The Copybook

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

691

Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

‘To the Heights!’ Clay Lane

St Gregory Palamas struggled all his life to stand up for the principle that the Bible means what it says.

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692

© Valeria23, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0 Romania.

The Beautiful Side of the Picture Sabine Baring-Gould

Heathen prince Boris I of Bulgaria (r. 852–889) commissioned St Methodius to paint an impressive scene for his palace walls.

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693

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

‘Let the boy earn his spurs!’ Robert Chambers

At the Battle of Crécy in 1346, the English army was trying out a new military tactic under the command of a sixteen-year-old boy.

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694

From the Walters Art Museum, Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Samson’s Riddle Clay Lane

The Israelites under Philistia’s rule might have blended with their heathen masters had not Samson kept stirring up trouble.

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695

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

The Bluebell Line Clay Lane

The Bluebell line in Sussex was the first failing British Railways line to be taken over by volunteers.

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696

© Robert Graham, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Hollow Blade Sword Company Clay Lane

Seventeenth-century German craftsmen came seeking a land of opportunity, and found it in County Durham.

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