The Copybook

Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.

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1549

By George W. Joy (1844-1925), via Wikimedia Commons.

The Siege of Khartoum by Clay Lane

General Gordon’s death was a sensation and a scandal in its day.

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1550

© David Dixon, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

Gunpowder, Treason and Plot by Clay Lane

Only an anonymous tip-off prevented England losing her sovereignty as well as her King.

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1551

© Colin Smith, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Tide of Popularity by Jane Austen

First impressions prove to be quite misleading in the case of handsome, disagreeable Mr Darcy.

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1552

© David Croker, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

Presumption and Innocence by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens chastises those who alter the plots of classic tales to push some social agenda of their own.

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1553

© Coyau, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.

‘Please Sir, I Want Some More!’ by Charles Dickens

Oliver was elected as the unwilling spokesman for all the hungry children.

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1554

© William Cho, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Insect on the Leaf by Charles Dickens

Scrooge begs the Spirit of Christmas to tell him what will happen to Tiny Tim.

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Clay Lane The Copybook
About Clay Lane nicholas@claylane.uk

© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 21 NS

May 8 OS

The Spy : In 1910, Constantine Zervakos, a young monk from the Greek island of Paros, found himself charged with espionage.
The Miracle of St John of the Caves : The story of an unexpected escape through the heart of a hill.
The Peninsular War : Napoleon’s six-year-long campaign (1808-1814) to bring Spain and Portugal into his united Europe was frustrated by Arthur Wellesley.
Thick and Thin : Express each of these ideas as a single word.
Break : Explain what each of these common expressions means, and give examples.
Blind Guide : William Wirt recalls an overpowering sermon from a blind man in a little wooden chapel.
It’s All in the Delivery : Aeschines paid tribute to the oratory of his greatest rival — whether he meant to or not.
The Road to Ruin : George Berkeley warned that industry, not financial speculation, was the guarantee of a nation’s wealth.
Signs of Command : Suggest publicly-displayed commands, and say how many of them are sentences.
My Native Notes : Scotsman James Boswell always spoke good English when in England, but he was careful to leave a little Scots in.
Hidden Message : Reveal the hidden message in a letter, and write a coded letter of your own.
The Great and the Good : Daniel Defoe wondered whether goodness was not preferable to greatness.
Statements, Questions and Commands : Choose a word from our list, and then use it in any one of the three basic types of sentence — if possible.
Sentegrams : These sentences, taken from English literature, have been jumbled up like an anagram; see if you can piece them back together.
Good Sense : Rewrite these sentences so that the word ‘unless’ is not used.
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