The Trumpet-Major MCQs

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Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature


Updated on: November 13, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 17 min

The Trumpet-Major MCQs

1. What is Mrs. Garland’s occupation?

A. Muslin-gowned woman
B. Landscape-painter’s widow
C. Wessex coast resident
D. Elder, respectable lady

B. Landscape-painter’s widow.
Mrs. Garland is the elder lady, identified specifically as a landscape painter’s widow, living on limited means.

2. What is Anne’s most distinctive physical feature?

A. Very fair complexion
B. Slender, short height
C. Uncovered front teeth
D. Dignified sweet manner

C. Uncovered front teeth.
Portions of Anne’s white teeth were uncovered at the mere pleasant thought or smile, which some found attractive.

3. What sound soothed Anne and her mother morning, noon, and night?

A. Cheerful hopper clicking
B. Music of the mill
C. Clanking of cavalry
D. The stopped diapason

B. Music of the mill.
They lived in a portion of the mill where the wooden wheels and cogs produced continuous notes like an organ.

4. What gave the furniture in the Garlands’ dwelling a ghostly look?

A. Subtle mist of flour
B. Nasty dirt accumulation
C. Bolting all night
D. Wooden tones of the organ

A. Subtle mist of flour.
Super-fine flour crept in through all crevices, making furniture look pallid and ghostly over time.
5. What quality of Mrs. Garland led her to accept the miller’s company?

A. High gentility standards
B. Easy-minded, unambitious
C. Fastidious social reasons
D. Widow’s kind nature

B. Easy-minded, unambitious.
Being easy-minded and unambitious, she would not make life a solitude for fastidious social reasons.

6. What item was Anne working on while sitting at the window?

A. Home-made tablecloth
B. Fringed worsted rug
C. Chromatically brilliant quilt
D. Invisible flour-mist

B. Fringed worsted rug.
Anne was sitting at the window, measuring out lengths of worsted for a fringed rug that was three-quarters finished.

7. What body of water was immediately before Anne’s window?

A. The trickling brook
B. The large smooth millpond
C. The distant sea
D. The wet cattle-drive

B. The large smooth millpond.
Immediately before her window was the large, smooth millpond, whose flowing water tumbled over the wheel.

8. What topographical feature sheltered the mill and village from north winds?

A. Steep slope high hill
B. The cattle drive
C. Large smooth mill-pond
D. The town of Weymouth

A. Steep slope high hill.
The upland, rising high into the sky, sheltered the mill from north winds, resulting in mild temperatures.

9. What type of troops did Anne first observe rising onto the down?

A. A column of infantry
B. A column of cavalry
C. German Legion
D. York Hussars

B. A column of cavalry.
Anne first beheld a whole column of cavalry in marching order rising onto the plateau at the top.
10. Who did Mrs. Garland initially fear the arriving military represented?

A. Simon Burden’s friends
B. The arch-enemy Buonaparte
C. Corporal Tullidge
D. The King’s service

B. The arch-enemy Buonaparte.
Mrs. Garland’s first thought was that the “arch-enemy of mànkind,” Buonaparte, had finally landed.

11. Who was the aged military relic who crossed the mill-bridge to speak to Anne?

A. Miller Loveday
B. Corporal Tullidge
C. Simon Burden
D. Trumpeter Buck

C. Simon Burden.
Simon Burden, the man who watched at the beacon, was the aged form Anne waved to.

12. According to Simon Burden, what was the function of the men who arrived first on the down?

A. They were the officers
B. They were the camp markers
C. They were the York Hussars
D. They were the quartermaster

B. They were the camp markers.
Simon Burden explained that the men seen first were markers sent ahead to measure out the ground.

