The Copybook

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

379

© Andy Reago and Chrissy McClarren, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Grammar of Jays and Cats by Mark Twain

In Jim Baker’s considered opinion, the bluejay had a much better command of language than Mark Twain’s cats did.

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380

From Royal MS 14 B VI, via the British Library and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Making of England from The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

In 917, King Edward embarked on a swashbuckling tour of the midlands, and brought their towns under one crown for the first time in five hundred years.

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381

By Andrey Rublev (?-?1430), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

A Glimpse of the Grail by Sir Thomas Malory

In a lonely castle upon a remote island, Sir Lancelot’s wanderings brought him once more into the presence of the elusive cup of Christ’s blood.

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382

By Henry R. Robinson, via the Library of Congress and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

A Right and a Duty by Daniel Webster

The tighter the US Government’s stranglehold on dissent grew, the harder Daniel Webster fought for freedom of speech.

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383

By Daniel Turner (fl. 1802-1817), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

On Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth

On his way to war-torn France, William Wordsworth passed through London and was overwhelmed by the quiet of the early morning.

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384

by Don Troiani (1949-), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain image.

English Spirit by Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke told the House of Commons that the American colonies’ refusal to be dictated to by Westminster was the very spirit that had made the Empire great.

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© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 1 NS

April 18 OS

Flying Scotsman : In 1928, a train service linking London and Edinburgh became the world’s longest non-stop run.
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.
Zheng He and the Rise of Malacca : Malacca became a refuge from the overbearing empires of the Far East, thanks to a celebrated Chinese admiral.
Confusables : Compose sentences to bring out the similarities and differences between these words.
Jill and I : Include yourself in these sentences about Jill.
Saddled : Use these words in sentences, and see if you can use one of them as a verb.
Russia’s Heroic Stand : In 1941, with much of the West subdued, Adolf Hitler bent the full force of his hatred on Moscow.
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?
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