Some girls surprised us by apparently knowing little about this woman’s subject; a few surprised us still more by not answering at all. There was room for difference of opinion. Boiling, steaming, grilling, toasting, roasting, and baking all met with support, but on the whole we side with the girls who said stewing. It is a method that certainly requires very little attention, barring the care that must of course be taken to keep the stew from sticking to the bottom of the pot and burning, if the stewing be done in a saucepan or in a jar. Some competitors fell into error by giving such answers as “boiling an egg,” “making a milk pudding,” “boiling a potato in its jacket,” and “preparing a Devonshire junket.” They should have taken note that the query spoke of processes not of performances.
36. Are there any extinct volcanoes in Great Britain?
“Not one,” says a confident competitor. In opposition to this, however, we have the answers of a great many who knew better, and were well aware that “the volcanoes of Britain are still around and beneath us, on the sea-coast and in the heart of the country, under our great cities and in our most favourite holiday haunts.” Some gave examples from central England, and one girl quoting from an article that appeared not long ago in the Leisure Hour, pointed out that “what is now the heart of England, was once dotted with volcanic vents.” Others took their illustrations from Devonshire, from North Wales, from the neighbourhood of Edinburgh and from the Western Isles of Scotland.
37. What famous musical composition came to a violinist in a dream?
The competitors who did not answer this question were a numerous company. Some made such guesses at it as Haydn’s “Creation,” and the “Moonlight Sonata.” But—without going into the dream question—Haydn was not a violinist, and neither was Beethoven. The musician of our query was the famous violin player, Giuseppe Tartini, and the composition was his singularly fine piece, “Il Trillo del Diavolo.” One night the Evil One appeared to Tartini in a dream. “The idea struck me,” says the composer, “to hand him my fiddle, and to see what he could do with it. But how great was my astonishment when I heard him play with consummate skill a sonata of such exquisite beauty as surpassed the boldest flight of my imagination.” When Tartini awoke he seized his violin and tried to reproduce the sounds he had heard. “But,” he sorrowfully says, “it was in vain. The piece I then composed, the Devil’s Sonata, although the best I ever wrote, was far below the one I had heard in my dream!”
38. When did witchcraft cease to be recognised as a crime by the law of England?
This query was generally well answered, and there was really no difficulty about it. The last trial for witchcraft in England was that of Jane Wenham, who was convicted at Hertford in 1712. Feeling towards witchcraft had, by that time, begun to change, however, and she was not executed. Twenty-four years later—that is to say, in 1736—came the repeal of the famous statute against witchcraft passed at the accession of James I. At the same time was repealed the Act of the Scottish Parliament passed in 1563 making it a capital offence to use witchcraft, sorcery, or necromancy, or to pretend to such knowledge, or to seek help from witches.
39. What famous book was mislaid when in manuscript and partly written, and was only discovered by the author nine years afterwards in the drawer of an old writing-desk?
Puzzled? Yes, many were puzzled and answered nothing. A few bold spirits ventured on such guesses as The Vicar of Wakefield, Evelyn’s Diary, Peter Simple, and Jessica’s First Prayer! The book in question was the Waverley of Sir Walter Scott. About a third of the first volume of this work was written about the year 1805, and then thrown aside in the drawer of an old writing-desk and entirely forgotten. Nine years afterwards, the author himself says, “I happened to want some fishing tackle for the use of a guest, when it occurred to me to search the old writing-desk already mentioned, in which I used to keep articles of that nature. I got access to it with some difficulty, and in looking for lines and flies, the long-lost manuscript presented itself. I immediately set to work to complete it.”
40. What English cathedral was set on fire and severely damaged by a man who was afterwards found to be insane?