The Copybook

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

811

© Geolina163, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

Mistris Park Clay Lane

Several English pianists impressed Joseph Haydn on his visits to London, but Maria Hester Park was a particular favourite.

Read

812

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

An Appeal to Philip Sober Valerius Maximus

A woman convicted of a crime she did not commit took her case to a higher power.

Read

813

By Kate Greenaway (1846-1901), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin Clay Lane

The mayor and corporation of Hamelin outsource a rodent problem to a professional rat-catcher.

Read

814

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

The Investor of Nisibis Clay Lane

A woman advises her husband to entrust their modest savings to the bank of God.

Read

815

© Arya C S, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

The King, the Monkey and the Pea Clay Lane

A warlike king sets out to bag another small kingdom for his realms, but a monkey gets him thinking.

Read

816

© James Denham, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Cuthbert and Hildemer’s Wife Clay Lane

Cuthbert’s friend comes asking for a priest to attend his dying wife — so long as it isn’t Cuthbert.

Read