The Copybook

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

Blog

Copybook

Think & Speak

Games

KJV Bible

1483

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

The Tragedy of Hamlet by Clay Lane

The Prince of Denmark is bound to avenge his father’s murder.

Read

1484

© Peter McDermott, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Tanfield Railway by Clay Lane

Opened in 1725, the Tanfield Railway is one of the oldest railways still operating anywhere in the world.

Read

1485

© Derek Harper, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Clay Lane

Is an old family legend being used as a cover for a very modern murder?

Read

1486

© Rover Car Club of Australia, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

A Nation’s Wealth by Richard Cobden

It is not politicians and their policies that create wealth, but the hard work and ingenuity of ordinary people.

Read

1487

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

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Clay Lane

A knight issues a bizarre challenge to King Arthur and his court.

Read

1488

© Jonathan Billinger, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Legend of Beowulf by Clay Lane

The oldest surviving heroic legend in English begins with a wild creature of the fens that hunts men for prey.

Read

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

© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 29 NS

May 16 OS

The Last Commandment : Anglo-Saxon poet Cynewulf imagines the farewell between Jesus and his Apostles, forty days after his resurrection.
Filioque : It started as an honest mistake, became a diplomatic standoff, and brought down an Empire.
The Royal Oak : In 1680, Samuel Pepys sat down with Charles II to record how, many years before, a bold double-bluff saved the King from Cromwell’s men.
Lost and Found : What would you in these difficult situations?
They Might Not Need Me : Read these lines of verse out aloud.
The Turn : Ben Jonson tells us how we should measure a life well lived.
Music Video : Julius Benedict, Piano Concerto in E flat: II. Andante,
The Character of George Washington : Thomas Jefferson recalls the virtues (and a few faults) of the first US President.
Amen to That : John Bright declared it was time stop fighting wars around the world for ‘British interests’.
Arena : Use these nouns in sentences of at least ten words in length.
Q & A :
Deep Harmony : In the midst of the US Civil War, a simple melody briefly brought the warring factions together.
Thirty Minutes : Describe half an hour in one of these places.
And is there Care in Heaven? : Sir Guyon lies in an enchanted swoon, but he is not without help.
Pirate : For each of these words, suggest others that seem to go with it, and use them to bring a scene to life.
Latest

Clay Lane Home

Search

Blog

The Copybook

Think and Speak

Comfortable Words

Word Games

Featured Authors

Featured Subjects

Search The Copybook

About Clay Lane

Close Menu