Letters

I read the article on Thomas de Quincy [One Book Wonder, April 2017] with great interest. I read

Confessions of an English Opium Eater some years ago, and lately have been led to believe that Hector Berlioz, the great French composer, was influenced by his book.

Whether Berlioz experimented with opium himself I do not know, but as a result of his knowledge of de Quincy his amazing Symphony Fantastique came to pass.

The next time I am in Edinburgh I will try to visit his burial site at St. Cuthbert’s. I am more acquainted with Greyfriars, resting place of Duncan Ban MacIntyre, the great Gaelic Bard from Argyll, and others of that ilk.

I am a new subscriber to Scottish Field magazine, though I have known it for years. Both my wife and I enjoy reading it immensely. Niall Ian MacLean, Inveraray