The Copybook

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

1063

By John William Waterhouse (1849-1917), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Fair Rosamund Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens tells the story of King Henry II and the enchantingly beautiful Rosamund Clifford.

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1064

© Jonathan Cardy, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Lion and the Ant Clay Lane

Richard I thought a veteran Crusader and conqueror of Saladin could handle a few French peasants.

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1065

© Chris Gunns, via Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Eddi’s Service Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling’s poem about St Wilfrid’s chaplain and an unusual Christmas congregation.

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1066

© Hayley Green, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

St Bede and the Singing Stones Clay Lane

The Northumbrian monk is duped into wasting one of his beautifully-crafted sermons on a row of dumb rocks.

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1067

© Paul Farmer, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

St Wilfrid and the Fishers of Men Clay Lane

Driven out of Northumbria, Bishop Wilfrid goes to the south coast and saves a kingdom from starvation.

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1068

Edwin Henry Landseer (1802-1873), Victroia and Albert Museum, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

A Tax on Companionship William Windham MP

William Windham MP was appalled at the idea of levying a tax on man’s best friend.

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