I’D LIKE TO KNOW

QOut walking along the shoreline in the recent spell of good weather, I noticed some seals sunbathing on a sandbank not far from land. I’ve always wondered, however, what the difference is between seals and sea lions, as they look so similar? Miss L.D., Aberdeen.

ASeals and sea lions are known as pinnipeds, which means “fin foot” in Latin, and they have a few different characteristics. Sea lions can “walk” on land using their elongated front flippers, while seals wriggle across land on their bellies and have short, stubby front flippers. Sea lions also have external ears, while true seals lack visible ear flaps. The sea lion, unlike the seal, can also bark.

QPaul Mccartney’s group Wings brought out a song that used bagpipes on the track. Can you please remind me of the name of it?

Mr A.J.G., Bungay.

AThe song you refer to is “Mull Of Kintyre”, which featured the Campbeltown Pipe Band. It was written by Paul Mccartney and Denny Laine and was the group’s biggest hit, reaching No 1 in 1977. The first verse and chorus is as follows:

“Mull of Kintyre

Oh, mist rolling in from the sea,

My desire

Is always to be here

Oh, Mull of Kintyre.”

QI know that Marilyn Monroe was married three times, but I can only recall two of her husbands – Joe Dimaggio and Arthur Miller. Who was the third? Mrs H.W., Coventry.

ANorma Jeane Mortenson (also known as Norma Jeane Baker), wed her first husband, Jimmy Dougherty, in 1942, at the age of just sixteen. She changed her name to Marilyn Monroe as her modelling career took off, and the marriage ended in 1946. Her other two husbands were famous in their own right.