Downton star uses Shakespeare's words to back cruelty campaign

DOWNTON Abbey star Peter Egan recites a passage from Shakespeare's Henry VI in a new video by PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Peter, a vegan, who played Hugh 'Shrimpie, MacClare, Marquess of Flintshire, in the hugely-popular ITV period drama, said the words spoken over footage from a modern-day dairy farm showed the Bard's works remain relevant 400 years after his death.

The passage that accompanies the video reads: 'Thou never didst them wrong, nor no man wrong; And as the butcher takes away the calf, And binds the wretch, and beats it when it strays, Bearing it to the bloody slaughter-house, Even so remorseless have they born him hence; And as the dam runs lowing up and down, Looking the way her harmless. young one went, And can do nought but wail her darling's loss'.

"William Shakespeare wrote these words more than 400 years ago," Peter also says in the video.

"But to this day, mother and baby cows continue to be torn apart and killed. You can help them today simply by choosing vegan meals."

PETA, whose motto reads, in part, that 'animals are not ours to eat', notes that plant-based milks are far kinder to animals and contain none of the artery-clogging animal fat and cholesterol of cows' milk.