68 October 3
These words have very similar meaning but they are not the same — can you show the difference?
To what extent are these words synonymous? Give examples.
1 Brave.
2 Foolhardy.
3 Valiant.
See also Confusables.
69 October 1
When the Reformers sold off the treasures of Durham Cathedral, they sold a priceless piece of Scottish history into oblivion.
I recently added this post, The Black Rood of Scotland.
It comes from The Rites of Durham, a look back at the abbey at Durham Cathedral as it was before the Protestant Reformation that began with Henry VIII’s break with Rome in 1534. The Rites was written by an anonymous author in 1593; however, for this extract I have used an edition made in 1671, because it has more modern spelling and vocabulary.
This particular passage has to do with the Battle of Neville’s Cross, in which English forces repelled a Scottish invasion on October 17th, 1346, at Redhills just west of Durham. King David II of Scotland carried a priceless relic, the Black Rood, into the battle. The author of the Rites recounts the legend of how David came to possess it, and then goes on to tell us what happened to it after the battle, and why.
Composition
Join each group of ideas together into one sentence in at least two different ways, using different words as much as you can.
1 David fought in the Battle of Neville’s Cross. He wore the Black Rood on his breast. He hoped it would protect him.
2 A stag menaced David. He raised his hands. A cross appeared in them. The stag vanished.
3 David built an abbey. He put the Black Rood in it. He named the abbey Holyrood.
Copy Book Posts (37)
70 October 1
Make as many words as you can using the letters of one nine-letter word. Can you beat our score?
I have added a new Polyword to the collection.
Make as many words as you can using only the nine letters you are given below. Your words should all be four letters or more in length, and they should all contain the letter highlighted in the centre of the grid. You may not use the same letter twice. There is one nine-letter word to find.
Polywords (8)
71 September 27
A short prayer for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14th/27th each year, from the Sarum Missal.
Holy Cross Day is the name given in the Book of Common Prayer to the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, which is kept on September 14th. In The Rites of Durham (1593) it is still called Holy Rood Day, after the Anglo-Saxon manner.
The feast goes back to the fourth century, when Helen, dowager Empress of Constantinople, declared that the true Cross of Christ had been found. The relic was treasured up in a silver casket in the newly consecrated Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem (AD 335), and brought out for display and veneration every year on this date. See St Helen Finds the True Cross in The Copy Book.
The prayer below is the Collect for this day according to the Sarum Use, the liturgy of the English Church prior to the Reformation in the sixteenth century.
Collect
O GOD, Who wast pleased to redeem mankind with the precious Blood of Thy Only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, mercifully grant that they who draw nigh to adore the life-giving Cross may be set free from the bonds of their sins. Amen.
72 September 27
After the murder of King Duncan, Lady Macbeth is alarmed to see her husband losing his grip on reality.
I recently added this post, Infirm of Purpose!.
It is an extract from William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, seen by Dr Forman on April 20th, 1611, but probably first performed for King James I some five years earlier.
The basic premise of the play is that Duncan I, King of Scots, was murdered in his bed by his nephew Macbeth in AD 1040. In fact, Macbeth gained Duncan’s crown in battle, not by assassination, but Shakespeare’s version of the events lends itself better to the stage. In this extract, we see him stumbling back to his chamber after doing the grisly deed, already entering a state bordering moral collapse as he thinks about what he has done. His wife, Lady Macbeth, tries to keep him focused — the murder weapons have to be disposed of properly, and Duncan’s blameless servants have to be incriminated — but Macbeth is frankly losing his grip.
Composition
Join each group of ideas together into one sentence in at least two different ways, using different words as much as you can.
1 Macbeth murdered Duncan. He felt bad about it.
2 Macbeth’s hands were bloody. It upset him. Lady Macbeth called him foolish.
3 Duncan’s servants were asleep. Lady Macbeth incriminated them. She put blood on them.
Copy Book Posts (37)
73 September 27
Let Us Extol the Cross’s Praise
A hymn for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, from the Sarum Missal.
Today marks the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14/27, called Holy Cross Day in England. The feast commemorates the consecration of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in AD 335, in which the true Cross of Christ was kept as a precious relic. The nun Egeria, who visited Jerusalem in about 381–384, described seeing the relic taken from its silver casket on this day and ‘exalted’, that is, lifted up for public display and veneraton. See St Helen Finds the True Cross in The Copy Book.
The accompanying hymn is by Adam of St Victor (?-1146), and makes several Biblical allusions including the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath near Tyre: see 1 Kings 17:8-24. This translation is by Charles Buchan Pearson (1807-1881), Prebendary of Sarum and Rector of Knebworth, who uses the Anglo-Saxon word Rood for the Cross.