Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-09-06
AULD GRETNA GREEN.
Visit to Spot Celebrated in Scottish
Song and Story.
THOUSANDS OF RUNAWAY COUPLES
Including Noted Members Of Aristocracy
Married There.
AN ODD OLD MAN NOW TIE BISHOP



and lies buried, toward the border to Gretn;
Green. So far as human eyes could discern
not soul had housing within It's half dozer
ruinous habitations. Not a youthful o.
wrinkled face pressed against tiny win
dow pane as L passed. No dirty chifdrer
skulked like grouse in and out of the pleas
ant hedges. Not even the snarl of watch
full cur contributed to the fact of arrival, Of
conveyed a sense of welcome. 1 kicked
bravely at few doors, without even
awakening an echo. Where echo is dead il
is silent indeed, 1 reflected, as L broke into
the old kirkyard. 1 could not force the
door of the kirk ITSELF Then 1 prowled
about the uncovered manse behind. Here
lived, knew, one OF those remnants OF {
halfdead and altogether breathless eccle
siastie systematic Established Church Of
Scotland, expiring from a TRANSMISSION of re.
ligious blood and life into the vigorous
young Free Church, parish minister; but
evidently he, too, was past awakening.
Then 1 sauntered among the graves.
There was at least interest, if not life, here.
That extraordinary priest of Hymen, the
first "Bishop of Gretna," he who had defed
bulls of popes, bullyings of lord chancellors.
and edicts of kings, fat old brandy-guzzling
Joseph Paisley, lies here, and the path to
his humble grave-stOne is worn deeper than
to that of purest life, or of highest title, who
is commoner in the same last mold. His
successors as priests of the irregular Gret-
ma marriages are buried near; and their
headstones are also Shrines for The curious.
/ could not but reflect that could all the
couples or the descendants of all the thou
sands of couples, in England and Scotland,
that these three men Joined together, unite
in visiting the graves of those to whom they
owed their connubial joys or miseries, what
wonderful pilgrimage it would be. Why,
the old coach road would be massed with
folk, score abreast, away back over the
Sark and Esk to Carlisle. There would be
lords and earls and real bishops and even
prelates among them too!
A WONDERFUL NOSE.
Lettering outside the wall for a final
glimpse OF the drear and grasS-grown place,
l at last became conscious of presence.
Turning, l saw a nose of wondrous proper
tOns with man of no proportions at all be-
hind it. The man stood motionless but the
nose seemed possessed of life. 1t gently
swaYed pendulum-like in the August breeze,
as II in compensation of all else dead and
still at Gretna. The man was old and
bumped, and was clad in that beautiful cur
tailed garb of the British postman, with the
skirts at the waist, the waist at the shoul-
ders and the cuffs at the elbows, with a
straight-visored cap like a truncated ounces
cap, and the whole, wrinkling aud concen-
tering skyward. fell in beside him with
civil greeting, and we trudged on together
down the long street into Springfield. The
old fellow seemed still IN deep study. He
would not walk beside me. As we reached
the edge OF the village the sides OF the old
ramshackle houses were fringed with sullen-
lookin" hind>, filthy and wrangling chill
dren and old danes with short skirts and
mulch" caps, yellow with age and dirt;
and all these uucanny ok, first eyeing the
old man ami then myself, INDUCED in shrugs
and derisive smiles that were disquieting ln-
deed.
There were two inns, the Kings Arms and
the Maxwell Arms, equally torbiGding and
vile; and | chose the latter at the old mans
Recommendation, as it was the fest reached.
Its proprietor was yeritable Neg MeqrilieS
of a woman, and the ground floor, chiefly
given over to druHken orgies ami reeking
with filth, was crowded with plowmen,
herdsmen and tramps in various stages of
stupor or elation. All OF these seemed to
regard myself and my companion in the
light OF such a hilariously fortunate ar
rival, that not until had paid reckoning
for two-score thirsty Scotch outlets could 1
avoid sundry demonstrations which savored
overmueh of hustling and secure the seclu-
sion of musty, dark and vermin-filled
room. Turning to close the door, the wrist
futtering hands and the oger-like face of
the old man prevented.
Moo, waur We seekin' the meenester?"
be asked with an uncanny leer
'The minister"
''Oh, aye-the meenester O. Gretna,"
No, only those who were dead; whatever 1
could find out about them, and perhaps the
old Gretna records, it they were to be dis
covered; 1 managed to explain.
''Msun be yer'e seekin' ony perteeklar
ains?'
"oh, no, my good man; simply anything
Of general interest"
''Oh, aye" Then long pause with that
glitter OF calculation flashing diabolicaliv
from those specks of green ewes; and sud-
nervously together: "Its no wantin' the rec
ord we're seekin'?"
l subsequently well understood the old
wretch's meaning. At that moment did |
not But it flashed over me that he was an |
old man; pOstman; had probably ALWAYS |
lived at Springfield and Gretna; might be |
very serviceable in assisting in NV investi- |
cations; and l asked him plainly ii he could |
be; to which, after a long sine regarding me |
with look of incredulity, suspicious cum |
ming and
POSITIVELY PITEoUs GREED,
he Solemnly asserted that he was the only |
man living that could give any one OF an |
inquiring turn of mind complete informa- |
tiOn upon the subject of Gretna marriages; |
which he would do ii l would join him on |
the morrow at his own house, the third from /
the Sark bridge-''if there's siller ahint it!''
he concluded, almost savagely. assured |
him there was reasonable amount 'tof sill |
yer behind" whatever he could do for me,
whereupon the old wretch went his wav.
Just 100 years ago this village of Spring
field was built bv Sir William Maxwell. |
The necessity of the place had its origin in
the marriage trade o. Gretna, which became
so popular under its originator, Joseph Pals
lev, that Maxwells own residence at the old |
village was transformed into an inn, and this |
in little time was so overcrowded that other
accommodations had to be provided. The
Kings Arms, across the way from the Max
well Arms, in which / am writing bv 1900 |
had become the most famous posting estab-
lishment in the two Kingdoms. From Pals
lev's marriage of the Cumberland, England,
couple in 1771, as chronicled in nv last arti-
Gle, to the time of his death, in 1914, it is
computed that the traffic brought annually
to Gretna and Springfield e10,O in
fees, expenses of those who pursued
runaway English couples, outlay of
barristers who visited the places to establish
proof of marriage, other barristers who
came for clients who hoped 10 find lack of
proof, the curious who were attracted by
the extraordinary character of the place,
and from the general recklessness and ex-