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Welcome

The Palace of Westminster.

© Miguel Mendez, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0. Source
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Edmund Burke 1729-1797

In all forms of Government the people is the true legislator.

‘Tracts on the Popery Laws’

# The British Constitution

Editor nicholas@claylane.uk

Welcome to Clay Lane

Clay Lane is inspired by textbooks written by NL Clay, used in English schools before the educational changes of the 1960s.

It is for people who appreciate our heritage of strong, plain-spoken English from Shakespeare and the King James Bible to Austen, Dickens and Kipling, and who enjoy playing with words, sentences and ideas.

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“The course should train pupils to observe, learn more of the world they live in, think clearly, use the imagination and to speak clearly.”

NL Clay, Think and Speak (1929)

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The Blog

New and archive material, updated frequently. Passages for reading, brainteasers for solving, and music for listening.

Latest • December 21

Read English

The Copy Book

Browse hundreds of short passages from history, fiction, poetry and legend.

Latest • December 21

Christmas at Coverley Hall

Write English

Think and Speak

Brainteasers for developing vocabulary, grammar and expression.

Latest • December 20

Pronunciation

Learn English

Ask your questions, and get personalised help with your English from me, Nicholas.

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Think and Speak

Puzzles with words and their letters, just for fun.

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Polywords • Honeycomb Game

High Tiles • Doublets

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Read the Bible

Comfortable Words

The incomparable English of the King James Bible, the Prayer Book, and more.

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Psalms • Prayers • Hymns

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From Powder Keg

By Henry Kingsley 1830-1876

Gus, seeing that the business was well begun, removed to the further end of the pew, sat down on the hassock, and took from his trousers’ pocket a large tin trumpet. I broke out all over in a cold perspiration as I looked at him. He saw my distress, and putting it to his lips, puffed out his cheeks.

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Homonyms Find in Think and Speak

Each of the words below has more than one possible meaning. Compose your own sentences to show what those different meanings are.

1. Dear. 2. Ram. 3. Check. 4. Object. 5. Strain. 6. Pick. 7. Stand. 8. Chip. 9. Consort.

Show Suggestions

For each word above, choose one or more suitable meanings from this list.

1. A goal, one’s purpose. 2. Hold oneself upright on one’s feet. 3. The spouse of a monarch. 4. A small fragment. 5. A criss-cross pattern. 6. A male sheep (opposite of a ewe). 7. A thing of any kind. 8. Filter through a sieve. 9. T-shaped tool. 10. Habitually spend time with. 11. Expensive. 12. Tension. 13. The sounds of music. 14. Express opposition to something. 15. Drive violently into. 16. Verify. 17. Pay for e.g. drinks, food, on behalf of others. 18. Basic unit of a computer. 19. Beloved. 20. Overstretch. 21. Fried finger of potato. 22. Expression or surprise or dismay. 23. Bear, endure a hardship. 24. Choose. 25. A stall in a market. 26. An unexpected holdup. 27. Make an unusually great effort.

British National Character

Posts 15

The passages in this section illustrate how people have thought of the Englishman over the centuries. They include the impressions of writers from England and also from abroad.

Music and Musicians

Posts 64

The artistic struggles and triumphs of composers from the British Isles and abroad, many in their own words — and accompanied by their music.

France

Posts 29

Stories about our friends across the Channel, from Roman times to the Hundred Years’ War, her bloody Revolution, and the giddying rise and fall of Emperor Napoleon.

Liberty and Prosperity

Posts 170

Stories from Britain and elsewhere confirming the social and economic benefits of keeping politicians and their cronies out of the trade and business of ordinary people.

America and the US

Posts 25

Tales from our cousins to the West, telling of their independence from Britain, their bloody civil war, their runaway prosperity, and the slender thread by which it hangs.

Myths and Legends

Posts 124

Stories of wisdom, wonder and imagination from the Fables of Aesop and the epics of Homer to the folklore of India, Japan, Russia and Britain.

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Clay Lane About Clay Lane Email Support nicholas@claylane.uk

Latest

Posted Yesterday • The Copy Book

Christmas at Coverley Hall : Sir Roger explains why he makes Christmas such a special time for all his neighbours.

Posted December 20 • Think and Speak

Pronunciation : Create sentences in which a particular consonant features prominently and frequently.

Posted December 19

Music Video : Richard Addinsell: Scrooge Suite

Posted December 17 • Think and Speak

Doing Without If : Rewrite these conditional sentences in such a way that the word ‘if’ is not used.

Posted December 16 • Comfortable Words

Stupendous Height of Heavenly Love : A profound Christmas hymn by Charles Wesley, welcoming the rising of the Sun of Righteousness.

Posted December 16 • Think and Speak

Words of Character : Explain what these nouns tell us about our colleague John.

Posted December 15 • Think and Speak

Jigsaws : Combine each pair of ideas into one sentence, in as many ways as you can. See if you can work in one or more of the words suggested.

Posted December 15

Music Video : Eric Coates: Four Centuries Suite: II. Pavane and Tambourin

Posted December 15 • The Copy Book

The Death of Baldur : Baldur was the toast of Valhalla, but Loki was determined to take him down.

Posted December 13 • The Copy Book

Always Keep A-Hold of Nurse : In this ‘Cautionary Tale’, we hear what happened when naughty Jim gave his nurse the slip.

Posted December 13 • Think and Speak

New Polyword : Make as many words as you can using just nine letters. Can you beat our score?

Posted December 10 • The Copy Book

Picking On Cotton : The politicians of Georgian England went to surprising lengths to shield domestic businesses from overseas competition.

Posted December 8

Music Video : Frank Bridge: Berceuse

Posted December 8

Verbs : Use these verbs in the right past form.

Posted December 8 • The Copy Book

Who Are We to Criticise? : Thomas Carlyle felt that English criticism of Goethe revealed more about his critics than his poems.

Posted December 7

Music Video : Sir Arthur Sullivan: Overture to ‘Marmion’

Posted December 6

Opposites : Compose sentences to showcase a word and its opposite — whatever you think that may be.

Posted December 6 • Think and Speak

Tide : Make as many words as you can using the letters of one nine-letter word. Can you beat our score?

Posted December 5 • The Copy Book

A Ministering Angel : As Lord Marmion lies dying on Flodden Field, there is no one near to tend him but the woman he has wronged.

Posted December 5 • The Copy Book

The Court of the Past : We should not force ourselves and ‘our values’ onto the writers of the past.