Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

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1507

The First Train Journey by Steam

Richard Trevithick’s boss hailed the engineer as a genius. Today he’d have been fired. (Oh, and the train was delayed.)

1508

The Fox and the Bramble

A fox tries to save herself from a fall, but finds she would have been better off taking the tumble.

1509

The Fox and the Grapes

Some people disparage what they can’t have.

1510

Hannibal’s Passage of the Alps

Hannibal’s crossing of the Alps with nearly 50,000 men and 38 elephants is the stuff of legend.

1511

The Harmonious Blacksmith

Handel called it ‘Air and Variations’, but by Charles Dickens’s day everyone knew it as ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’.

1512

Heads I Win, Tails You Lose!

(That’s cat-tails, obviously.) And who ever said cats were unpredictable?