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


Character--Origfn, Rise and Deca
of this Once Notorious Court of Hy
men--The First Bishop of Gretna'
and his Uncanny Successors--Gret
ma Marriages Still in vogue--A Gro
tesque Ceremony.
GRETNA, Scotland, Sept. Is 1893
; -Tramping in many portions of ever,
shire Of Scotland, where | have no
found beauty OF grandeur in scener,
there has always been winsome anti
quarian, historic or personal interest
Only one spot has proven repulsive
squalid and forlorn to such a degre,
that its very beggarliness is startling
its yenality ferocious and its miserabl,
folk and history SO uncanny and in
famous, that place, folk and histor,
are weirdly facinating alone from theil
woebegone, vicious and outrageous
character. Such place, such foil
and such a history remain in the an
cient noted, and still notorious, Scot
fish court Of Hymen, Gretna Green.
In what may be termed the scandal
Gus romatic literature OF Britain NJ
other place has occupied such scandal.
Gus and even worldwide notoriety
1t has for nearly $50 years trailed
| through every form Of romance and
story; infested every manner of news.
paper travesty: burdened much OF
popular ballad and rhyme; ebtruded
itself into noble as well as lowly soci
ETY.; stalked across the stage in tragedy
and comedy; engaged the pen OF az
great poet and artist as Tom Hood
in his well-known elegy Of David
Laing, the closing lines OF which are,
Had | command, thou should't have
gone thy ways
In chaise and pair-and lain in Pere
la Chaise!-
and it has even entered without rev.
erence the presence OF grave chancel-
| Tors to pursue its course of dishonof
and disquiet in the highest courts OF
the three kingdoms. In fact, in the
entire English-speaking world the
name Of Gretna Green and the notion
of Gretna Green marriages are as IA
miliar to all classes as is the common
est nursery rhyme.
Yet you will not find score Of peo-
pie either in America or in Britain
who can tell you, any more than they
can give the origin of the commonest
nursery rhyme, what originally really
made the place famous or infamous,
the conditions continuing its notori-
ETY., whether these conditions have
been removed, or whether Gretna
Green itself is real place with geo.
graphical limitations, or an interest
ing myth growing out of the vagaries
and witticism of marital literature.
| Illustrative of this was the indignant
assertion made to me short time
since by most eminent clergyman of
Glasgow that Gretna Green marriages
were abolished by law half century
ago, and that probably not a hundred
couples were ever married at Gretna
as alleged by popular traditionl On
the contrary, nearer 10000 couples
have been married at Gretna Green:
Gretna Green marriages of the olden
sort, with very light modification, are
constantly being 'solemnizedn at the
present time; and, as | shall show,
hold certificate of marriage of my
own, issued by the present "Bishop of
Gretna," William Laing, postman.
No single clear and concise account
can be found in the books comprising
the conditions and incidents leading
to the establishment of the ancient
notorious marriage Mecca of Gretna.
Its origin primarily was due to the
rigors of English marital law about
the middle of the 18th century. An
Gent English law held that marriage
was legal by civil contract in the pres
ence of two witnesses, rendering the
services Of the priest merely matter
of sentiment or religion. Decisions
under this law, influenced by power
full ecclesiasticism, led to serious legal
entanglements. A civil contract
marriage was valid-to a degree. In
the matter of descent of real property
to the offspring of such marriage, it
was held to be invalid. Rebellion
against the inexorability of the cleri-
cal influence in the courts, rather
than the law itself, resulted in the
clandestine marriages celebrated by
unprincipled clerics in orders known
as ''Fleet marriages and their conse-
quent scandals, century and a quar-
ter ago in London. To end this was
passed the English Marriage Act of
Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, in 1854.
This prohibited all clandestine and
so-called irregular" or civil-contract
marriages, and made it compulsory on
all English subjects, except Quakers
and Jews, to be married according to
the rites of the Church of England.
So unjust measure was certain to
meet with evasion. Opportunity for
| this was found in the necessarily I'M
changeable rule in the English courts
that any marriage validity performed
in the country in which it had been
contracted must be held valid for all
purposes in England. Rebellious
spirits and secretly painting hearts
naturally turned toward the nearest
country Offering relief. This one is
Scotland. At the time of the Ref
ormation Scotland as well as Eng
gland refused to accept the provision
of the Council of Trent which render
ed solemnization of marriage by a
priest necessary. Scotlands ancient
marriage law was the same as that
of ancient England. From time inn
memorial all that has been requisite
for valid marriage in Scotland has
been an interchange of real and actu-
al consent, constituting at the time
given an undeniable intention and de-
termination to enter the relation OF
] husband and wife, with either incon.
testible written evidence of the fact,
or evidence of witnesses before whom
the same is declared. This was an.
cient Scottish law. 1t was Scottish
law when Gretna began to acquire no
toriety as a marriage resort for run
away couples. And it is Scottish Law
to-day.
There has never been in Scotland
nor Is there to-day, any bar to this
form Of marriage save that of public
sentiment. The people of Scotland
including large portion of the clergy
ever sturdily withstood the enactment
of laws by the Scottish parliament
which might annul this form of mar
riage, or tend to cloud heirship under
it. Strictest conditions of registra-
tion have always been imposed; and