15 JULY 2000, Page 26

Disembodied Doyle

From Mr John O'Byme Sir: Michael Vestey's puzzlement as to how the creator of such a super-rational detec- tive as Sherlock Holmes could have believed in fairies (Arts, 8 July) brought to mind a story concerning the great writer. When Conan Doyle did not arrive for a scheduled lecture on spiritualism, Cam- bridge University students mounted a plac- ard bearing the announcement: 'Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has failed to materialise.' John O'Byrne

Harold's Cross, Dublin