h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Impatient pup!

The rump would indeed be the back end of the cow - now what of it?

there was a parliment in oxford in the run up to the civil war called the rump

Not that.

did he come up with the idea of a chain of low cost eateries all serving rump steak to the masses and invented the berni in

or if you live in london the aberdeen angus steak house

It's analogous to something else more familiar.

Right that's yer' lot for a bit, I'm making tea and watching Sherlock of the 'arddrive.

did he come up with the idea of a chain of low cost eateries all serving rump steak to the masses and invented the berni inwinkeye

or if you live in london the aberdeen angus steak house


No but I'm going to give that an enigmatic DGI +1

The Marquis of Bute is the name of a hostelry

it was the flagship of an eventual chain of hotels??

marriot or hilton or some such???

He cleared the island of all animals that might make a noise at night, and trained the coos to moo quietly.

Was the Isle of Bute, for some ancient and obscure reason, outside the influence of Parliament??

Some ancient treaty, or something similar, as a reward for Services Rendered to the Crown??



GT

>He cleared the island of all animals that might make a noise at night<

Not, perhaps on purpose.

HD +3

Solid detective work. Keep going.

Taff, GT.

Nope and Nope HD's in the lead - follow him.

I'm now trying to think of what animals might make a noise on a Scottish island at night. Owls? Foxes? All birds in the dawn chorus? Was he mad for hunting things and just killed everything?

All birds in the dawn chorus?

Are you peeking at my crib sheet?

HD +3


So now the question is - why?

Arrrgh!

Something is tickling my consciousness here!!!


I feel I know this, but over consumption of red wine is preventing a sober reply!!


GT

I really am just firing ideas off at random. From what you said earlier, was the death of all these birds an incidental by-product of some action, rather than the intended result?

Well incidental, and unintended yes, but....

The silencing of the dawn chorus is really what you might call a spot of poetic licence, a bit of creative interpretation of the facts on my part in order to give the question something to hang onto and to lead you in the right direction - and it's worked! - so I've got no proof the dawn chorus was affected, but just for the moment pretend you wanted silence to reign, how might it be done?

Never attempt QI sober - give it your best shot, man!

>>just for the moment pretend you wanted silence to reign, how might it be done?

Turn the island into a library, and put up signs "Quiet Please".

Sheep cheese was abject nonsense, but birds who can read? That's just silly.

http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=sheep%20cheese&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1256&bih=860