9 JUNE 1973, Page 26

Spectator June 9,1973 Topsy lamb

Sir: When I was a child in London, it was sometimes said pityingly that poor Londoners never saw a blade of grass growing. This made my patriotic Mum very angry, but now, I hear, people are becoming so urbanised that they are genuinely ignorant of country matters (other than those referred to by Ham-. let in a certain speech to Ophelia)....

The writer of your 'Notebook' enjoyed a meal of roast lamb, and game thanks to the farmer who ' grew ' it. Sir, a lamb is a small warm-blooded animal, which runs on, four legs, and feels, to a limited degree, many of the sensations that we do. I am not advocating immediate and universal vegetarianism, but I do think people should at least recognise where their delicious tasting protein. comes from, and perhaps, like certain Buddhists, mentally pray for the soul of the animal before eating it?

8 Glenisla Gardens, Edinburgh