The Copybook

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

523

Anonymous (British School), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Fly on the Wall by Sir Francis Bacon

Henry VII made sure that he had eyes and ears wherever they were needed to put an end to thirty years of political conspiracy.

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524

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

A Prince Among Thieves by John Major

In the days of Henry VIII, eminent Scottish historian John Major looked back to the reign of Richard the Lionheart and sketched the character of legendary outlaw Robin Hood.

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525

By Marjorie Acker Phillips (1895-1985), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.5.

Henry Goes a-Maying by John Stow

King Henry VIII was riding out with Queen Catherine one May Day, when they found themselves waylaid by Robin Hood and two hundred archers.

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526

By Cassandra Austen (1773-1845), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

‘I Shall Keep This for Aunt Jane’ by James Edward Austen-Leigh

James Edward Austen-Leigh tells us what it was that made his aunt, the celebrated novelist Jane Austen, so remarkable.

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527

By Charles François Jalabert (1819–1901), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Jibe and Joke by Sir Richard Steele

Sir Richard Steele takes up arms against the kind of wit who thinks you can be as nasty as you like provided you make people laugh.

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528

© Herbythyme, Wikimedia Commons. Licenc e: CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Martyrdom of King Edward by Roger of Wendover

After the death of King Edgar, powerful court factions struggled for power by hiding behind his two sons, twelve-year-old Edward and his younger step-brother Ethelred.

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© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

April 24 NS

April 11 OS

Christ is Risen! : Felicia Skene recalls the Easter celebrations on one emotionally-charged night in Athens
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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