Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

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469

A Prince Among Thieves

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.

470

Henry Goes a-Maying

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

471

‘I Shall Keep This for Aunt Jane’

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

472

Jibe and Joke

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.

473

Dunstan’s Deliverance

In 978, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dunstan, was being battered in a stormy meeting when he — along with England’s rich monastic heritage — had a miraculous escape.

474

The Martyrdom of King Edward

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.