The Copybook

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

571

From the Illustrated London News (December 4, 1847), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Through Russian Eyes by (William) John Birkbeck

After a visit to England in 1847, Aleksey Khomyakov published his impressions of our country and our people in a Moscow magazine.

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572

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

What It Is to Be a King by Charlotte Yonge

Alexander, who had just taken the bath intended for his vanquished enemy Darius of Persia and was now eating Darius’s supper, was interrupted by a commotion in the camp.

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573

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

Ranulf’s Tooth by Clay Lane

As he sat in his guest room at Durham Abbey, Ranulf de Capella could think of nothing but finding someone to rid him of his painful toothache.

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574

By Isaac Fuller (1606–1672), via the National Portrait Gallery and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: ? Public domain.

The Royal Oak by Samuel Pepys

In 1680, Samuel Pepys sat down with Charles II to record how, many years before, a bold double-bluff saved the King from Cromwell’s men.

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575

By Liborio Prosperi (1854–1920), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Better than a Play by Karl Philipp Moritz

During his tour of England in 1782, Karl Philipp Moritz dropped in on the House of Commons, and thought the histrionics in the Chamber better than any play.

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576

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

The Old House by Mrs Molesworth

In the opening lines of The Cuckoo Clock, Mrs Molesworth paints a word-picture of a house so old that Time itself seemed to have stopped.

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

© 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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