Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1890-08-30

their relatives by boat across the Solway;
were upset by storm and an incoming tide,
whose violence drowned one OF their pur-
suers and caused the others to abandon
the chase: the couple themselves barely es-
Gaping with their lives; and, bedraggled In
brine and sand, finally made their way on
foot from Greenhouses, where they reached
shore on the Scottish side, to the safe ha-
ven of Gretna Green.
This marriage, as well as thousands fol-
lowing, was performed by Joseph Paisley,
who from this date until the time of his
death, in 1914, a period of forty
years, was the most notorious, if not
noted, man in Scotland, as well as the
most execrated single individual known to
the annals of English social anathema-
From all accounts this Joseph Paisley was
an odd character. He was of unusual
height and fame, and was accorded one of
the strongest men in Scotland He was a
tobacconist-not blacksmith, as accord
ing to general literary tradition-and pre-
sided over the destinies of an insignificant
licensed depot for tea, tobacco and snuff,
where also smuggled whisky was to be had
by the ''muekle right sort who could be
trusted Gretna Green then, as now
while the western end of Springfield vii
lage, consisted of not more than half
dozen houses: little cluster of buildings
about the olden farmstead of Meg's hill.
There was She residence of Colonel Max
well, an extensive land owner, the old
straw thatched kirk with its little kirk
yard in which / now find head stones in
memory of Paisley-and his successors as
'sBishop of Gretns.- as they We're each
styled, the parish manse behind the kirk,
a carpenters shop, a cottage or two, and
the vile little shop of Paisley The man
was so grossly ignorant that he could
scarcely write his name, but was still pos
sessed of much canny shrewdness and
cunning. He is credited with tremendous
feats of strength, and with his two hands
he could straighten a horse shoe in its
cold state. He was also the possessor of
such stentOrian lungs that his helloa could
be heard further than any post horn in use
between Carlisle and Glasgow; while he
was the most capable drinker then known
in Scotland-a no little tribute at any time
to bibulous prowess. As his fame and in
come increased he became a tremendous
| mass of fat, and, while never known to
be drunk, consumed two English quarts of
brandy daily. The fact is of record that
on one occasion he sat down with bottle
companion ON Monday morning to an an
ker of cognac, and without aid IN its
drinking, or at any time being intoxicated,
they kicked the empty cask out of the
door ON the succeeding Saturday. The
outcry throughout England over the Ed
gar-Scott marriage in 1871 simply resulted
in turning the attention of countless other
couples to Gretna, and the Insignificant
hamlet instantly became famous. Paisley
was threatened with all manner of harm,
| upon which he set Scotland and England
at defiance, all of which gave him added
importance and dignity. He was canny
enough to secure the highest Scotch legal
advice, and Immediately settled the form
of procedure according to law, by attest
ing marriages simply as a witness. The
absolute legality of these Gretna marriages
thus established and advertised, their re-
nown and that of the man Paisley COM
| pleted the essentials for acQuainting every
soul in England with the extraordinary
| opportunities offered for evading English
law; Paisley gave up the selling of tea,
tobacco and snuff for the more lucrative
vocation of self constituted Bishop of
| Gretna;" the Maxwell residence was trans
formed into commodious inn; extra re-
| lays of horses and chaises for use of pur-
sued and pursuers were soon in requisition
at convenient points for an hundred miles
4 distance south of Carlisle, in England; and
food tide set in towards this little Scot
tish hamlet which, in its aggregate of
throbbing hearted humans, far exceeded
the mightiest army that Scottish or Saxon
king ever hurled against enemy across this
weird old Scottish border.
| EDGAR l.. WAKEMAN.