In the first journal, Isabella made her copy “ I have been a Naughty Girl,” and in the second journal Marjory describes several episodes of her trying her teacher’s patience: She confesses openly her bad temper and unruly behaviour, in particular her violent tantrums, to which Isabella always responds with calm and patience. But her spelling often remains faulty, which sometimes makes a funny reading. She shows herself a witty girl and an avid reader of poetry and literature. In her three journals, Marjory tells pell-mell about various things, the weather, the events of life, her feelings for people, the books she read, all mixed with moral maxims and general considerations. They remained in private hands until 1930, when they were donated to the National Library of Scotland.
Soon after this, Isabella Keith returned Marjory’s papers to her mother, and at the request of her father she painted a watercolour sketch of the girl from memory. Sketch by Isabella Keith – Marjory Fleming In November 1811 she fell to an outbreak of measles, from which she seems to have recovered, then became ill from “water in the head,” apparently meningitis, and died on December 19, 1811, a little less than one month before her ninth birthday. She missed badly her cousin, as shows her letters to Isabella, but the two would never meet again. Upon her return to her family in Kirkcaldy by the summer of 1811, the journal ended. This journal is made of three notebooks, ranging from spring 1810 to spring 1811.
It was probably Isabella Keith’s idea to have Marjory write a journal, in order to survey her progress in handwriting, spelling and punctuation. For the little girl, she became like a mother figure indeed, in some letters to Isabella, Marjory called her “ My Dear little Mama” or “ My Dear Mother.” Apart from a possible trip home in the autumn of 1810, she remained there until July 1811.Ī strong affective bond developed between Marjory and her cousin, who showed herself a patient and careful educator. In 1809 (at age nearly 7), she was sent to live in Edinburgh in the care of her mother’s sister, Marianne Keith, whose daughter Isabella, a young woman in her early twenties, took charge of Marjory’s education-b.t.w., Marjory’s mother and elder sister were also named Isabella. She was born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland on January 15, 1803, the third child of an educated middle-class family.
Marjory Fleming was a Scottish child of the early 19th century, who died of meningitis one month before her ninth birthday and got posthumous fame from her writings: three journals, several poems and letters.
Portrait of Marjory Fleming during her last illness
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