The Copybook

Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.

1303

Photo by John Hamilton, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: public domain.

Cvthbertvs by Clay Lane

Henry VIII’s experts declared that saints were nothing special, but St Cuthbert had a surprise for them.

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1304

© Mick Garratt, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Cuthbert and the Dun Cow by Clay Lane

The magnificent cathedral at Durham owes its existence to a missing cow.

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1305

© Peter Barr, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Sign from Heaven by Charlotte Brontë

Was it an over-excited imagination, or an answer to prayer?

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1306

© David Dixon, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Henry VII to Mary I by Clay Lane

A quick overview of the Kings and Queens of England from Henry VII in 1485 to Mary I in 1553.

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1307

© Georgios Pazios, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Attribution only.

Henry VI to Henry VII by Clay Lane

A quick overview of the Kings of England from Henry VI in 1422 to Henry VII in 1485.

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1308

© Sue Sandy, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Mary I to James I by Clay Lane

A quick overview of the Kings and Queens of England from Mary I in 1553 to James I in 1603.

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Clay Lane The Copybook
About Clay Lane nicholas@claylane.uk

© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 3 NS

April 20 OS

She was a Phantom of Delight : Mary Wordsworth wasn’t pretty or bookish, but she was kind and vital, and William loved her.
Hardly : Tone down these bold assertions with ‘hardly’.
The Death of Julius Caesar : When Julius Caesar entered the Senate that day, a note warning him of treachery was clutched in his hand — unread.
Two Letters Home : A German soldier stopped the Great War so he could ask Captain Hulse to post a letter for him.
Smile : Choose adjectives of praise for these nouns, at about the 7/10 level.
The Making of Mark : St Mark wrote his Gospel as a summary of the preaching of St Peter.
Zheng He and the Rise of Malacca : Malacca became a refuge from the overbearing empires of the Far East, thanks to a celebrated Chinese admiral.
Confusables : Compose sentences to bring out the similarities and differences between these words.
Jill and I : Include yourself in these sentences about Jill.
Saddled : Use these words in sentences, and see if you can use one of them as a verb.
Russia’s Heroic Stand : In 1941, with much of the West subdued, Adolf Hitler bent the full force of his hatred on Moscow.
Approachable : Replace the verb ‘can’ with these alternatives, and explain how the meaning of the sentence has changed.
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