The Copybook

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

1387

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

The Ashes of English Cricket by Clay Lane

How the cricketing rivalry between England and Australia got its name.

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1388

© Zarateman, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 1.0 Universal public domain dedication.

The Peninsular War by Clay Lane

Napoleon’s six-year-long campaign (1808-1814) to bring Spain and Portugal into his united Europe was frustrated by Arthur Wellesley.

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1389

From Wikimedia Commons. Licence: public domain.

The Bald Lover by Clay Lane

A man’s mid-life crisis leaves him a little ... exposed.

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1390

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

Jesty and Jenner’s Jab by Clay Lane

Benjamin Jesty and Edward Jenner continue to save millions of lives because they listened to an old wives’ tale.

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1391

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

Discovery! by Mark Twain

Mark Twain covets the supreme sensation of being a trailblazer.

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1392

© Richard Croft, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

Robin Hood and the Debt of Honour by Clay Lane

The outlaw showed that strange as it may be, he did have a code of honour.

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

© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 6 NS

April 23 OS

A Tale of a Garter : Following the Battle of Crécy in 1346, Edward III instituted an order of chivalry in honour of St George, inspired (some said) by something he picked up in the street.
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.
Smile : Choose adjectives of praise for these nouns, at about the 7/10 level.
The Making of Mark : St Mark wrote his Gospel as a summary of the preaching of St Peter.
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