Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

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385

‘A City Greater than London’

In 1585, English merchant Ralph Fitch found himself at the heart of Mughal India, as a guest at the court of Emperor Akbar the Great.

In 1600, Ralph Fitch was among the advisers engaged in the founding of the East India Company, thanks to his account of a daring tour of Syria, Iran and India from 1583 to 1591 that had gripped Queen Elizabeth I and all London. In July 1585, Fitch had arrived in the Indian city of Agra, which with nearby Fatehpur-Sikri lay at the heart of the realm of Akbar the Great (r. 1556-1605), third Mughal Emperor.

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

386

Man of Steele

Sir Richard Steele reflects on the ingredients in his recipe for the perfect English gentleman.

Sir Richard Steele came home one day after tea with some very pleasant ladies, feeling he had rather let himself down. Respecting his maxim ‘Never contradict or reason with a sprightly female’ he had allowed himself to agree to a definition of a Gentleman that would hardly do outside a ballroom. Now he felt compelled to redeem himself in the pages of The Guardian.

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Picture: By Rudolf Lehmann (1819–1905), via the National Portrait Gallery and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: ? Public domain.. Source.

387

The Kite and the Pigeons

Some panicky Pigeons agree to let the Kite rule their dovecote, so long as he promises not to take advantage of his position.

This little Fable should hardly require explanation, yet the lesson it teaches is repeatedly forgotten. When we are bullied and badgered, it is easy to appease our tormentor in the hope that ready compliance will be rewarded with peace; but bullies don’t stop bullying, it’s what they do.

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

388

Miracles of St Olaf

Snorro Sturluson records some of the miracles attributed to Olaf II, King of Norway, after Englishman Bishop Grimkell declared him a saint.

King Olaf II Haraldsson (?995-1030) ruled Norway from 1015 to 1028. A year after Olaf died in the Battle of Stiklestad on July 29th, 1030, Grimkell, English-born Bishop of Nidaros (Trondheim), glorified him as a saint. Here, Snorro Sturluson records some of the miracles that were reported at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, St Olaf’s shrine, where building began in 1070.

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Picture: © Basher Eyre, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.. Source.

389

The Battle of Jericho

The Israelites crossed over into the Land of Promise, only to find their progress barred by the well-fortified city of Jericho.

In 1300-1250 BC or so, the people of Israel escaped a life of forced labour in Egypt, and fled east and north into the desert. Assured by Moses and his brother Aaron that a land ‘flowing with milk and honey’ awaited them, they endured forty years of wandering before reaching the borders of Canaan. As the brothers had now died, the task of making a home there fell to Joshua.

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

390

Bad Day at Waterloo

Frederick Ponsonby’s involvement in the Battle of Waterloo began early, and it seemed to him that it went on for ever.

Early in the Battle of Waterloo on June 18th, 1815, the Union Brigade inflicted heavy losses on the French guns and then withdrew, shielded by Colonel William Ponsonby’s 12th Light Dragoons. But then 300 Polish lancers, French allies, rode up. There was a crush. The French fired indiscriminately. In minutes, Ponsonby had lost the use of his arms, his sword and his reins. Then with the flash of a sabre he was down.

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Picture: By Walter Holmes Sullivan (1836-1908), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.