Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

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1387

St Wilfrid’s Debt

The Blessed Virgin Mary adds four years to the life of Bishop Wilfrid, and an angel suggests a suitable thank-you.

1388

The Siege of Troy

Paris, prince of Troy, takes the not unwilling Queen of Sparta back home with him, and sparks ten years of diplomatic tension and ten of war.

1389

Silver Swan

Mark Twain’s attention was drawn off people-watching for a moment by an extraordinarily lifelike machine.

1390

Mathieu Martinel and the Blazing Barracks

The soldier went quite deliberately into a burning room full of gunpowder and ammunition.

1391

Mathieu Martinel and the Drowning Soldier

A young French cavalry soldier took a tremendous risk to rescue a drowning man.

1392

Mathieu Martinel and the Fireworks

A firework display in Paris turned to tragedy in the narrow streets of the capital.