Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
© Gillian Thomas, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
A much-travelled Spanish visitor amazes an English audience with his tales of wonder overseas, until he is brought up short by his servant.
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From Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
On Easter night, monk Reginald woke from a doze to find the aged hermit Godric singing lustily.
By John Hoppner (1758-1810), from the National Portrait Gallery via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain (?)
William Cowper’s peace was shattered by the arrival of a Parliamentary candidate doorstepping his Buckinghamshire constituents.
© Petrb, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
In ‘Familiarity Dangerous,’ poet William Cowper tells a little tale warning that if you join in the game you play by the rules.
© Arne Hückelheim, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
Sir William Hunter looks back over a Government committee’s plan to introduce tea cultivation to India in 1834.
By James Gillray (1756-1815), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
In the days of King James I, Thomas Coryat visited Italy and came home with an affected Continental habit: eating with a fork.