Gretna Greens in the United States Genealogy - FamilySearch Wiki 5 Sources Definition and Reasons for Run Away Marriages A Gretna Green is a favored marriage place. When a couple runs away from their home area to get married in a place with fewer marriage restrictions, the place they go is often called a "Gretna Green." [1] They may want to marry at a younger age, want to wait a shorter period after obtaining a licence, want to marry without parental consent, want to avoid procedures such as blood tests, want less paper work, want to avoid paying a marriage bond, want to keep the marriage a secret, want a less expensive marriage, or want to marry a closer cousin than their home district will allow. Or there may be a special romantic place to elope. Some couples wanted to wed in the same place their friends got married. When enough couples resort to a particular place it may gain a reputation as a Gretna Green. In common law , a "Gretna Green marriage" means a marriage transacted in a jurisdiction that was not the residence of the parties being married, to avoid restrictions or procedures imposed by the parties' home jurisdiction.

[2] Scottish Origins The original Gretna Green is a town by that name, famous for runaway marriages, and just over the border in south Scotland. When English laws prohibited marriage under the age of 21, some younger couples crossed the Scottish border and the first town on the road was Gretna Green. [1] In popular tradition blacksmiths and anvils have become associated symbols of such marriages. Scottish law allowed anyone to perform a marriage if a declaration were made in front of two witnesses. The blacksmiths of Gretna came to be called "anvil priests." [1] Genealogical Implications For genealogists seeking a hard to find marriage, searching marriage records in the nearest Gretna Greens may be worthwhile. A Gretna Green can be a certain county in-state, or an out-of-state place. Farmington, Utah was a Gretna Green for Utah. Reno, Nevada was a Gretna Green for California. Niagara County, New York was a Gretna Green for the Province of Ontario, Canada. And Niagara Falls, Ontario was a Gretna Green for New York.

Known Locations for the United States Arizona, Yuma, Yuma for southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico [3] Connecticut, New London, Groton [3] Connecticut, Thompson, Windham Co. [4] Delaware for colonial New Jersey [5] Georgia, Floyd, Rome for White County, Tennessee [3] Idaho, Kootenai, Coeur d'Alene for Great Falls and other Montana towns, Spokane, eastern Washington, and northern Idaho [3] Idaho, Payette, Payette for Oregon Idaho, Washington, Weiser for Oregon Idaho, Paris, Bear Lake for Utah and Wyoming Illinois, Cook, Chicago [6] 1000+ images about The history of Gretna Green on Pinterest | Hard at work, The blacksmith and Shops Women’s fashion The history of Gretna Green A story in pictures! The history of Gretna Green and the Famous Blacksmiths Shop-synonomous with the history and traditions of Gretna Green 70 Pins134 Followers American Expeditioners Explore Gretna Green, Scotland Comments A bit like America's Las Vegas in terms of tying the not, Gretna Green is famous for runaway weddings.

In the mid 18th-century, English law declared couples had to be at least 21 to be married without parental consent. Scottish law, however, stated 16 was alright with them. With Gretna Green traditionally being the first village in Scotland near the border, runaway couples would come here, usually with an angry guardian in pursuit. One of the first buildings to be reached, the Old Blacksmith's Shop became the place where couples would marry by paying the blacksmith a few guineas to officiate. Gretna Green hosts about 5,000 weddings per year. One of the marriage anvils. The blacksmiths of Gretna Green became known as Anvil Priests. The Blacksmith shop has a small museum inside documenting the years of runaway marriages. We weren't able to tour ALL of the Blacksmith Shop as there was a shotgun style wedding going on. On a Monday. At 9 in the morning.

