Sir, – In his letter regarding the "Britishness" of Charles Villers Stanford, Dr O'Brien (April 18th) makes reference to perhaps the most misattributed quote in Irish history. The theory that a man born in a stable is not necessarily a horse was not original to the Duke of Wellington. A contemporaneous source ( Reports of State Trials , 1844) attributes the following quote to Daniel O'Connell: "The poor old Duke! What shall I say of him, to be sure he was born in Ireland, but being born in a stable does not make a man a horse" (October 16th, 1843). The consistent misattribution of this quote characterises the persistent attempts to create an iron wall of separation between Irish and "British" culture; to make every historically figure fit neatly into the separate categories. Of course Stanford was heavily influenced by England and of course his music has now become part of "British" culture. The same could be said about Yeats, Wilde, Moore and Goldsmith – this does not mean that they are not Irish. Ireland and England (never mind Wales and Scotland) have always had a pooled culture. This should be acknowledged before further attempts are made to uncover cultural purity. – Yours, etc,
WILLIAM PRASIFKA,
St Edmund’s College,
Cambridge,
England.