q11

[dubdobdee]

11.

i: What were the pipe-cleaners stolen from Uncle Jim?
ii: Why might the jay wrongly be seen as more precious than the lark?
iii: What characterised the little men apart from coloured jacket and cap?
iv: What was the crest of Blind John, adopted by the victorious leader after the battle in 1346?
v: What, developed by Rex and Cromie, owed its name to Harold, and brought immediate success for Geoff?
vi: What, in addition to the Yellow Jacket did the British commander receive after victory at Changzhou Fu?
vii: In what tale does David, living with his parents at Firetown, receive a rifle for his 14th birthday?
viii: In what tale did Joseppi stumble out the Musoline Overture on a zither in Wadi Halfa?
ix: Which scarecrow was created by a pipe-smoking New England witch?
x: Which clandestine group saved Ran on the edge of Exmoor?

COMPLETE!!

Comments

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

tentative suggestion (based on i and ix) that this is based round PIPES makes me wonder if the little men in iii is a reference to The Little Grey Men by B.B., who I think I recall smoked pipes with bowls made of acorn cups.

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

when alex suggested this was feathers not pipes, i realised that the little men probably weren't b.b.'s little grey men but the ones in the following awesome poem:
"Up the airy mountain! Down the plashy glen! I can't go a-hunting for fear of little men!"

however i don't know what their feathers are as i have (disgracefully) forgotten the rest of the poem :(

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

That amazing poem IN FULL:

The Fairies by William Allingham (date unknown)

Up the airy mountain
Down the rushy [i.e. not "plashy"] glen,
We daren't go a-hunting,
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl's feather.

Down along the rocky shore
Some make their home,
They live on crispy pancakes
Of yellow tide-foam;
Some in the reeds
Of the black mountain-lake,
With frogs for their watch-dogs,
All night awake.

High on the hill-top
The old King sits;
He is now so old and gray
He's nigh lost his wits.
With a bridge of white mist
Columbkill he crosses,
On his stately journeys
From Slieveleague to Rosses;

Or going up with music,
On cold starry nights,
To sup with the Queen,
Of the gay Northern Lights.
They stole little Bridget
For seven years long;
When she came down again
Her friends were all gone.

They took her lightly back
Between the night and morrow;
They thought she was fast asleep,
But she was dead with sorrow.
They have kept her ever since
Deep within the lake,
On a bed of flag leaves,

Watching till she wake.
By the craggy hill-side,
Through the mosses bare,
They have planted thorn trees
For pleasure here and there.
Is any man so daring
As dig them up in spite?
He shall find the thornies set
In his bed at night.

Up the airy mountain
Down the rushy glen,
We daren't go a-hunting,
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl's feather.

[marnameow.livejournal.com]

i. Is this in Swallows and Amazons? When Uncle Jim was a pirate and they raided the houseboat?

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

this occurred to me, as there is almost always a swallows and amazon question -- i don't recall the pipecleaners tho

also: i've been (correctly) corrected by alex on twitter re the topic

[marnameow.livejournal.com]

I can't remember what they raid from the pirate's boat at all. But also the phrasing of the question - 'what were the pipecleaners' - points to it, because at that point in the narrative they would have been taking something much more exciting. Pete was rereading S&A over wobs.

[marnameow.livejournal.com]

Oh having read the theme on twitter - it was pirate parrot tail feathers, ofc!

[marnameow.livejournal.com]

vii this is REALLY FAMILIAR - I think it's from a short story, and is all about death? Yeah that helps narrow it down.

ix this too! I think the scarecrow comes alive and all the womenfolk fall in love with it?

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

vii. Yes, a short story, by John Updike - "Pigeon Feathers" : http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1961/08/19/pigeon-feathers

…but it's on his 15th birthday he gets the rifle [/controversy]

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

and ix. sa Google is "Feathertop" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, but again I think marna had the right book in mind.

[alextiefling.livejournal.com]

iv is three ostrich feathers, taken by Edward the Black Prince from Blind John of Luxembourg, King of Bohemia, in battle (Crécy?) and used as a badge by Princes of Wales ever since.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

If the theme is feathers (as answers above suggest) then viii. could be The Four Feathers

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

^ google confirms

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

and ii. is apparently a famous bit of Shakespeare from The Taming of the Shrew:

"What, is the jay more precious than the lark, Because his feathers are more beautiful? Or is the adder better than the eel, Because his painted skin contents the eye?"

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

x. is The Feather Men from a controversial tale by the same name by Sir Ranulph Fiennes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Feather_Men

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

v. is the featherbed (motorcycle) frame. 'Harold' is TT racer H. Daniell, and 'Geoff' is ditto G. Duke. It's all here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Featherbed_frame

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

…and, finally, Google suggests vi. is a peacock feather, with the victorious recipient being General Charles Gordon a.k.a. 'Chinese Gordon'.

For the most part, it seems to me like the 2015 quiz was much easier to google answers to than previous years. Fewer synonyms and elliptical clues than usual.