Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

← Page 1

775

Apparel Oft Proclaims the Man

An austere Bishop of Winchester scolded St Edith for her comely nun’s habit, but the young woman’s eyes saw further than his.

St Edith of Wilton was a daughter of King Edgar (r. 959-975). The nuns of the convent, which was ruled by her mother Wulfthryth, wore rather nice habits and the Bishop of Winchester did not did not think them suitable. Edith, however, was not one to judge a book by its cover.

Read

Picture: By Sergei Gribkov (1822-1893), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.

776

Jerusalem in England

Blake throws heart and soul into an impassioned expression of his dream of a new England.

In a fiery Preface to his epic poem ‘Milton’, William Blake scolded Georgian Britain’s materialistic Establishment for making idols of war, empire, science and money. He ended with a stirring appeal to rediscover the country’s soul, drawing on a legend that Jesus Christ once visited England.

Read

Picture: By William Blake (1757-1827), via the Library of Congress and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.

777

A Parliament for Scotland

Self-confessed Scottish Nationalist John Buchan warned Scots that there was more to democratic prosperity than having a Parliament.

In November 1932, John Buchan MP told the House of Commons that he supported Home Rule for Scotland in principle, but warned that no Parliament has a magic wand, and that an over-mighty and bitterly anti-English Parliament might leave Scots as much a race without a country as no Parliament at all.

Read

Picture: © Tharnton345, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.

778

Blushing Honours

Sir Walter Scott takes his daughter Sophia to see the newly-rediscovered Honours of Scotland, and suffers an embarrassment.

In 1817, the Prince Regent appointed a Commission to search the Crown Room of Edinburgh Castle for records of Scotland’s crown jewels, unseen since the Act of Union in 1707. Sir Walter Scott had been a prime mover in the campaign and was one of the Commissioners, but not all his fellows felt the sacredness of their quest.

Read

Picture: By Sir David Wilkie (1785–1841), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.

779

The Honours of Scotland

Sir Walter Scott described how the long-forgotten crown jewels of the Scottish Kings came to light again.

After the Union of Scotland and England in 1707, Scotland’s crown jewels were locked away in Edinburgh Castle. Almost at once, the Jacobites who so bitterly opposed the Union began spreading rumours that the ‘Honours of Scotland’ had been stolen, and in 1794 King George III sent a party up to Edinburgh to prove them wrong.

Read

Picture: © The Scottish Parliament, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.. Source.

780

I’ll Tell You Who Time Gallops Withal

Rosalind explains to Orlando that Time moves at different paces depending on who you are.

William Shakespeare’s As You Like It is believed to be the play that opened the New Globe theatre in 1599. After Frederick usurped the throne of his brother Duke Senior (so the story goes) he exiled his own daughter Rosalind for disobedience. Disguised as a boy, Rosalind fled to the Forest of Arden only to run into a long-time admirer, Orlando. To hide her confusion, and still incognito, she accosts him ‘like a saucy lackey’.

Read

Picture: By Alfred Dedreux (1810-1860), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.