The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1893-09-30

1896, by permission of Scottish repre-
sentatives, an act was passed by the
British parliament imposing the con-
dition upon Scottish civil-contract
marriages that one Of the contracting
parties shall have been a resident OF
Scotland for a period of twenty-one
days Immediately preceding such
marriage.
In other words, any civil contract
marriage in Scotland for hundreds of
years has been, and now is a valid one:
the requisites for marriage at Gretna
to-day are precisely the same as they
always were, with the exception Of
subsequent registration, and the tri-
fling condition Of brief residence Of one
of the contracting parties; and within
the past twenty-three years the pres
ent Bishop of Gretna" has married
between 900 and | 900 couples, chiefly
runaway English men and women, or
nearly one-tenth of the entire num-
Der so married at Gretna Green since
its first .'seandalous marriage of rec
ord. 1t is almost as much resorted
TO at present for irregular marriage
ceremony as it was a hundred years
ago, though the fine color and great
clamor Of the old coaching days, when
the old Carlisle and Glasgow road re-
sounded with ringing hoofs and the
shouts of pursued and persuers, are
eliminated by the railways: and every
mail TO Gretna brings Bishop" Laing
letters of eager inquiry, one of which
is truly copied, barring the signature
in the following:
Keigley, England, Aug. %, 1898,
DEAR SIR:
Would you kindly inform me
what length of residence is necessary
in Scotland for parties going to be
married by you at Gretna? Does it
require both bride and bridegroom to
be a certain length in Scotland or on
ly the bride?
DO you require any certificate as TO
the residence in Scotland? ESQ from
whom should it be? From the Min
lister, Solicitor or register? What
time of day do you require parties to
be there for marriage? Are you to be
readily found and on any day? Do
you marry Sunday? What is your
fee? The parties / write for are re-
spectacle people, but not able to pay
high fee-say from one to pounds.
An early reply will very much ohlige.
Psf we. come you will know me
by my carrying a stick with a carved
ivory head. Also by a bit of green in
my hat-band. II is possible the bride
may not have hardly anything on, as
she will have to cut stick to partici-
pate. How will we know you?
Gretna was originally chosen as an
objective point of safety for both fly
ing debtors and runaway couples from
England solely on account of its ia
vorable location. The great olden
coach roads of England, still its finest
highways-the eastern one coming
north through Leeds, York, Borough
bridge, Catterick and ancient Bowes,
the scene of Dickens Dotheboys Hall
in "Nickolas Nickelby," and thence
over dreary Stanemoor, and the west
ern one leading from Liverpool
through Lancashire and the north
Ntottllt lAbSitci oDtiFo-- iOinth at Nilf
city of Carlisle. From Carlisle the
single broad stone highway passed over
the Esk and Sark rivers, between
which lay the historic 'tDebatable
Land, into Scotland. 1t should be
borne in mind that the distance from
Carlisle to Gretna just beyond the
Sark, is only about twelve miles: that
Gretna was the first coach relay sta
ton north of Carlisle: that the Sark
stream was the unquestioned boundary
line between England and Scotland:
and that whatever legal or moral yex-
ations might in the olden times, or
now, Turk in the "Debatable Land
between the Esk and the Sark, when
ever debtors or lovers, flying from the
harassment of English
once crossed the middle of
the Sark, they were instantly safe
from pursuefs beneath the ever-wel
coming agis of Scottish law.
EDGAR WAKEMAN.