B&S Competition Dec 2007

Date Added: Fri 14 December 2007

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Enter our competition and win a Marks & Spencer festive hamper.The competition is a multiple choice quiz with a festive theme.

Closing date for entries is Thursday 20th December and the winner will be notified on Friday 21st December. In the event of a number of winning entries being received, the overall winner will be drawn from a hat.

Click here to email your answers to Alex Wilson

1. Who was the narrator in Raymond Brigg’s 1982 animated classic The Snowman?

a) Michael Palin
b) David Bowie
c) Sir Ian McKellan

2. How many Christmas Islands are there?

a) one
b) two
c) three

3. Which monarch read the first Royal Christmas message to the nation?

a) King George V
b) Queen Elizabeth II
c) Queen Victoria

4. The poinsettia is a traditional Christmas flower. Where did it originally grow?

a) Canada
b) Mexico
c) Spain

5. Which country issued the first Christmas postage stamp in 1937?

a) France
b) America
c) Austria

6. Who composed White Christmas?

a) Irving Berlin
b) George Gershwin
c) Bing Crosby

7. In which country does La Befana (a kindly old woman) give presents instead of Santa Claus?

a) Italy
b) Mexico
c) Spain

8. What is a ‘tomte’?

a) A Swedish Christmas food
b) A Swedish Christmas gnome
c) A Swedish Christmas game

9. What was the first UK Christmas number one single?

a) Here in My Heart by Al Martino
b) Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison
c) Jingle Bells by Buddy Holly

10. Which is NOT a foreign name for Santa Claus?

a) Sinterklaas
b) Julemanden
c) Velki Jurji

11. In Sweden, a common Christmas decoration is the Julbukk, a small figurine of a goat. Of what material is it usually made?

a) Tin
b) Straw
c) Wood

12. What is the Irish custom of "feeding the wren" or "hunting the wren" on December 26?

a) Taking one’s in-laws out for dinner
b) Carrying a wren door to door, to collect money for charity
c) Putting out suet and seeds for the wild birds

13. At lavish Christmas feasts in the middle ages, swans and peacocks were sometimes served ‘endored’. What does that mean?

a) The feet and beaks were coated with gold
b) The birds had been raised on grain soaked in brandy
c) The flesh was painted with saffron dissolved in melted butter

14. All through the Christmas season in old England, "lambswool" could be found in the houses of the well-to-do. What was it?

a) A brew of hot ale with roast apples floating in it
b) A fluffy confection made with almonds and sugar
c) Imitation snow used in decorations.

15. What is the definition of a white Christmas according to bookmakers William Hill?

a) 25 snowflakes falling anywhere in the UK
b) Visible snow coverage on rooftops in five UK cities
c) A single flake falling

16. At the end of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Scrooge invites Bob Crattchit to join him for a Smoking Bishop’. What did he mean?

a) A pipe of tobacco
b) Hot mulled wine
c) A fast variation of chess, popular in Victorian London

17. In Greek legend, malicious creatures called Kallikantzaroi sometimes play troublesome pranks at Christmas time. What should you do to get rid of them?

a) Throw your sandals at them
b) Burn either salt or an old shoe
c) Sing hymns in a loud voice

18. The jólasveinar, or "yule lads", are a traditional part of an Icelandic Christmas. What are they?

a) The best male singers from each village
b) Woodcutters
c) A band of thirteen gift-giving goblins

19. In Lithuania, if Kaledu Senelis, or Grandfather Christmas, appears to the children on Christmas Eve to hand out presents, the recipient must:

a) Find the gift while blindfolded
b) Perform a song or poem before receiving the gift
c) Kneel to receive the gift

20. Who said, ‘Merry Christmas, movie house! Merry Christmas, Emporium! Merry Christmas you wonderful old Building and Loan!” in a classic Christmas movie?

a) Kermit in The Muppet Christmas carol
b) George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life
c) Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street