Gretna Green: The bit of Scotland where English people go to get married - BBC News BBC News Gretna Green: The bit of Scotland where English people go to get married By Esther Webber BBC News 19 August 2014 Close share panel Image copyright Getty Images Gretna Green has been a hotspot for tying the knot since the 18th Century. But why do people still choose to walk down its many aisles? The Scottish village of Gretna Green - population 2,700 - hosts almost two weddings per person per year. The estimated 5,000 marriages that take place every year seem extraordinary if you consider that a mere 3,000 weddings took place across the entire county of neighbouring Cumbria - population 500,000 - in 2011. Gretna's status as the ultimate wedding destination comes from its position just north of the Scottish border. In 1754, an English law stopped couples under 21 marrying without their parents' permission. But in Scotland it was permitted for girls from the age of 12, and for boys aged 14 or older.

Moreover, anyone in Scotland could marry a couple by "declaration". Young star-crossed lovers in England would elope and Gretna was the first town they would come to, two miles over the border. Enterprising blacksmiths set themselves up as "anvil priests", carrying out the ceremony in return for a drink or a few guineas. One blacksmith wrote to the Times in 1843, specifying that he alone had performed around 3,500 marriages in the town over 25 years. Several attempts were made to curb the phenomenon - which one MP for Newcastle described in 1855 as "lowering the habits, injuring the character, and destroying the morality of the people of the northern counties of England". A year later an act was introduced to require a "cooling-off period" of 21 days' residency in the parish in which a couple wished to marry. In 1940 the institution of "marriage by declaration" was outlawed in Scotland and in 1977 English couples could finally get married without parental consent at 18.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption An eloping couple (circa 1850) marry in the blacksmith's shop at Gretna Green There is still a small Gretna "gap" in the two legal systems. Marriage is legal at 16 in Scotland without parental consent. It's still 18 in England and Wales. Although 15 days' notice is currently required to marry in Scotland, there is no residency requirement, meaning English couples can still get married there at relatively short notice. But despite the whittling away of the legal distinction that made Gretna a marriage capital, it retains a romantic allure. "Running away to Gretna Green" remains a commonly used phrase. And couples still come. They just don't tend to be teenagers these days. An entire industry has built up around the tradition in Gretna Green, with multiple hotels, wedding planning companies, car hire firms, photographers, gift shops and hair salons conspicuous in a town that is not even big enough to have a supermarket.

Image caption Adie and Sarah Miles - eloping from Bognor Regis Adie and Sarah Miles, 52 and 49, are having their picture taken outside a venue called The Famous Blacksmith Shop. They have "eloped" from Bognor Regis on the English south coast without telling their family and plan to surprise them on their return. "We've both been married before and we didn't want any fuss. We chose Gretna because of the romance and the history - this place where so many people have eloped over the years." We don't do divorce at Gretna Green, it's not what we're famous for Alasdair Houston, local businessman The words "history" and "romance" are endlessly bandied about in Gretna. Ailsa Taylor, who runs The Wedding Warehouse bridalwear shop over the border in Carlisle deals with a steady stream of couples on their way north. "A lot" of the brides have made their choice "because of the history and romantic connotations". Like the 24-hour wedding chapels of Las Vegas, the commercial element of a Gretna wedding is not to everyone's taste.

"It can be seen as a bit of a sausage factory - with couples whisked in and out in 15 minutes," the shopkeeper says. "It's one of those love or hate things. Either you love all the tradition and the fanfare or you see it as a bit tacky." The Mill Forge Hotel in Gretna sees around 600 weddings a year, of which 80% are English couples. "You do still get people eloping occasionally but it's less common than it used to be," says manager Graham Smith. "It's more about the long history of weddings here, that's why people want to come here.

Our main customer base is from Manchester, Liverpool, Yorkshire, down to Birmingham but also from much further afield - we've had wedding parties from South Africa, Uruguay, Chile, the States and New Zealand." Image copyright Getty Images Weddings and the law 1754: Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act introduces a minimum marital age of 21 without parental consent in England but the law does not apply in Scotland 1856: Lord Brougham's Act, sometimes known as "the cooling-off act" stipulates a three-week residency in Scotland prior to the marriage for at least one half of a marrying couple for the marriage to be legal 1929: Minimum age for marriage throughout Britain is set at 16, but in England parental consent is still required under 21 and not in Scotland 1940: Marriage by declaration - where anyone could perform a ceremony - is outlawed in Scotland.

