The Copybook

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

79

© Trevor Rickard, Geograph.

Truth Lies Open to All by Ben Jonson

Nobody has a monopoly on the truth, neither the scholars of the past nor the scholars of today.

Read

80

© Ian Capper, Geograph. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Mrs Partington and Her Mop by Sydney Smith

The defiant Mrs Partington took on the full might of the Atlantic Ocean.

Read

81

© Auckland Museum, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.

One More Pounce paraphased from Captain Charles Johnson

A Welshman was not keen on handing over his employer’s money just because Tom Dorbel had a gun.

Read

82

Via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

What to Get the King Who Has Everything by Sir Thomas Roe

Sir Thomas Roe had some difficulty making an impression on Emperor Jehangir.

Read

83

© Konstantin hramov, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Greatest Mart Town of all Muscovy by Richard Hakluyt

Flemish merchants hoping to prosper in Russia’s commercial capital received a nasty shock.

Read

84

© jimmyweee, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 2.0.

With Good Intent and Friendly Desire by Ivan IV of Russia

Ivan the Terrible offered free trade to English merchants throughout his dominions.

Read

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

© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

April 24 NS

April 11 OS

The Day of Resurrection : An eighth-century hymn of the Greek Church, for Easter Day
Approachable : Replace the verb ‘can’ with these alternatives, and explain how the meaning of the sentence has changed.
The First Easter : In a translation from the Authorized Version of the Bible, published in 1611, St Mark recounts the discovery of Christ’s empty tomb.
A Collect for Easter Day : A short prayer from the Book of Common Prayer, for the day of Christ’s resurrection.
The Gambler : Which well-known expression is Dr Johnson talking about here?
If I Had But Two Little Wings : Samuel Taylor Coleridge holds on to those precious moments when loneliness is a problem for tomorrow.
Red Eye : Reconstruct the speaker’s original words from these reports.
Responsible : Combine each group of ideas into a single sentence, in as many ways as you can.
Opposites : Suggest words that seem opposite in meaning to the words in this list.
Three of a Kind : For each of these things, think of three different varieties of it.
The Son of God Goes Forth to War : A hymn in praise of St Stephen, the first Christian martyr.
Peace Plan : Report this brief exchange between Anna and M. Pierre and Tolstoy’s War and Peace
Metaphors : Choose one of these words and use it metaphorically, not literally.
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