Be Nimble Old Mother Hubbard

4. "Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard to fetch her poor dog a bone But when she got there the cupboard was bare and so the poor dog had none" One interpretation is that Old Mother Hubbard was Cardinal Wolsey and the rhyme refers to the king's "great matter". In this context, who or what is the "cupboard" that was "bare"? Catherine of Aragon Parliament Sir Thomas More The Holy See

5. "London Bridge is Falling Down Falling down, falling down London Bridge is falling down My fair lady". Who or what, in the context of this rhyme, has it been suggested might be the fair lady? The River Thames Queen Elizabeth I City of London A dead child

6. What English town lays claim to providing the inspiration for the three nursery rhymes, "Old King Cole", "Humpty Dumpty" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"? Huntingdon Colchester Chelmsford Ipswich

7. "Rub-a-dub-dub, three _____ in a tub". The rhyme today says it is three men in the tub but the first recording of the rhyme has something different, that casts a whole new (and less wholesome) light on the meaning of the rhyme. Who was in the tub? Three priests Three maids Three dogs Three knaves

8. "The Grand Old Duke of York He had ten thousand men He marched them up to the top of the hill And he marched them down again" Which of these men has been mentioned as a possible contender to be the Duke of York of the rhyme? All of these James II Prince Frederick, son of George III Richard Plantagenet, father of Edward IV

9. "Doctor Foster went to Gloucester in a shower of rain". Which English king is reputed to be the Doctor Foster of this rhyme? King Edward I (Longshanks) King John (Lackland) King Richard I (Lionheart) King William II (Rufus)

10. "Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat where have you been? I've been to London to visit the queen" If the Queen is Elizabeth I, who is represented in this rhyme by the cat? A cat Mary, Queen of Scots The Spanish Armada Lord Essex