Poor Richard’s Almanac

It’s me, Richard Saunders of Poor Richard’s Almanac fame, here to kick off a week of piratical fun with a pirate-related quiz. Here at Poor Richard’s Almanac, we’re all a little pirate-mad. From our friend Ben’s battered red VW Golf, the Red Rogue, with its pirate fish on the back, to Silence Dogood’s love of movie pirates (don’t try to stop her from watching Johnny Depp or an old Errol Flynn classic unless you want to walk the plank!), to my own obsession with finding the true stories behind the pirate legends, it’s definitely a shared interest. And this week, we’re going to share it with you.

Today, I have a quiz on all things piratical to share with you. I’ve made it multiple choice ’cause I think that’s more fun. Look it over and see if you can spot the right—or, in this case, wrong—answers! As the week continues, we’ll have our friend Ben checking in with a “Ben Picks Ten: Pirates” post, Silence will contribute pirate-themed recipes and movie reviews, I’ll be back with some pirate lore, and we may even send you all on a treasure hunt! But let’s start with that quiz:

                       Quiz: Pirates or the Plank

In the old days, pretending to be a pirate could be a quick road to the plank… or the gallows. In each of the questions below, someone or something is pretending to be piratical in the midst of the genuine articles. Can you spot the impostors? I’ll give you the answers at the end. But no cheating, now, or you’ll find yourself marooned on a desert island without a treasure map! Ready… set… aaaarrrrrr!!!

1.  Which actor has not played a pirate?

a. Geoffrey Rush

b. Yul Brynner

c. Hugh Grant

d. Tyrone Power

e. Dustin Hoffman

f. Charlton Heston

g. Alan Rickman

2. Which of the following movies does not have any pirates in it?

a. Captain Blood

b. The Black Swan

c. The Curse of the Black Pearl

d. Against All Flags

e. Hook

f. The Buccaneer

g. Mutiny on the Bounty

h. Cutthroat Island

3. Which of these words or phrases is not a euphemism for pirate?

a. privateer

b. corsair

c. buccaneer

d. brethren of the Coast

e. mutineer

f. swashbuckler

g. marrooner

h. gentleman of fortune

4. Which of the following is not a pirate flag?

a. Skull and Pistols

b. The Jolly Roger

c. Skull and Crossbones

d. Skeleton, Spear and Heart

e. Skull and Cutlasses

5. Which of these books or stories is not about pirates?

a. Treasure Island

b. Peter Pan

c. Sea Witch

d. The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest

e. Shiver Me Timbers

f. Queen of the Black Coast

6. Which of these is not a pirate ship?

a. Queen Anne’s Revenge

b. The Golden Hind

c. The Rising Sun

d. Royal James

e. The Virgin Queen

f. Fancy

7. Which of the following was not a real-life pirate?

a. Blackbeard

b. Redbeard

c. Bluebeard

d. Captain Kidd

e. Captain Morgan

f. Jean Lafitte

g. Calico Jack

h. Stede Bonnet

i. Long Ben

8. After whom did Johnny Depp model his pirate captain, Jack Sparrow?

a. Elton John

b. Mick Jagger

c. Alice Cooper

d. Keith Richards

e. Ozzie Osbourne

9. Which of these lyrics are not from pirate songs?

a. Yo ho yo ho a pirate’s life for me

b. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum

c. I only shed blood where another shed tears

d. Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest

e. Drink and plunder lads and to hell with the rest

10. Which of these characters was not a pirate?

a. Captain Hook

b. Long John Silver

c. Davy Jones

d. Captain Jesamiah Acorne

e. Cap’n Crunch

f. Yellowbeard

g. Black Jack Lee

And the bonus:

11. Which of the following was the most successful real-life pirate?

a. Grace O’Malley

b. Edward Teach (Blackbeard)

c. Jack Rackham (Calico Jack)

d. Bartholomew Roberts (Black Bart, the Great Pirate Roberts)

e. Henry Morgan (Captain Morgan)

f. Khair ad Din (Barbarossa, Redbeard)

g. William Kidd (Captain Kidd)

 

Hope you had fun! Okay, ready for some answers? Let’s “sea” how you fared:

1. f, Charlton Heston

2. g, Mutiny on the Bounty

3. e, mutineer

4. a, Skull and Pistols

5. e, Shiver Me Timbers (I made that one up)

6. e, The Virgin Queen

7. c, Bluebeard (Bluebeard, aka Gilles de Rais, was a Breton nobleman and serial killer, but not a pirate)

8. d, Keith Richards (but it should have been Alice)

9. e, Drink and plunder lads and to hell with the rest (sounds good, though, doesn’t it?)

10. e, Cap’n Crunch; his nemesis, Jean LaFoote, was the pirate

11. d, Bartholomew Roberts, the Great Pirate Roberts (aka Black Bart). I’ll let our friend Ben tell you why in “Ben Picks Ten: Pirates.” Stay tuned!