Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

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1573

The Lion and the Mouse

A casual act of mercy brought an unexpected reward.

When the King of Jungle let a lippy little mouse go, he had no idea that he was saving his own life too.

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

1574

Love’s Last Knot

Richard Crashaw offers the hope of eternity for wedded love.

Richard Crashaw (1613-1649) was an Anglican clergyman and scholar who was forced into exile in France in 1643 for his traditional beliefs, after Oliver Cromwell captured Cambridge in the Civil War. In this short poem, he assures us that the bond of wedded love lasts to eternity. (Crashaw is pronounced cray-shaw.)

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Picture: © Derek Voller, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.. Source.

1575

A Lullaby to Sorrows

A Scottish widow’s lullaby for her fatherless child inspired his music, but Brahms’s message struck closer to home.

Johannes Brahms never came to Britain, apparently because he was so idolised here that the modest composer found every excuse to avoid it. Nonetheless his ‘Three Intermezzi’ Op. 117 were inspired by a Scottish folksong, and are a reflection on his complex relationship with Clara Schumann and her children, whom he supported financially and emotionally after Clara’s husband (and Brahms’s friend) Robert was taken from them.

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Picture: © Philip Capper, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.

1576

A Man called ‘Beta’

For a perennial ‘runner-up’, Eratosthenes had a peculiar knack of being first.

Eratosthenes (c. 276 - c. 195/194 BC) was a man of many talents, which earned him the scorn of lesser men. But he is rightly revered today as one of the giants of science.

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Picture: By NASA, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.

1577

The Martyrdom of St James the Great

James, brother of John the Evangelist, was executed for his faith by a close friend of the Emperor Caligula.

In Acts, Luke refers only briefly to how James, one of Zebedee’s ‘sons of thunder’ and brother of St John the Evangelist, met his end. History and tradition, however, can tell us a little more of the story.

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Picture: Photo by Lalupa, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.

1578

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

When Parliament sent the Army against American colonists, people still calling themselves ‘British’ had to decide very quickly what that meant to them.

Paul Revere, a Massachusetts silversmith and professional courier, was in the city of Concord when news came that Parliament had ordered the Army to move against its own people. With no time to lose, he was despatched on an errand which proved to be the spark that ignited a revolution.

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Picture: By Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.