The Copybook

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

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1297

© Andy F, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Battle of Britain by Clay Lane

Britain’s desperate defence against a much larger, better-prepared military machine was a costly victory.

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1298

© Colin Pyle, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Wilfrid Israel by Clay Lane

Wilfrid Israel used his Berlin department store as cover for smuggling thousands of Jewish children to safety in Britain.

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1299

© Stanley Howe, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Legend of Pollard’s Lands by Clay Lane

An enterprising knight rids the Bishop of Durham of a troublesome boar, but the price comes as a shock to his lordship.

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1300

© David Dixon, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

Music at Midnight by Samuel Smiles

To do one’s duty is to peep into the mystery of life, and taste reward from another world.

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1301

From Wikimedia Commons.

Sir Walter Raleigh by Clay Lane

Sir Walter’s dizzy life brought him fame and fortune in dangerous places, the most dangerous of which was Court.

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1302

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

Heracles and the Erymanthian Boar by Clay Lane

Snaring a wild boar turns out to be much less dangerous than keeping centaurs away from their wine.

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

© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 9 NS

April 26 OS

A Gallant Attempt for the Crown : Only months after kidnapping the Duke of Ormond, Irish radical Thomas Blood was at it again, this time attempting to steal the Crown Jewels.
Russia’s Heroic Stand : In 1941, with much of the West subdued, Adolf Hitler bent the full force of his hatred on Moscow.
Repeat Offender :
In Two Minds : Join these ideas together to a form a single sentence, in at least two different ways.
The First Traffic Lights : The busy crossroads outside the Houses of Parliament was the testing ground for a new technology.
Good Companions : Explain what these wise classical authors are telling us.
The Rule of the Road : Being a free citizen doesn’t mean that everyone else has to get out of your way.
Blind Courage : George Santayana reprimanded politicians and military men who thought war was good for the country’s soul.
Patience : Make a single sentence out of these three ideas.
The Angel Cried : A hymn sung in the weeks after Easter, imagining how Gabriel brought the news of Christ’s resurrection to Mary.
She was a Phantom of Delight : Mary Wordsworth wasn’t pretty or bookish, but she was kind and vital, and William loved her.
Hardly : Tone down these bold assertions with ‘hardly’.
The Death of Julius Caesar : When Julius Caesar entered the Senate that day, a note warning him of treachery was clutched in his hand — unread.
Two Letters Home : A German soldier stopped the Great War so he could ask Captain Hulse to post a letter for him.
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