The Copybook

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

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KJV Bible

1525

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

Bird’s Custard by Clay Lane

Alfred Bird’s wife could eat neither eggs nor yeast. So being a Victorian, Alfred put his thinking-cap on.

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1526

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

Treasure Island by Clay Lane

An excited English gentleman hires a ship for a treasure-hunt, but doesn’t check his crew’s credentials.

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1527

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

The Alleluia Victory by Clay Lane

How hard-pressed Christians on the Welsh border won a battle without bloodshed.

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1528

© Jeff Buck, Geograph. Licence CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Hermit of Handbridge by Charlotte Yonge

King Harold died at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Or did he?

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1529

© Andrew Hill, Geograph. Licence CC-BY-SA 2.0.

Edith and Edward by Clay Lane

A King and Queen gentler than the times in which they lived.

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1530

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

Byron and Hercules by Clay Lane

Lord Byron could not have hoped for a better omen in his support for the oppressed people of Greece.

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

© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 16 NS

May 3 OS

St John of Konitsa : Hassan slipped across to Ithaca because it was in British hands and the Turkish authorities on the Greek mainland must not know what he was going to do.
My Native Notes : Scotsman James Boswell always spoke good English when in England, but he was careful to leave a little Scots in.
Hidden Message : Reveal the hidden message in a letter, and write a coded letter of your own.
The Great and the Good : Daniel Defoe wondered whether goodness was not preferable to greatness.
Statements, Questions and Commands : Choose a word from our list, and then use it in any one of the three basic types of sentence — if possible.
Sentegrams : These sentences, taken from English literature, have been jumbled up like an anagram; see if you can piece them back together.
Good Sense : Rewrite these sentences so that the word ‘unless’ is not used.
The Coronation of Anne Boleyn : The weight of the crown that Anne Boleyn wore proved too heavy to bear.
Abstract : Use these words in sentences as a Noun, Verb or Adjective.
Better By Example : Gregory urged the persecuted Christians of Nazianzus to be the better men.
Speed Clues : Help a friend to guess five words in under a minute.
A Proper Game of Cricket : Mary Mitford makes an appeal for the traditional village cricket match.
Mini Bios : Write a short paragraph about a prominent person, but don’t start any sentence with he or she.
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