Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-06-03
GRETNA.GREEN.
Death Of Old SimOn-His Son and Sue
cessOr, William Lang.

~ AAANE AAANA 1DAAAl ~ AAAS ~ ALAAA
nent "priests'' who have hOurished il
connection Herewith, may not be unin.
teresting at the present time. As a place
for tying the nuptial knot for runaway
couples there is no doubt that its greal
popularity commenced Immediately af
ter the infamous effect marriages" wers
suppressed at the middle of the last cen.
tury. Long anterior to that date irreg'
ular marriages, all along the parishes o.
the western borders of Britain, were fal
more frequent than in almost any othel
part of the three kingdoms. As early
as 1868 the rector of Stapleton citeC
many of his parishers for unlawfully
marrying out of We parish, and chrys
tening chyldren;n and afterward men
lions n 'Mr. Armstrong, of CanOby,i
on the Scotch side, as becoming exceed
ingly troublesome to him by undertak,
ing such jobs. About 1870, one "JohI
Moray, the clogger, in the Langton, ,
on the English side, gave great annoy
ance to the worthy minister Of Gretna
by writing testimonials of marriages
to which fictitious signatures were at,
tached, for the amorou couples of his
parish, and receiving from them ''about
two half crow dsp for each accomplish
ment. From the fact that marriages IN
Scotland were deemed legal if two per
sons accepted one another as man and
wife in the presence of witnesses, q
sharp-witted fellow, named Scott, hit on
the ingenious idea of opening a place on
the Borders for uniting runaway couples
in wedlOck. He commenced his career
at the Rigg, in Gretna parish, about the
year 1853, and has always been account
ed "a cunning sort of chief" His sue
.cessor or rival in trade was an old sol
der, who invariably appeared at the al
tar dressed in a full military uniform,
having rather al Anticipated or "seedy'i
appearance. He wore o large cooked
hat, red coat, jack Ooots, and generally
had a pondrous sword dangling by his
side. A pretty picture this for any lack
adai-ical parson Of the modern school to
contemplate!
When time hadlevelled the old soldier
there arose many manly aspirants fol
the office of ehief-pTiest. The lions
shareof the plumber, however, fell tC
the lot of Joseph Paisley, fisherman,
smuggler, tObaccOnist and reputed black
smith. Paisley had no claim to the last
mentioned trade, except in q mytholOg-
zeal sense; and it is generally believed
the aus of his being dubbed 'black-
smith, arose entirely from his quickness
in welding OIL joining couples together,
On or two occasions he obtained the
fee of one hundred guineas for his few
minutes work; as David Lang also sue
ceeded in doing some years afterward.
Paisley was a rough, OutspOken, bolster
Gus sort of a fellow, who had a wonder
full flow of animal spirits, was extremely
ignorant, weighed twenty-five stone,
swOre like O trooper, and drank at least
a Scotch pint of brandy daily equal to
two English quarts). All these things
combined helped TO make up an extra
ordinary character; and it is perhaps
not to be wondered at that the old folk
at Gretna still look up to Paisley as their
representative priest. Robert Elliot, the
NOrthumbrian, WHO married q grand
daughter of Pasleyis and succeeded him
at his death in 1911, drove a brisk trade
in weddings, down to the year 1899,
which period he claimed to have
married neither morenor less than three
thousand eight hundred and seventy
couples. Ellit, who originally was
a hostler. died at Carlisle in 1916. We
now come to the two Langs, father and
son, whose united careers as priests eX-
tend over fully eighty years. David,
the father, was born and brought up in
the parish of Gretna. Early in life he
went into Lancashire as draper or ped
lar, and soon afterward wa carried off
by the pressgang. During the time he
was in the English service the ship in
which he sailed was boarded and taken
by Paul Jones-Paul being the first man
who stepped on board. The captives
run into a French port, and in
ducements made for them to join the
American service, in which Paul then
served. David Lang, however, returned
safe home to Gretna; donned the priests
ceremonials in the year 1872, and con-
tinued in the wedding line till the time
of his death, nearly forty years after.
The greatest achievement of his reign
was the marriage of Thomas Lord Frs
kline, in his old age, to his mistress, Miss
Sarah Buck, Of York Buildings, Maryle-
bone. For this event it is said he Melted
the sum of one hundred guineas. David
succeeded in joining several seiOns of no.
BILE and powerful houses, including the
VillOrs, the Beauclercs, the Coventrys,
and Others of almost equal standing. He
was cut off rather suddenly in 1927, in
his seventy-second year, from the effects
Of a severe cold, caught while attending
the great sensational trial at Lancaster
Of Wakefield, for the abduction of Miss
Turner, q rich heiress, fifteen years old.
After this event Simon Lang at once
entered upon the duties of the prieStly
add as his fathers fame was full
in the land, he naturally fell into a lu-
crative branch of business at once. Sim,
however, had his trials among it all.
Some Of his rivals becoming jealous Of
his success, resorted to all sorts Ofunprin-
dodges III order to iniure and an
noy him. If a newly arrived couple
wanted to find out "Lang the priest"
the invariable answer was, 'Deid an
lang sem ~ 'iBgt his son-sure-
", he livesvr ask the strangers. "Deid
an a'-deid's a door nail!n is again the
response. Yet in spite of such unfair
opposition, Sim fiOurished abundantly,
following closely his legitimate Occupa-
ions of marrying and weaving, and oc-
,asionally varying the tone of these by
lOing a little smuggling on the quiet.
He long outlived all his competitors,
and saw the decline of the golden days
If old Gretna; but still he continued in
to the last. About twelve months
he went through probably the last
marriage ceieIlOhy he ever performed
n complete GiSha6iHe having nothing
N but his shirt and drawers! The rea-
jOn of this unwonted exhibition was that
he parties reached Gretna from Dun
iries by the midnight train, and, like all
ond lovers, could brook no delay; so the
I'D priest was aroused from his slumbers
% do duty at a moments notice. a
newspaper correspondent and two
spent a very pleasant afternoon
With "auld Sim" at Springfield, in the
autumn of 1871. When they reached
he dwelling of the last of the priests he
vas busy ''grubbing" in the garden be-
hind his house, having just finished
a huge stack Of peats for the
winter fire. He stepped forth to well
,ome them with a light, elastic step,
wearing an extraordinary lOng-orOwned
nat of the chimney-pot shape, and had
N quite as extraordinary a lOng-tailed
urtOut coat. He was a slimbuilt man,
sanding about five feet seven inches
high, with white hair, n spare face, and
quick eye. On asking his age, he laugh
d and said "Eighteenp' mot quite!D
'Varra weel, them" replied he, njust
urn the figures upside down; or
put the first last and the last
am ye hev it in a tick-tack.n
What, you don't mean to say you are
'ighty-One, do you?n To the latter ques-
ion he nodded assent.
AT a very late moment the Herald is
informed that Gretna is still to have its
PRIEST in the person of William Lang,
he eldest son of Simon, deceased, thus
the link to the third genera
ion.
A CORRESPONDENT of the London
Daily Net0s, in describing a visit made
o Vesuvius on the twenty-seventh Of
April, says: 1.-THE scene was ~indescriba-
,lv tarrihIe and grand. The mountain