The Copybook

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

1315

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

For Valour by Clay Lane

The Victoria Cross is the highest award made to our Armed Forces.

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1316

© Stephen Daglish, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

Burning Daylight by Samuel Smiles

George Stephenson argued that his steam engines were solar-powered.

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1317

Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain

The Spear of St Mercurius by Clay Lane

Roman Emperor Julian was ready to destroy an entire Christian community over his wounded pride.

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1318

© Brian Robert Marshall, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

With Hymns and Sweet Perfumes by Elfric of Eynsham

Elfric imagines how the Virgin Mary went to her eternal home.

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1319

© Stanley Howe, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Flodden Edge by Clay Lane

The Scots paid a heavy price for honouring their ‘Auld Alliance’ with France.

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1320

© Alfie Tait, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Kings of Northumbria by Clay Lane

Out of a restless alliance between two 6th century kingdoms came a civilisation that defined Englishness.

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

© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

April 29 NS

April 16 OS

A Literary Mystery : In 1798, ‘Plays on the Passions’ appeared in London bookstores, but no one seemed to know who had written them.
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.
The First Easter : In a translation from the Authorized Version of the Bible, published in 1611, St Mark recounts the discovery of Christ’s empty tomb.
A Collect for Easter Day : A short prayer from the Book of Common Prayer, for the day of Christ’s resurrection.
The Gambler : Which well-known expression is Dr Johnson talking about here?
If I Had But Two Little Wings : Samuel Taylor Coleridge holds on to those precious moments when loneliness is a problem for tomorrow.
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