NOENA. 217 



of my immediate relations. I sat a good deal with her, 

 and as she seemed to be fond of talking, which I am not, 

 she had her will. But what struck me as a singular fact 

 in her history was this : You are probably aware, that 

 her father and mother lost their life owing to the well 

 meant and affectionate kindness of one of their daughters 

 (whether Mrs Grierson or not I cannot say) who placed 

 a chauffer of coals in what she feared might be a damp or 

 airless room, in which her parents were to sleep. They 

 were both found suffocated next morning. The knowledge 

 of this dreadful catastrophe is, of course, not new either to 

 myself or you. But this other related fact, or rather fiction, 

 seems to have sprung out of it, though not that I know of 

 traced to its source, either by John Lockhart, or any other 

 of Sir Walter Scott's biographical commentators. In the 

 novel, called the 'Pirate,' the scene of which is laid in 

 Shetland, a wild, almost mad enthusiast is described 

 under the name of Noma of the Fitful Head. She some- 

 where, in the course of the work, discloses her own early 

 history, and the dire calamities which had befallen her. 

 The most fatal and overwhelming of these resulted from 

 her closing her parents' bed-room door, which she found 

 ajar one morning at an early hour, when about to fulfil 

 an assignation with her lover. Her parents both died in 

 consequence, from suffocation, and remorse drove her to 

 insanity. Now what has this to do with Mrs Grierson, 