Weddings can only occur in either a church or registry office but informal blessings "over the anvil" become a popular complement 1977: The marriage age in England without parental consent drops to 18, Lord Brougham's Act is repealed and religious weddings can happen outside a Scottish church 2002: In Scotland civil weddings are allowed outside a registry office in "approved" premises Gretna is a curious crucible for the independence debate. It has always traded on its difference from England, but has businesses that rely utterly on cross-border trade. Asked if he thinks Scottish independence will have an impact on his business, the Mill Forge manager has mixed feelings: "As a Scot, my heart tells me that's what I want. My head says, 'how's it going to work?'." There is no such equivocation for Alasdair Houston. He is the chairman of Gretna Green Ltd - a wedding empire in the town, including a hotel, a museum, a gift shop, food hall and even a "courtship maze". The company owns the The Famous Blacksmith's Shop - a building dating back to the early 1700s. The shop hosted 1,500 weddings last year.

The majority were English. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Famous Blacksmith's Shop hosted 1,500 weddings last year The chairman gained a measure of prominence earlier this year when he donated £10,000 to the Better Together campaign. "We don't do divorce at Gretna Green, it's not what we're famous for," he quips. "We [Scotland and England] are a partnership, we may have squabbles from time to time. But to go from that to saying 'full divorce please' would be utter madness." A referendum on whether Scotland should become independent is to take place People resident in Scotland will be able to take part in the vote, answering the "yes/no" question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?" The referendum will take place on Thursday 18 September 2014 Go to the BBC's Scotland Decides page for analysis, background and explainers on the independence debate. He goes on to set out a few examples of the "nuisance" it could cause. "We could have half of my staff living in this country called England and half on this side, being paid in different currency, on different tax rates.

Potentially, customers would have to adjust their clocks for a different time of day for their appointment in Scotland and potentially having to cross the border for the last drink." Image copyright Getty Images But other entrepreneurs seem sceptical of the vote's impact on Gretna. Linda Bell runs Sweetheart Cakes in nearby Dumfries and caters for many weddings in Gretna. "Independence won't have a knock-on effect. If people want to get married in Gretna they will do it regardless." 11 Days England & Scotland UK EUA3004 - YouTube 11 Days England & Scotland UK EUA3004 Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Published on Feb 5, 2015 London - The world's cultural capital Visit the iconic Tower Bridge Watch changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace Fish and Chips in a traditional English Pub Catch a West End Musical Oxford - Known as 'City of the Dreaming Spires' Do not miss Christ Church College, one of the largest colleges in the University of Oxford Visit the Ashmolean Museum which houses Elias Ashmole objects of art Banbury Cake, a flat pastry cake filled wirth spiced currant Take a punt on River Cherwell Manchester - Famous for the Red Devils - Manchester United Football Club Visit Old Trafford Stadium and learn more about the famous football club Visit the Imperial War Museum North which deals with war and conflicts of the 20th century Manchester Tart, shourtcrust pastry shell with custard filling and raspberry jam in between Explore the Northern Quarter, home to boutiques and pubs Bowness-on-Windermere - Located at the eastern shore of Lake Windermere Visit the World of Beatrix Potter Cumberland Tattie Pot, a lamb stew with black pudding and topped with sliced potatoes Explore the Lake on Rowing Boats Ambleside - Located at the head of Lake Windermere Visit Hill Top, former home of Beatrix

