The Copybook

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

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865

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

The Bag of the Three Winds by Clay Lane

A weary King Odysseus dozes off on his voyage home to Ithaca, but his crew are wide awake, wondering what is in his bag.

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866

© Lewis Clarke, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Bass, Bat and Bull by John Nyren

John Nyren tells us about one of cricket’s truly great batsmen, John Small.

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867

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

The Gossip in Gavrillac by Rafael Sabatini

The simple folk of Brittany know what it means when a nobleman calls himself godfather to an unknown infant.

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868

Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Synod of Hatfield by Clay Lane

The Roman Emperor offered to unite the world’s squabbling churches – but it was the kind of offer you can’t refuse.

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869

From the British Library, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Hundred Years’ War by Clay Lane

King John had already lost most of the Crown’s lands in France, but when Aquitaine was threatened Edward III knew he must act fast.

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870

© Peter S, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

A Cricketer’s World by Leigh Hunt

Leigh Hunt reflects on the civilising effect of the game of cricket.

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Clay Lane The Copybook
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© 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 Royal Oak : In 1680, Samuel Pepys sat down with Charles II to record how, many years before, a bold double-bluff saved the King from Cromwell’s men.
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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