Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

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673

The Cats’ Tea Party

Gertrude Jekyll throws a tea party for her nine-year-old niece and some very special guests.

Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) liked cats. She kept several of them, and devoted herself and many pages of ‘Home and Garden’ to them. One winter, she threw a little farewell party for her nine-year-old niece following a short stay. The fare was unusual: herring, rice pudding and cream arranged with artistic flair on saucers; but then, the guests were unusual too...

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Picture: © Kentin, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.. Source.

674

A Chess Problem

Milne felt that chess was a game deserving of its place in the gallery of sports, but also that it had a drawback.

A. A. Milne comes to the defence of chess, arguing that it is game deserving of as much respect as any of the more physically demanding sports. And yet, there is something about it which means that his enthusiasm rarely lasts more than a month or so.

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Picture: By Thomas Eakins(1844-1916), from the Metropolitan Museum of Art via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.

675

‘Prove Your Enemies Wrong’

Aubrey Herbert MP was called upon to make a speech to Albanians itching to avenge the crimes of neighbouring Montenegro.

In 1913, Aubrey Herbert MP rode through the mountainous country near Albania’s border with Montenegro. The locals in Rrapshë, exhilarated by the successful Albanian Revolt of 1912 against Turkey, were celebrating a festival, and amidst gunshots and denunciations of Montenegro’s historic crimes against Albanians they called on Herbert for a speech.

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Picture: © Ilieva Alikaj, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.. Source.

676

The Wolf, the Fox and the Monkey

A Wolf and a Fox go to court over a petty theft, but they have a hard time getting the Judge to believe them.

Phaedrus was a Roman fabulist, roughly a contemporary of St Paul, who turned large numbers of Aesop’s Fables into Latin verse. He admits that many of the Fables are actually his own, but says that this one, in which a Wolf and a Fox struggle to overcome their reputations for dishonesty, is an Aesop original.

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Picture: © RedCoat, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.5.. Source.

677

The Character of the Conqueror

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle looks back on the reign of King William I.

When the editors of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle gave their assessment of William the Conqueror (r. 1066-1087), they admitted that in his day England had been a powerful nation, and that there was good order at home. But the price was an intrusive government that taxed without mercy and had a file on everyone — a price the Chroniclers clearly thought too high.

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Picture: © Roy Parkhouse, Geograph. Licence CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.

678

Striking Water

An Albanian shepherd plans to expand into arable farming, but he needs water and the search is close to ruining him.

In 1913, Aubrey Herbert MP reluctantly agreed to take a message from Ismail Qemali to his rival as leader of Albania, Essad Pasha Toptani. Herbert’s company on the long journey to Durrës included a priest with a fondness for verses; a musician who played air-violin; a murderer; a diplomat who was a bit of a comedian; and a ‘shepherd-king.’

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Picture: © Petrit Bejdoni, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.. Source.