Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

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1615

St Wilfrid and the Sheriff’s Wife

St Wilfrid brings healing to the wife of his own gaoler.

Having fallen foul of Ecgfrith, King of Northumbria, in 680 Wilfrid found himself in prison, and under very unpleasant conditions. His gaoler was the King’s sheriff, Osfrith.

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

1616

William of Cloudsley

William is Cumbria’s very own blend of Robin Hood and William Tell - with a happy ending, too.

Outlaw William Cloudsley could not resist one last visit to his beloved wife and children. But the Sheriff of Carlisle was waiting for him...

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Picture: © Karl and Ali, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.

1617

William Tell

A classic tale from Switzerland of overbearing authority and a father with a very steady hand.

Whenever royal families married, fought and died in Mediaeval Europe, the borders of their realms changed, and their long-suffering peoples were told to forget whatever loyalties they had sworn last, and swear new ones. There were always those willing to prosper by spying on their fellows, and according to legend, one day a Swiss archer named William Tell was spotted in an act of lese-majesty.

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

1618

Zadok the Priest

Handel’s anthem sets to glorious music words sung at English coronations for over a thousand years.

George Frederic Handel’s anthem ‘Zadok the Priest’, shamelessly plagiariased for UEFA’s ‘Champions League Anthem’, has been part of every coronation in England since 1727, and the words were chosen by a saint over a thousand years ago.

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

1619

The ‘Jay Treaty’

The Jay Treaty can be seen as the start of the ‘special relationship’ between Britain and America.

In 1794, America had to choose between France, a new republic like herself, or Britain, whose oppressive rule she had just thrown off. America’s choice was surprising - but wise, as events quickly showed.

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

1620

The ‘Raindrop’ Prelude

As the storm raged around him, raindrops fell like music on the pianist’s heart.

In 1838, Chopin and Georges Sand (a lady whose real name was Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin) stayed at a Carthusian monastery in Valldemossa, Mallorca. While seated at the piano during a storm, Sand tells us, Chopin experienced a disturbing dream.

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Picture: © Gryffindor, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.. Source.