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Quiz about The Bab Ballads by W S Gilbert

"The Bab Ballads" by W. S. Gilbert Quiz

Before he teamed up with Arthur Sullivan to write their famous comic operas, W. S. Gilbert wrote and illustrated many poems. Here are questions about a few of them.

A photo quiz by ertrum. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
ertrum

Time
5 mins

Type
Photo Quiz

Quiz #
337,291

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
530

One at a Time - Single Page

Question 1 of 10

1. Gilbert's collection of illustrated poems is called "The Bab Ballads". Who or what was "Bab"?` Hint

It was Gilbert's name for his aunt.

Gilbert's description of the poems - "babble"

Gilbert's pen name which he used on the illustrations

It is short for Bebington, a town in England.

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Question 2 of 10

2. What English humor magazine were "The Bab Ballads" originally published in? Hint

Laughs

The New Yorker

Fun

Mad

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Question 3 of 10

3. Gilbert's poem, "The Rival Curates" provided the plot for which of the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas?
Hint

The Yeomen of the Guard

Patience

HMS Pinafore

The Gondoliers

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Question 4 of 10

4. What is unusual about the lady in "To My Bride"? Hint

she is unknown

she is deaf

she is engaged to another man

she lives overseas

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Question 5 of 10

5. Finish this line from "The Yarn of the 'Nancy Bell'":
"Oh I am a cook and a captain bold,
And the mate of the "Nancy" brig,
And a bo'sun tight and a midshipmite,
And ________________ " Hint

a proper sort of prig

a right greedy old pig

the crew of the captain's gig

a very master of trig

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Question 6 of 10

6. The narrator of "The Bumboat Woman's Story" is named Pineapple Poll in the poem. She reappears as Little Buttercup in which of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas? Hint

HMS Pinafore

Iolanthe

The Pirates of Penzance

The Gondoliers

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Question 7 of 10

7. "The Folly of Brown" is written from the point of view of an investment advisor. What is his complaint about Mr. Brown? Hint

Brown spends too much

Brown won't buy the investments he suggests

Brown is a drunk

Brown wants to marry

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Question 8 of 10

8. Phrenology is the study of the shape of the skull, by means of which a phrenologist may make deductions about what feature of his patient? Hint

his character

his age

his fortune

his health

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Question 9 of 10

9. When the policeman sings "To a Maid", and says he wishes her to accompany him to Pentonville, where will she be going? Hint

a womens' prison

a convent

a school

a cemetery

10. Bishop Peter figures in two of the poems. In the first, he is learning to dance and otherwise to entertain his flock. In the second, he marries one of them. Where does Peter have his see? Hint

London

Canterbury

Peking

Rum-ti-Foo

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Gilbert's collection of illustrated poems is called "The Bab Ballads". Who or what was "Bab"?`

Answer: Gilbert's pen name which he used on the illustrations

Gilbert signed his drawings "Bab", short for "baby", a nickname of his.

2. What English humor magazine were "The Bab Ballads" originally published in?

Answer: Fun

Gilbert wrote and published the poems in "Fun" between 1860 and 1870. He started collaborating with Arthur Sullivan in 1871, with the most famous of their comic operas coming in the next twenty years.

3. Gilbert's poem, "The Rival Curates" provided the plot for which of the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas?

Answer: Patience

Though in "Patience", the rival curates become rival poets, the opera's plot comes directly from "The Rival Curates". When Bunthorne finally persuades his rival Grosvenor to become less aesthetic, Grosvenor says he'll be happy to do so because "I do it on compulsion!" -- a direct quote from the poem.

4. What is unusual about the lady in "To My Bride"?

Answer: she is unknown

Subtitled "Whoever She May Be", the swain directs his words to the unknown object of his affection, and hopes that she will be quick about letting him know who she is.

5. Finish this line from "The Yarn of the 'Nancy Bell'": "Oh I am a cook and a captain bold, And the mate of the "Nancy" brig, And a bo'sun tight and a midshipmite, And ________________ "

Answer: the crew of the captain's gig

The narrator of "The Yarn of the 'Nancy Bell'" tells a tale of shipwreck and cannibalism. He's the last survivor of the crew, having eaten all his shipmates one way or another.

6. The narrator of "The Bumboat Woman's Story" is named Pineapple Poll in the poem. She reappears as Little Buttercup in which of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas?

Answer: HMS Pinafore

"Pineapple Poll" is also the name of a ballet by Sir Charles Mackerras, which incorporates many themes from the comic operas.

7. "The Folly of Brown" is written from the point of view of an investment advisor. What is his complaint about Mr. Brown?

Answer: Brown won't buy the investments he suggests

"He called me 'thief' the other day
And daily from his door he thrusts me.
Much more of this and soon I may
Begin to think that Brown mistrusts me."

Mr. Brown has come into quite a lot of money, and refuses to part with it, the cad.

8. Phrenology is the study of the shape of the skull, by means of which a phrenologist may make deductions about what feature of his patient?

Answer: his character

In the poem, "Phrenology", a newly trained phrenologist-policeman examines the accused criminal and determines that he can't have committed the crime. When he examines the accuser, he finds that the victim was more likely to be a criminal than the mugger was.

9. When the policeman sings "To a Maid", and says he wishes her to accompany him to Pentonville, where will she be going?

Answer: a womens' prison

His language is quite flowery for the act of arresting someone.
"Come, for we 'want' thee there,
Thou elfin thing,
To work thy spell
In some cool cell
In stately Pentonville"

10. Bishop Peter figures in two of the poems. In the first, he is learning to dance and otherwise to entertain his flock. In the second, he marries one of them. Where does Peter have his see?

Answer: Rum-ti-Foo

Peter, bishop of Rum-ti-Foo, was very keen on entertaining the Rum-ti-Foozelites, but drew the line at anything that was too undignified.

Source: Author ertrum

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