13. Which regiment did Simon Burden first identify?

A. York Hussars
B. -th Dragoons
C. Hanoverians
D. Foreigners to a man

A. York Hussars.
Simon Burden brightened up, identifying the first soldiers to ascend the down as the York Hussars.

14. Which military group followed the York Hussars and was identified as all Englishmen?

A. Hanoverians
B. Infantry battalions
C. -th Dragoons
D. Foreign Hussars

C. -th Dragoons.
Troops of different build followed, identified by Simon as the -th Dragoons, who were all Englishmen.
15. How did the arrival of the regiments affect Mrs. Garland’s disposition?

A. It made her extremely anxious
B. It excited her greatly
C. It made her want solitude
D. It made her feel dignified

B. It excited her greatly.
Mrs. Garland was of a festive and sanguine turn of mind, and the coming of the regiments excited her.

16. What trade characterized Miller Loveday’s ancient family line?

A. Gentleman-tanners
B. Corn-grinders
C. Landscape-painters
D. Ship-carpenters

B. Corn-grinders.
Miller Loveday was the representative of an ancient family line of corn-grinders lost in the mists of antiquity.

17. Approximately how old was Miller Loveday?

A. About thirty-two
B. Fifty-five or sixty
C. Nearly forty
D. Eighty-seven or more

B. Fifty-five or sixty.
Miller Loveday was described as a hale man of fifty-five or sixty years, recently come from the mill.

18. What news did Miller Loveday specifically come to the Garlands’ house to share?

A. His son John’s regiment
B. Lowness of the rent
C. Bob is going to sea
D. The coming of the French

A. His son John’s regiment.
Loveday came to tell them that one of the horse regiments was the 1st Dragoons, his son John’s regiment.

19. What occupation did Loveday’s second son, Robert (Bob), pursue?

A. Trumpeter-major
B. Sailor
C. Grinder
D. Landscape-painter

B. Sailor.
Loveday explained that his second son, Robert, felt compelled to go to sea instead of staying at the mill.
20. What was the approximate age difference between John and Robert Loveday?

A. About four years
B. Nearly six years
C. Exactly twenty-eight years
D. Two years

A. About four years.
John was thirty-two and Bob was twenty-eight, making the age difference about four years.

21. What positive duty did the miller keep David on for, despite his poor sight?

A. Getting up a feast
B. Oiling chair legs
C. Helping Anne
D. Making chalk calculations

B. Oiling chair legs.
David was kept on because he was good at making beds and oiling the legs of chairs and other furniture.

22. What characteristic defined the dresses of the soldiers’ wives in the village?

A. Regard for colour
B. Fine material
C. White muslin
D. Homely country attire

A. Regard for colour.
The soldiers’ wives were brilliantly dressed, paying more attention to colour than to material.

23. What louder sound broke the silence late at night, coming from the camp?

A. Miles-long voice of the sea
B. The cheerful clicking
C. The tattoo call
D. Shuffle of horses

C. The tattoo call.
Louder sounds suddenly broke the approach to silence; they came from the camp, and it was the tattoo.

24. What structure did the soldiers build down the steep incline to the millpond?

A. A white ribbon path
B. A continuous zigzag path
C. A straight track
D. A wooden ladder

B. A continuous zigzag path.
Soldiers busily made a zigzag path down the chalk incline from the camp to the riverhead.
25. Why did John Loveday likely come down to the millpond that morning?

A. To wave to Anne
B. To drink the water
C. To caution the horsemen
D. To meet his father

C. To caution the horsemen.
He had come to caution horsemen against riding too far in towards the mill-head, which he knew best.

26. What was John Loveday’s military rank?

A. Sergeant-master-tailor
B. Commissioned officer
C. Trumpet-major
D. Corporal

C. Trumpet-major.
John was consistently identified as the trumpet-major, which was his rank in the dragoon regiment.

27. Which foreign troops were present at the miller’s party?

A. German, Hungarian, Swedish
B. Only German and Swedish
C. French and Hanoverians
D. York Hussars only

A. German, Hungarian, Swede.
The guests included a German, two Hungarians, and a Swede from the Foreign Hussars.

28. Who were the two old veterans employed as watchers at the beacon?

A. Corporal Tullidge
B. James Comfort
C. Simon Burden
D. Tullidge and Burden

D. Tullidge and Burden.
The two old veterans employed as watchers at the beacon were Simon Burden and Corporal Tullidge.

29. What injury did Corporal Tullidge sustain at Valenciennes in Ninety-three?

A. Smashed leg
B. Head injury and arm
C. Gunshot wound
D. Loss of judgment

B. Head injury and arm.
Corporal Tullidge’s head was injured at Valenciennes by a shell, along with his smashed arm.
30. Why did young people of Overcombe dread the spectacle of Corporal Tullidge uncovered?