 Potter Cumberland Rum Nicky, a pastry flan of dates, ginger and rum Have an afternoon Tea in the Lakes Grasmere - Famously associated to the poet William Wordsworth Do not miss Dove Cottage and Wordsworth Museum Grasmere Gingerbread, a unique Lake District biscuit Visit Sarah Nelson's Gingerbread Shop Windermere - The idyllic town just one-mile from the lake Enjoy the scenery of Lake Windermere from Claife viewing station Cumberland sausage, most famous Lake District meat product Cruise on Lake Windermere Gretna Green - Scottish border town famous for runaway weddings See the Old Blacksmith's Shop, the wedding venue for runaway couples in the olden days Edinburgh - The capital city of Scotland Visit the Edinburgh Castle Haggis, traditional Scottich sausage made from sheep's stomach lining stuffed with minced liver, lungs and heart Stroll down the Royal Mile Jedburgh - A former royal burgh in the Scottish border See the ruins of the Jedburgh Abbey Browse around Market Place and Canongate York - A modern Viking City Visit the magnificent York Minster Walk the City Walls Yorkshire Pudding, a batter pudding usually served with roast beef and vegetables Enjoy strolling around the York Shambles Stratford-Upon-Avon - The birthplace of

 poet William Shakespeare Do not miss Shakespeare's Birthplace beside the Shakespeare Centre Enjoy a cuppa at a Coffee Shop or Tea Room Bath - A beautiful Georgian Town Do not miss the Roman Baths and Pump Room Sally Lunn Bun, a light brioche-like bun Enjoy a Thermae Bath Spa Salisbury - A medieval city in the countryside Do not miss Stonehenge, the famous prehistoric monument Attend choral evensong at Salisbury Cathedral Brighton - A vibrant coastal city Visit the exotic Royal Pavilion Brighton Buttons, small biscuits with apricot jam filling Stroll the Brighton Beach and Promenade for some seaside fun Category Gretna and Gretna Green | VisitScotland Check Availability Terms & Conditions This booking system and any information appearing on this page relating to the availability of any accommodation is provided by third parties and not by VisitScotland.

It is intended to provide real time availability information relating to accommodation which is also provided by third parties. You may use this booking system to place direct bookings with third party accommodation providers. Any booking you make will not be placed with VisitScotland and we will have no liability to you in respect of any booking. If you proceed to make a booking you will leave our Website and visit a website owned and operated by a third party. VisitScotland does not have any control over the content or availability of any external website. This booking system and any information appearing on this page is provided for your information and convenience only and is not intended to be an endorsement by VisitScotland of the content of such linked websites, the quality of any accommodation listed, or of the services of any third party. VisitScotland, All rights reserved. Gretna and Gretna Green Towns & Villages Gretna is a planned town built during the First World War while nearby Gretna Green is famous for being the marriage capital of the UK. The town of Gretna was built during the First World War to provide homes for 30,000 employees of a munitions factory that was the biggest in the world - an incredible nine miles long!

Learn the story of the factory at The Devil's Porridge in Eastriggs, an exhibition named after the nickname given to the explosives made at the factory. Gretna Green is famous for marriages with around 5,000 couples tying the knot here and in Gretna every year. Historically it was to Gretna Green that young English runaway couples eloped so that they could be married ‘over the anvil’ from the age of 16. Gretna Green Famous Blacksmiths Shop, where couples have come to marry since 1754, is still here. Both locations have shopping and eating out facilities. Previous Next Skip to content Cookie Policy VisitScotland uses cookies to enhance your experience on our website. By using our website you consent to our use of cookies. Please read our new privacy and cookies statement for more information. I agree © 2017 VisitScotland. All rights reserved. You will now be directed to our partner's site to complete your booking Terms and conditions This booking system and any information appearing on this page relating to the availability of any accommodation is provided by third parties and not by VisitScotland. It is intended to provide real time availability information relating to accommodation which is also provided by third parties.

