Introduction
In the days of King Stephen (r. 1135-1154), Lady Tichborne in Hampshire warned her heirs never to fail in their charity to the poor. To do so, she said, would be bring the family line to an abrupt end, and six hundred years and one meddlesome magistrate later, her unlikely fears came true.
BACK in the twelfth century, as Lady Mabella Tichborne lay dying she asked her husband to give the peasants on his estates a free gift of flour every year on Lady Day. Sir Roger, whose instincts were decidedly thrifty, replied that they could have the harvest of any field his bedridden lady could mark out — alone, by hand, and at night, in the time one torch would take to burn out.
After dragging herself around fully twenty-three acres* of her husband’s estate - called ‘the Crawls’ to this day - Mabella warned Sir Roger to keep his side of the bargain. Otherwise, there would be one generation of seven sons, and one generation of seven daughters, and the Tichborne name would be extinct.
In 1796, a magistrate ordered the dole suspended after it began to attract vagrants. Sir Henry Tichborne, one of seven sons himself, promptly fathered seven daughters. The dole was hastily reinstated, and is still distributed to families in Tichborne today.
23 acres is approximately thirteen football pitches.
Précis
Twelfth-century Lady Tichborne made her thrifty husband promise to help the poor. She warned that if the charitable tradition ever stopped, the Tichborne male line would die out. Centuries later, a magistrate suspended the dole, and Mabella’s bizarre warning immediately came true. (42 / 60 words)
Twelfth-century Lady Tichborne made her thrifty husband promise to help the poor. She warned that if the charitable tradition ever stopped, the Tichborne male line would die out. Centuries later, a magistrate suspended the dole, and Mabella’s bizarre warning immediately came true.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 45 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 35 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, because, may, must, not, since, unless, until.
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Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Dole. Family. Out.
2 Flour. Husband. Year.
3 Her. Side. Still.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
tts (5+4)
teats. tits. totes. tots. touts.
toots. tootsie. tuts. tutus.
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