A. The ghastliness of his appearance
B. His uncompromising voice
C. The silver plate on his head
D. His endless war stories

A. The ghastliness of his appearance.
Strange stories were told of the ghastliness of his appearance, bare-headed, since his war injury.

31. According to Corporal Tullidge, when would Buonaparte likely attempt a landing?

A. Down-channel tide
B. During the daytime
C. Only in cold weather
D. When all were abed

A. Down-channel tide.
Tullidge predicted the invasion would happen on a down-channel tide, bringing the boats into Weymouth Bay.

32. Who entered the room loudly singing a verse about Boney and London town?

A. Miller Loveday
B. John Loveday
C. Young Squire Derriman
D. Corporal Tullidge

C. Young Squire Derriman.
The colossal young man in Yeomanry Cavalry uniform who entered singing loudly was young Squire Derriman.

33. What specific military group did Festus Derriman belong to?

A. Trumpeters
B. Yeomanry Cavalry
C. -th Dragoons
D. Local forces

B. Yeomanry Cavalry.
Festus identified himself as Festus Derriman of the Yeomanry Cavalry to Anne.

34. What did Festus boast about the Yeomanry having, which the dragoons did not?

A. More gentlemanly attire
B. His own charger
C. Better military skill
D. More substantial families

B. His own charger.
Festus boasted that every man among the yeomanry rode his own charger, unlike the dragoons.
35. What were the two primary aspects of Festus Derriman’s disposition?

A. Sullen and shy
B. Boastful and cantankerous
C. Humorous and aggressive
D. Fickle and sentimental

B. Boastful and cantankerous.
His disposition naturally divides into two, consisting of the boastful and the cantankerous aspects.

36. What feeling did Anne experience towards Festus, which disposed her to tolerate him?

A. Mortal terror of his irascibility
B. Vague hope of his love
C. Sense of his great wealth
D. Annoyance at his compliments

A. Mortal terror of his irascibility.
Anne was in mortal terror of his irascibility, but this enabled her to find fearful pleasure in leading him on.

37. Why did Mrs. Garland encourage Anne to pursue Festus Derriman?

A. His handsome figure
B. He was a trumpet-major
C. His expected wealth
D. His social standing

C. His expected wealth.
Mrs. Garland was interested because she heard Festus was likely to inherit a great deal of money.

38. Who did Anne’s mother mistakenly believe was the person trying to meet Anne?

A. Festus Derriman
B. Miller Loveday
C. John Loveday
D. Cripplestraw

C. John Loveday.
Anne’s mother mistakenly thought the trumpet-major was the person Anne was trying to avoid.

39. What action did Festus take to get Anne’s attention from below her bedroom window?

A. Laughed loudly at her
B. Slapped the window
C. Rode his horse into the pond
D. Called her name softly

B. Slapped the window.
Festus, on his horse in the water, looked up and slapped her lattice to get her attention.
40. What was Miller Loveday’s main motivation for proposing to Mrs. Garland sooner than planned?

A. To help his son, John
B. He had loved her long
C. His own ambition
D. To save the wedding victuals

A. To help his son John.
Miller Loveday rushed his proposal because he wished to help relieve his son John’s gloom regarding Anne.

