3 DECEMBER 1983, Page 19

Bad Irish joke

Sir: No Irishmen in Shakespeare's plays? Richard West ('Sad Irish joke', 12 November) seems to have forgotten the Irish attendant who accompanies Hamlet (Act III, Scene iii) when he enters, with drawn sword, to find Claudius kneeling in prayer: 'Now might I do it, Pat, ... '

M. J. Hugill

Westminster School, 17 Dean's Yard, London SW1