The Copybook

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

1627

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

The Sacred Snakes of Kefalonia by Clay Lane

Once a year, regular as clockwork, the little snakes slither into the convent for a Feast of the Virgin Mary.

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1628

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

The Character of George Stephenson by Samuel Smiles

A self-made man who never forgot his humble beginnings.

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1629

Photo by Orrin Dunlap Jr, in ‘Popular Radio’ (1926). Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

John Logie Baird by Clay Lane

Baird’s inventions didn’t always work as well as his televisions.

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1630

© chris55, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.

The First Train Journey by Steam by Clay Lane

Richard Trevithick’s boss hailed the engineer as a genius. Today he’d have been fired. (Oh, and the train was delayed.)

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1631
The Keeper of the Gate by Clay Lane

A widow cast her precious icon into the sea rather than see it dishonoured by government agents, but that wasn’t the end of the story.

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1632

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

St Nicholas of the Cats by Clay Lane

A very unusual monastery with some very unusual protectors.

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© 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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