You may use this booking system to place direct bookings with third party accommodation providers. Any booking you make will not be placed with VisitScotland and we will have no liability to you in respect of any booking. If you proceed to make a booking you will leave our Website and visit a website owned and operated by a third party. VisitScotland does not have any control over the content or availability of any external website. This booking system and any information appearing on this page is provided for your information and convenience only and is not intended to be an endorsement by VisitScotland of the content of such linked websites, the quality of any accommodation listed, or of the services of any third party. The story of Gretna Green - the World's number one marriage venue пїЅпїЅпїЅпїЅпїЅпїЅ / cont@ct The story of Gretna Green - the World's number one marriage venue Gretna Green is an old Scottish village on the border between Scotland and England. In the old pre-car days the town was the first changing post across the Scottish border for the stagecoaches on the London to Edinburgh route. Stagecoaches were big horse-drawn carriages for delivering post.

Being a tiring and slow mode of transport, stagecoaches had to make regular stops to allow the driver to have some rest and to change the horses. So, how did a small village become the most famous marriage place in history? It is well known that the Scots are warm, hospitable and loving people who have always had an open and progressive attitude towards marriage. Traditionally, in Scotland, a man and a woman over the age of sixteen could get married by declaring themselves husband and wife in front of witnesses and did not require parental consent. In England, such marriages were banned by Act of Parliament in 1745. The Act stated that if either party to a marriage was under 21, then they could not marry without parental consent. However, the Act was only law in England and did not affect Scottish Law. So what was a young English couple to do if they were in love, under 21 and knew that they would not be able to obtain parental consent? Why, flee to Scotland, of course! Because of Gretna Green's location, the village soon became heaven for eloping couples and a synonym for runaway weddings.

Up until 1940, wedding ceremonies could be conducted by any responsible adult and since Gretna's blacksmith was the most important person in the village, wedding ceremonies over the anvil became very common. This is how Gretna's blacksmith became known as the ‘anvil priest’. In popular folklore, the village blacksmith and the blacksmith's anvil have become the enduring symbols of Gretna Green weddings. Now the Blacksmith's shop is a museum. Over time, Gretna Green weddings became so popular that the blacksmith could no longer satisfy the demand on his own and the village had to get more ‘anvil priests’. One of the last ‘anvil priests’, Richard Rennison, married 5,147 couples in the Blacksmith's Shop before he retired in 1962. In 1857 Parliament issued another Act requiring the couples to live in the area for 21 days before they could marry, in an attempt to restrict the increasing flow of eloping lovers. In 1940 Parliament finally outlawed the ‘Blacksmith's Priests’ and their anvil marriages. Since then, marriages could only be conducted by a Minister of Religion or an authorised Registrar.

But the romances live on. With no residential requirements and no need for parental consent for couples over sixteen, couples continue to run away to Gretna Green to share its wonderful history. So many thousands of lovers have married at Gretna Green, that its name and traditions have gained international recognition. Couples have been delivered to the anvil by all modes of transport: lorry, fire engine, horseback - you name it! One couple had arranged their wedding to fit in with their journey to Aviemore, the most famous Scottish skiing resort, to take part in the International sledge-pulling competitions. The 29 Huskies remained in their transporter outside the anvil while the marriage ceremony was being conducted. Wedding outfits also vary. Sometimes the wedding parties arrive on motor bikes dressed in black leather, so the only way to identify the bride is to find out which one has got the bouquet! And, of course, traditional kilts for Scottish bridegrooms are still as popular as ever. Perhaps the most famous couple wedded in Gretna Green is Robin Hood , the world's most honourable robber, and Maid Marion. The legend goes that they arrived at the anvil on horseback.

