Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

← Page 1

1507

How Alfred Burnt the Cakes

A popular tale of scorched cakes and a scolded king.

King Alfred the Great ruled from 871 to 899. He did more than any other king to unite the English as a nation, but first he had to overcome an invasion of Danes from across the North Sea, and a very cross housewife.

Read

Picture: © Jon Thomson, Wikimedia Commons. Licence CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.

1508

The Third Siege of Missolonghi

The cruelty of the Ottoman Turks so shocked Europe that the tide of opinion turned against them.

In 1823, early in the Greeks’ desperate fight for independence from the Ottoman Empire, English poet Lord Byron brought welcome public attention to the town of Missolonghi near Corinth just after it had endured two draining sieges. Two years later, however, the Turks came a third time.

Read

Picture: Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.

1509

David and Bathsheba

David’s scheme to steal another man’s wife succeeded, but he could not keep his secret from everyone.

David was King of all Israel early in the 10th century BC. Through Bathsheba, he was a forefather of Jesus, but the marriage was the result of a stratagem unworthy of a King.

Read

Picture: From the 15th century Bedford Hours. Via Wikimedia Commons.. Source.

1510

The Hobbit

Tolkien’s tale of dragons, magic rings and enchanted gold is one of the masterpieces of English literature.

A Hobbit (Tolkien’s own mythological invention) is like a Man but much shorter, with furry feet, and he is content with an uneventful rural life. But Mr Bilbo Baggins was about to be sent on an Adventure, when all he wanted was breakfast.

Read

Picture: © Alex Saunier, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0 France.. Source.

1511

Rule, Britannia!

‘Rule Britannia’ was a discreet way of telling a German prince what was expected of a British King.

The British patriotic song “Rule Britannia” is sadly misunderstood. The short drama ‘Alfred’ from which it comes was not a shrill declaration of British power abroad but a tactful way of telling King George II’s son, a German-speaking Prince, that his job was to defend his people from invasion, and then leave them to enjoy fruits of their own labours.

Read

Picture: © Graham Horn, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.

1512

The Rewards of ‘Patience’

How appropriate that the comic opera ‘Patience’ should introduce the world to the results of thirty years of labour.

Local boy Joseph Swan (1828-1914) worked for his brother-in-law in the pharmaceutical firm of Mawson, Swan and Morgan in Newcastle. He can claim to be one of the architects of modern living.

Read

Picture: Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.