Sir, – Thirty years ago the writer Hugh Carr, then clerk to the justices in Tullamore, told me of an incident in a Midlands court where a witness chose to affirm rather than to swear an oath.
The official proffering the Bible said, “What?”. The judge said, “He will affirm. He won’t swear, he will affirm.” The official again proffered the Bible with the words: “Say after me: I affirm by Almighty God.” – Yours, etc,
M ROSS-MacDONALD
Birr, Offaly.