Quizzes

2021 Christmas Quiz

Get festive and test your knowledge of Christmas through time.

1. What were the main ingredients of the 1930s Christmas favourite eggnog?
a) Egg, milk, cream, sugar and spirits (brandy, rum or whisky) 
b) Egg, milk, cream, sugar and wine
c) Egg, milk, cream, sugar and nutmeg
d) Egg, milk, cream, sugar and beer

 

2. What meat was often given by landowners as a Christmas gift to their friends and neighbours in the 17th and 18th centuries?
a) Beef
b) Turkey
c) Venison 
d) Lamb

3. The master of the Chapel Royal, William Cornish laid on entertainments involving performers emerging from a timber model castle at Eltham for which English king?
a) Henry V
b) Henry VI
c) Henry VII
d) Henry VIII

4. On what day did servants traditionally have their Christmas dinner in country houses during the 19th century?
a) On Christmas Eve as they would haven’t time on Christmas day
b) Late in the evening on Christmas day after the family has gone to bed
c) On Boxing Day as they would be busy serving the family on Christmas day
d) On New Year’s eve

5. Queen Victoria and her family were fond of amateur theatricals at Christmas, but in which room at Osborne where were these held in the 1890s?
a) The Billiard Room
b) The Council Room
c) The Drawing Room
d) The Durbar Room

6. The royal children and grandchildren often took part in tableau vivants each Christmas at Osborne. What did this involve?
a) Putting on a pantomime
b) Dressing up in costume and posing in a living picture
c) Creating a puppet show
d) Decorating the dining table before dinner with Christmas greenery collected from the grounds

7. Which of these things did the convalescents at Wrest Park hospital not do on Christmas day 1915?
a) Hold a concert in the staircase hall including songs, sketches and variety acts
b) Enjoy a trip to the cinema in Luton for a matinee performance
c) Decorate the wards with holly and other greenery
d) Enjoy a raucous Christmas dinner of turkey with all the trimmings followed by Christmas pudding

8. How did Father Christmas deliver presents to the children of staff at the Silsoe Research Institute at Wrest Park in the 1980s?
a) Drove up on a decorated tractor and trailer with the presents on board
b) Came up into the dining room through a trapdoor from the basement
c) Appeared from behind curtains in the library
d) Abseiled down from a skylight into the staircase hall with his bag of presents

9. What Christmas gifts did the Byzantine Emperor, Manuel Palaiologus give to king Henry IV at Eltham in December 1400?
a) Visiting the Golden bangles and a diamond incrusted goblet
b) A robe once worn by the emperor, Theodosius
c) Fragments of the True Cross and garment believed to have been worn by Christ and the Virgin Mary
d) A hand-made suit of armour made by Syrian craftsmen

10. How did Stephen and Virginia Courtauld of Eltham Palace spend Christmas Day in 1936
a) Visiting the pyramids in Egypt
b) Picnicking by Niagara Falls
c) Visiting king George VI at Balmoral
d) Touring round France in an open-top car

  • Answers:

    Question 1: a) Egg, milk, cream, sugar and spirits (brandy, rum or whisky) 

    Question 2: c) Venison

    Question 3: d) Henry VIII 

    Question 4: c) On Boxing Day as they would be busy serving the family on Christmas day 

    Question 5: d) The Durbar Room 

    Question 6: b) Dressing up in costume and posing in a living picture 

    Question 7: b) Enjoy a trip to the cinema in Luton for a matinee performance 

    Question 8: d) Abseiled down from a skylight into the staircase hall with his bag of presents 

    Question 9: c) Fragments of the True Cross and garment believed to have been worn by Christ and the Virgin Mary 

    Question 10: a) Visiting the pyramids in Egypt