The Copybook

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

1597
Belshazzar’s Feast by Clay Lane

Prince Belshazzar’s disrespectful behaviour left him facing the original ‘writing on the wall’.

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1598

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

Mrs Bold’s Thunderclap by Anthony Trollope

There comes a point in some relationships when words just aren’t enough.

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1599

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

There is No Liberty without Self-Control by Edmund Burke

Anti-Christian governments don’t make us free, they just impose their own, illiberal morality.

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1600

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

No Dog Exchanges Bones with Another by Adam Smith

How do we get the help of millions of people we don’t know? Only by trade.

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1601

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

The Battle of Neville’s Cross by Clay Lane

Ralph Neville spoiled David of Scotland’s alliance with France in the Hundred Years’ War

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1602

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

The Tale of Beggar’s Bridge by Clay Lane

The proof of Thomas Ferres’s rags-to-riches tale is quite literally written in stone, but popular lore adds some tantalising and romantic detail.

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© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

April 23 NS

April 10 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 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.
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