The Copybook

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

1429

© Pauline E, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

St David of Wales by Clay Lane

The popular monk was elected as bishop of Menevia in Wales in 550.

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1430

© Thermos, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.5.

Pericles and the Fickle Public of Athens by Clay Lane

The leader of 5th-century BC Athens lavished public money on the city and its adoring citizens, and wherever he led they followed.

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1431

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

The Knight, the Lady, and the Forest of Sorrow by Clay Lane

A little fable of encouragement for all the suffering.

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1432

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

How the British Invented Cool by Clay Lane

Michael Faraday showed that gases could be compressed and evaporated to preserve food and make ice.

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1433

© Mike Quinn, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

‘Not one more!’ by William Shakespeare

The prospect of facing daunting odds made his cousin quail, but Henry V acted like a true King.

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1434

By William Simpson (1823-1899), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Crimean War by Clay Lane

Hoping to please opinion at home, the French Emperor pressured the Turks into new outrages against their Christian population, and Russia hit back.

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

© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

April 25 NS

April 12 OS

The Life-Giving Spring : An obscure officer in the Roman Army gains a dizzying promotion after performing a simple act of kindness.
The Gallipoli Landings : By 1915, the Allies were struggling to break through Germany’s Western Front, and so began looking for another line of attack.
The Avengers : John Buchan was moved by the way the nations of the British Empire volunteered for service in the Great War.
A Tax on Companionship : William Windham MP was appalled at the idea of levying a tax on man’s best friend.
Christ is Risen! : Felicia Skene recalls the Easter celebrations on one emotionally-charged night in Athens
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.
Red Eye : Reconstruct the speaker’s original words from these reports.
Responsible : Combine each group of ideas into a single sentence, in as many ways as you can.
Opposites : Suggest words that seem opposite in meaning to the words in this list.
Three of a Kind : For each of these things, think of three different varieties of it.
The Son of God Goes Forth to War : A hymn in praise of St Stephen, the first Christian martyr.
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