Nursery Rhymes - Random Trivia Answers

• A1) The cheese. In the children's game, the person chosen as the cheese often begins the next round as the farmer.
• A2) Vinegar. The liquid was supposed to "mend his head".
• A3) Ann (or Anne or Nan). She hid under the baking pan while their home burned.
• A4) A plum. He used his thumb to fish the fruit out of his Christmas pie.
• A5) Grace. Wednesday's child is usually full of woe, but some versions reserve that fate for Friday's.
• A6) Drury Lane. The London thoroughfare is home to the Theatre Royal and the New London Theatre.
• A7) Nine days old. "Pease" is an alternate spelling of "peas". Pease porridge is also known as pease pudding or pease pottage.
• A8) His wife. In an early version, Peter let the mice eat her.
• A9) Sukey. Polly is a nickname for Mary, while Sukey is a nickname for Susan.
• A10) The Queen of England. The cat went to London and frightened a mouse under her chair.
• A11) In a rotten potato. An early 19th-century variation had the men going at a fair with three maids in the tub instead.
• A12) A blackbird pecked off her nose. But fear not, the king's doctor sewed it back on as good as new.

Nursery Rhymes - Random Trivia Questions

If you grew up in the U.S. or almost any other English-speaking country, you probably heard quite a few nursery rhymes when you were young. Many of the popular poems originated in England in the 18th and 19th centuries and have been modified numerous times along the way. What do you know about the most common current versions of the following rhymes?

Nursery Rhymes Questions

• Q1) "The Farmer in the Dell" (Germany, 1820): Who or what stands alone in the end?
• Q2) "Jack and Jill" (England, c. 1765): In the second verse, what did Jack wrap his head in besides brown paper?
• Q3) "Ladybird, Ladybird" (Britain, c. 1744): Which of the title character's children is the only one who isn't gone?
• Q4) "Little Jack Horner" (England, 1725): What did the title character pull out of his food?
• Q5) "Monday's Child" (England, 1838): What is Tuesday's child full of?
• Q6) "The Muffin Man" (England, c. 1820): On what road does the title character live?
• Q7) "Pease Porridge Hot" (England, c. 1765): How old is the porridge?
• Q8) "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater" (U.S.?, c. 1825): What did the title character keep in a pumpkin shell?
• Q9) "Polly Put the Kettle On" (England, 1803): Who takes the kettle off?
• Q10) "Pussy Cat Pussy Cat" (Britain, 1805): Who did the title character visit?
• Q11) "Rub-A-Dub-Dub" (England, 1798): Where were the butcher, baker, and candlestick maker before they were in the tub?
• Q12) "Sing a Song of Sixpence" (England, c. 1744): What happened to the maid in the garden?