41. What royal figure was expected to pass near Overcombe?

A. The Duke of Cumberland
B. King George
C. Queen Charlotte
D. Buonaparte

B. King George.
King George was coming to Weymouth and was expected to pass by the road near Overcombe.

42. What specific musical detail did John mention about the distant church clock?

A. It struck in G sharp
B. It was a tenor bell
C. It sounded like E flat
D. It was too deep a note

A. It struck in G sharp.
John noted that the distant clock struck the note G sharp, which he had observed since boyhood.

43. What news did the Weymouth post-master bring the miller at the review?

A. His son Bob was promoted
B. A letter had arrived
C. The King was leaving
D. The sham fight was over

B. A letter had arrived.
The postmaster informed the miller that a large, red letter had been lying at the post office for him.

44. How long did Bob say he had known his intended bride, Matilda Johnson?

A. Two years
B. Fifteen days
C. Four weeks
D. A fortnight

D. A fortnight.
Bob stated in his letter that he had known Matilda Johnson for the full space of a fortnight.
45. Why did Farmer Derriman want Miller Loveday to hold his documents?

A. Fear of his nephew
B. Fear of Buonaparte
C. Fear of fire and thieves
D. All of the above

D. All of the above.
Uncle Benjy wanted Loveday to keep his papers safe from Boney, Festus, thieves, or fire.

46. What was Miller Loveday’s plan regarding his own wedding and residence?

A. Live with Mrs. Garland
B. Put Bob and Matilda there
C. Give Anne his house
D. Divide the manor

B. Put Bob and Matilda there.
Loveday planned to put Bob and his wife in Mrs. Garland’s portion once she moved to his.

47. What color attire did Matilda Johnson wear when she arrived by wagon?

A. Green and white
B. Red and yellow
C. Black and brown
D. Blue and gold

A. Green and white.
Matilda Johnson stepped out of the wagon wearing a green and white gown with green accessories.

48. What animal’s noise caused Matilda Johnson to faint (or pretend to faint)?

A. A barking fox
B. Crumpler, the cow
C. A clanking horse
D. A trumpet-major

B. Crumpler the cow.
Matilda, not used to country life, nearly went off at the terrific inquiry of the cow, Crumpler.

49. What event precipitated Miller Loveday’s prompt marriage to Mrs. Garland?

A. To avoid wasted victuals
B. To spite Festus
C. To cheer up Bob
D. John’s sudden departure

A. To avoid wasted victuals.
To prevent the wedding provisions from spoiling, the miller and Mrs. Garland married quickly as an expedient.
50. How did Anne finally escape Festus Derriman on the down?

A. She rode his horse
B. John Loveday rescued her
C. She ran to the mill
D. She hid in a bush

A. She rode his horse.
Anne escaped by seizing the rein of Festus’s horse, Champion, and flinging herself upon the sheepskin.

Brief Overview

The Trumpet-Major is a novel by Thomas Hardy. It was published in 1880. The novel is set during the Napoleonic Wars and examines how large historical events affect the personal lives of ordinary people, focusing on the complexities of love and loyalty.

The story centers on Anne Garland, who lives at Overcombe Mill with her mother. Anne is courted by two brothers: John Loveday, a kind soldier who is the titular Trumpet-Major, and Bob Loveday, a flashy sailor.

Bob returns home and announces he will marry Matilda, an actress. John recognizes Matilda as unsuitable and secretly helps her leave the town. Miller Loveday (the father) quickly marries Anne’s mother to prevent the wedding food from being wasted.

Festus Derriman, a rival for Anne’s affection, attempts to harm Anne and tries to trick a press-gang into seizing Bob. Bob avoids the gang but then volunteers for the Navy. He sails on the ship Victory just before the Battle of Trafalgar.

After the famous battle, Bob is safe, but rumors surface that he is marrying another girl. John begins courting Anne, believing Bob has forgotten her. John later receives a letter confirming Bob is returning to Anne.

John selflessly tells Anne to choose Bob. Anne inherits property from the old Mr. Derriman. Bob returns, and Anne realizes she truly loves the sailor. John leaves with his army regiment to fight in the war in Spain.

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