Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
By Sir David Wilkie (1785–1841), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Sir Walter Scott takes his daughter Sophia to see the newly-rediscovered Honours of Scotland, and suffers an embarrassment.
Read
© The Scottish Parliament, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Sir Walter Scott described how the long-forgotten crown jewels of the Scottish Kings came to light again.
By Alfred Dedreux (1810-1860), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Rosalind explains to Orlando that Time moves at different paces depending on who you are.
By Adrian Pingstone, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Richard Steele goes to Bath for his health, and is cured of more ailments than he had ever had in his life.
By Paul Sandby (1731-1809), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Joseph Addison complains that the famous Cries of London are a lot of fuss about nothing.
© Rob Farrow, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
A Portuguese merchant assesses Great Britain’s market under the Hanoverians.