In an 1829 [stage] adaptation of Walter Scott’s Guy Mannering, a character is lost on a storm-racked Scottish heath, when suddenly: “Ha! What do I see on this lonely heath? A Piano? Who could be lonely with that? The moon will shortly rise and light me from this unhallowed place; so, to console myself, I will sing one of Julia’s favourite melodies.” And he does.

From The Invention Of Murder : How The Victorians Revelled In Death And Detection And Created Modern Crime by Judith Flanders (2011)