The Copybook

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

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571

By Konstantin Savitsky (1844–1905), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Educating Martin by Clay Lane

When Sir Rodbert became Brother Martin, he found the change so difficult that he began to wonder if even the saints were against him.

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572

By Joseph Highmore (1692-1780), via Tate Britain and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

‘Poor Pamela’s Married At Last!’ by Charles Knight

Letitia Barbauld called Samuel Richardson’s 1740 novel Pamela ‘a new experiment’ in English literature, and to judge by its reception it was very successful.

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573

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

A War of Words from Holinshed’s Chronicles

A few years before the Battle of Agincourt, the Duke of Orléans challenged King Henry IV to meet him in Bordeaux for a winner-takes-all joust.

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574

© Penny Mayes, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

A Stout Answer from Holinshed’s Chronicles

A few weeks after a large French raiding party had been driven away from the Isle of Wight, another flotilla arrived from across the Channel demanding money with menaces.

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575

By Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), from the Museum of Fine Arts via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Surprised by Heaven by Frederick Denison Maurice

We turn to books seeking an author’s sympathy and fellowship, but William Cowper’s verse is unusual: he turns to us for ours.

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576

© Caroline Legg. CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Gods of the Copybook Headings by Rudyard Kipling

After the devastation of the Great War, calls rose for a new economic and social system, and to put the wisdom of our forebears behind us.

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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 Return of King Charles II : Almost nine years after Oliver Cromwell’s army drove him from England, King Charles II returned at their invitation, and John Evelyn was there to see it.
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.
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