The Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

October 11 September 28 OS

The Copy Book is an ever-growing library of short passages from history and literature, intended for practice in paraphrase and précis or simply for reading pleasure. They include brief summaries and eyewitness accounts of major events in our national history, and extracts from fables, poetry, plays, novels, political speeches and biography. Many were included by NL Clay in his anthologies of ‘straightforward English’.

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On This Day

October 11 ns

September 28 os

We keep civil anniversaries on the New Style date, and Church events on the Old Style. See About our calendars.

October 11 ns

The Second Boer War begins (1899) 1 post

The Boer Wars

South African settlers of Dutch descent could not escape the march of the British Empire.

September 28 os

The Feast of St Wenceslaus (AD 935) 1 post

Wenceslaus: A Life for a Life

By Divine providence, the shocking murder of Good King Wenceslas led to a flowering of Christian faith in Europe.

Archive

What follows is an index to all 1554 posts in The Copy Book. You can keep up-to-date with new posts, and discover old posts you may have missed, with the Clay Lane Blog, where you will also find a selection of word games and exercises in grammar and composition.

The posts are currently listed most recent first. Use the buttons below to sort the posts alphabetically, or shuffle the list so you can find posts from right across the collection.

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1

Heracles and Omphale

As penance for involuntary manslaughter, Heracles was sentenced to slavery under the playful rod of Omphale, Queen of Lydia.

2

Laughter in the House

Sir Philip Sidney reminded comedians that when the audience is laughing they aren’t necessarily the better for it.

3

The Perils of the Learned

Persian scholar Al-Ghazali feared for any country where morals were lagging behind brains.

4

The Black Rood of Scotland

When the Reformers sold off the treasures of Durham Cathedral, they sold a priceless piece of Scottish history into oblivion.

5

Infirm of Purpose!

After the murder of King Duncan, Lady Macbeth is alarmed to see her husband losing his grip on reality.

6

The Long Arm of Rob Roy

Nearly seventy years after his death, the roguish laird still cast a spell over the farm-folk of the Highlands.