To have and to hold

sir – In answer to Damien Mccrystal (Letters, May 4), the wording in the wedding service in Cranmer’s first Book of Common Prayer (1549) is “till death us depart” (that is, “separate”). Dr Norman Russell Liverpool

sir – “Till death us do part” is not ungrammatical: it is an example of the fast-disappearing subjunctive. May it continue till kingdom come. Arnold Burston Rolleston-on-dove, Staffordshire