The Copybook

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

445

From the Getty Museum, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

St John Port Latin by Jacobus de Voragine

According to an ancient tradition, the Roman authorities banished St John the Divine to the island of Patmos because they were quite unable to kill him.

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446

By Alonzo Chappel (1828–1887), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Plea of Pocahontas by John Smith

In 1607, settler Captain John Smith was captured by the Algonquin near the English colony at Jamestown, and watched his captors’ ceremonies with rising anxiety.

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447

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

The Hare Who was Afraid of his Ears by J.B. Rundell

After the Lion cracks down on horns right across his kingdom, a nervous Hare gets to wondering exactly what counts as a horn.

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448

Photo by Jabez Hughes, from Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

A Little Savoir Faire by George W. E. Russell

At the Berlin Congress of Powers in 1878, the draft of the Prime Minister’s keynote speech had his anxious aides scuttling about like ants.

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449

Terje Sørgjerd, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

Fire and Ice from The Old English Genesis

When the angels rebelled against their Maker, they demanded a kingdom of their own in a land without him — and he gave them what they wanted.

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450

© Allan Warren, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

A Good Morning’s Work by William George Spencer Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire

When Joseph Paxton, then just twenty-three, came to Chatsworth as Head Gardener he wasted no time getting settled in.

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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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