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MES FP Quiz 2020

Since we were unable to entertain in person this year, we thought you would all enjoy some fun and to bring out that competitive edge we know you all have.


The closing date for answers is the 31st August at 5pm to enter the quiz below. Please state your name, email address and clan and email your answers to fpguild@esms.org.uk

Your clan will receive a point for each correct answer and we can see which clan is the best and we will publish the results over our social media and on our website. The first three entries from the winning clan will receive a prize!


  1. Where was Mary Erskine born?
  2. Do you know her parents’ Christian names?
  3. How many children is it believed Mary Erskine gave birth to when married to Robert Kennedie?
  4. Which Head was a member of the ‘Pen and Pencil Club’?
  5. The Former Pupils’ Guild first met in 1884. Name the subjects of the first two Guild Clubs started in 1886?
  6. The Guild has provided the school with prizes over the years. In 1895 what was the first prize for?
  7. Which magazine was produced in 1908 to further communication between former pupils and the school?
  8. Which Head/Principal arrived at school and found all members of staff were older than her?
  9. The school established a strong link with which Red Cross Hospital during the First World War, where three beds were named after Mary Erskine?
  10. Who traced Mary Erskine’s grave?
  11. In 1944, at the time of the school’s 250th anniversary, the school changed its name – what did it become?
  12. The 350th anniversary of the birth of Mary Erskine was marked by the Former Pupils’ Guild with the presentation to the school of an engraved goblet. Who engraved this?
  13. The School’s Charities Committee encouraged fundraising and in 1984 £700 was raised - for what purpose?
  14. In 1993, which country did girls (refugees) arrive from to spend time at the school? Their stay ended four months later and they left a lasting impact.
  15. Which book about the school, published in 1994, has the following as its final paragraph? “What would the ladies of 1884 think of their successors today? Surely they would be gratified that they had indeed become a Guild of Friendship which still held to the aims which had inspired their Albany Street meeting.”
  16. What is displayed in school and has been described as its greatest treasure?
  17. When the kilt became school uniform, who designed it?
  18. What is the name of the former pupil who received a gold medal in the 2002 winter Olympic Games, and for which sport?
  19. Currently, the school describes having a large number of extracurricular activities, over ‘?’. What is the missing number?
  20. On the evening of 7th May this year, during the Covid-19 Lockdown, how was Ravelston House lit up? 

Thank you to Mrs Christine Collingwood for researching and creating this quiz.

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