Fortunately, the horse was tied to a tree outside the building while the ceremony was taking place. Couples are welcome from all over the world, so when you decide to get married, why not consider getting married in Gretna Green? © Mary Moor British Ancestry - Articles "GRETNA GREEN MARRIAGE RECORDS" Cecil R. Humphery-Smith Many families have legends of their ancestors, unable or unwilling to be married under English Law, fleeing to the Toll roads into Scotland, to "the debatable lands" to be married by "priests" who performed marriages on the basis of common consent, co-habitation, and subsequent cunsummation under Scottish Law. After Hardwick's Act of 1754 until an Act of Parliament in 1856 such union were valid in Law. There are many later examples, but these registers are unique in containing more than 10,000 names of those involved in 18th and 19th century clandestine marriages. Border centres for clandestine unions were quite well known and were also commonly used for marriages by those members of the population of the northern part of England which objected the marriage in a church.

Nonconformists of the Northern counties especially crossed the border to marry under the laxer laws of Scotland. Another motive appears to have been to save expense, as with the Fleet marriages in London, but many English runaway marriages were performed by clergy of the Episcopalian Church and entered in their parish registers. As often as not, the "minister", or "priest", as many of them preferred to be known, were engaged in other trades and their sole function was to act as a witness, often keeping their own records of the events. There were several such centres on the main roads out of England into the east of Scotland at the Border Toll Bars at Mordington, Lamberton, Coldstream, Paxton, Chambridge, Ayton, Ladykirk, Norham Bridge, Springfield, Halidon Hill, Lambton Toll and Alison's Toll. However, such marriages were recorded further afield, even in Edinburgh. Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act of 1753, which came into force the following year, stipulated that for a marriage to be legal it must be performed in a building licensed for the purpose.

Couples therefore sped into Scotland where marriage by mere consent, given before witnesses and followed by co-habitation, constituted a legally valid act. It was not until 1825 that Graitney or Gretna Hall was converted into an hotel and marriage centre for eloping couples. The popularity of Gretna was certainly increased by this but there were already other "successful" centres in Gretna. Dwellers on both sides of the border in the "debatable land" had over many centuries relied upon priests from the remote abbeys of Jedburgh and Kelso visiting the district to perform the rites, ceremonies and administer the Sacraments. After the Reformation, priests were replaced by the "ministers," or self-styled "priests," prepared to witness the irregular unions and keep registers of their own. One, called a forger of marriages or blacksmith (when he was in fact a weaver) in a Court case, gave rise to the legend of the "Blacksmith". The system was effectively brought to an end by Lord Brougham's Marriage Act, 1858; but it was not until 1939 that marriage by consent of the parties concerned was finally abolished.

Even today, couples travel to Gretna Green to be married at "The Famous Blacksmith's Shop" simply for the romantic element. One of the earliest of the Gretna "priests" was William Coulthard who taught Joseph Pasley (sometimes, erroneously, named Paisley) the "magic form of words" so that he could "sartfay all persons that may be concerned.....". Pasley was born about 1730 in the obscure Lennoxtown village of the parish of Kirkandrews-on-Esk in Cumberland, about a mile from Gretna. The son of a dissenting clergyman, he was a bound apprentice to a tobacconist but became a fisherman and smuggler under the guidance of "auld Watty" Coulthard near the port of Sarkfoot. Coulthard may once have been apprenticed to a blacksmith, but the smithy at Gretna was never a "marriage shop" until long after Brougham's Act, when it was converted to entertain tourists.

When "auld Watty" went to the Isle of Man to fetch a cargo of contraband brandy, Joe Pasley was left to perform the necessary rites during his absence, and, being at the time under some pecuniary embarrassment, Pasley began business on his own account. Joseph Pasley was a big rough hard-drinking Borderer, tall, spare and so strong that he could straighten a horseshoe with his bare hands. For the last forty years of his life, he drank a Scots pint of undiluted brandy every day. Whisky, he declared, was a woman's drink. Pasley followed part of the liturgy of the Church of England from his book and profited well from his marriage shop. He died in 1814 at the age of 82, according to the inscription on his tombstone in Gretna Green churchyard. He had become enormously stout and weighed some 25 stone. Pasley's marriage shop was at the inn kept by Willie Johnson and Peggy Morgan about 300 yards from the River Sark on the toll road at the entrance to Springfield town.

Robert Elliott, a somewhat pugnacious man, was born at Galashiels Rigg in Northumberland in 1784, the son of a farmer, who joined the stagecoach proprietors, Wilson and Fairbairn, at their Springfield establishment and married Ann Graham, the granddaughter of Joseph Pasley. Elliott set up his marriage house at "The Queens Head public house" and practised from 1811 to 1847. In a letter to "The Times" published 23 February 1843, he stated that his wife's grandfather was the "reputed Blacksmith" who appointed him to succeed him and that he had married 7,744 persons, as he could show from his registers. He claimed that Lang had started up sometime after him. David Lang (not Laing as it is often spelt) was born in 1755, his mother being a sister of Joseph Pasley. His father was an agricultural labourer but David became an itinerant pedlar of drapers' and household stuff along the Scottish border counties. While he was away peddling his goods in Lancashire, he was caught by a press gang and sent off to sea.

He served some time in the Navy till his ship was captured by Paul Jones, the pirate. Lang became a member of the pirate crew and when the ship was near the Solway shore, Lang slipped away to his native Springfield. At the age of 38, he settled down as a "priest", his marriage shop being in "The Maxwell Arms". It was in a trial as to the validity of a marriage that David Lang was addressed as "Mr Blacksmith" by counsel in Court. This led to the reporters of the event making Lang into a blacksmith by trade, which he was not. Simon Lang was born in Springfield in 1792 and on his father's death in 1827 took up the trade, though continuing his own occupation as a weaver, becoming a friend of John Linton, an innkeeper who managed the marriage shop at Graitney Hall. The Gretna Hall registers for the year 1826 were all signed by David Lang except six, two of which were signed by Elliott. David Lang signed all but one of the Gretna Hall register entries up to the 21st June 1827.

From then on to the 31st May 1828 they were signed by Simon Lang, except for four signed by Robert Elliott. After 1828, all were signed by John Linton. When John Linton took over old Graitney Hall, he soon created it into an hotel and became known as the "Bishop" with the "priest", David Lang, often witnessing and signing for him at Graitney Hall. Many evil characters came in from elsewhere to settle at Gretna and practise in the marriage trade. There was no lack of men tempted by easy money willing to act as "priests", so reducing the dignity that had been maintained by Linton, the Langs and even by Murray in the "marriage offices". The Toll Houses were the property of the Road Trustees and sometimes several were leased to one person with power to sub-let, as Murray did. One of his tenants, or rather undertenant, at the Lamberton Toll was Simon Beattie who between 4 o'clock on a Saturday morning and Sunday evening, had married no less than 45 couples at the Sark Toll Bar in Gretna.

He was the only one of the many "priests" who appears to have been in any way frugal or thrifty, making enough money to take on the tenancy of Shawrigg Farm on the Mossknowo estate. Simon does not appear to have been any relation of James Beattie who was tenant of "The Queens Head" later in the hands of his grandson Joseph. Neither were "priests". Tom Little, Lang's rival was known as "Tom the Piper". He came from Bewcastle in Northumberland or possibly from Nicol Forest in Cumberland where he had worked as a blacksmith in his youth. He had outrun the constable and taken refuge in the Border Lands of Scotland after involvement in some quarrel. Apart from old Joe Pasley, he was probably the only one connected with the farrier's trade. Springfield was a well-known harbour for broken-down Cumberland men and a bankrupt got rid of his liabilities by crossing the border. It was easy to get a public house licence in Springfield and Tom, a huge man weighing 23 stones, was always ready for a joke and a drink.

He took a two-storey house in the centre of the village called "The Gretna Wedding Inn" and his son painted a sign depicting a blacksmith's shop, though the blacksmith's myth predated Tom Little's arrival. A certain amount of trade came in from Brampton. Tom set himself to develop this by making arrangements with the proprietor of "The Howard Arms" who supplied couples with a round-shaped gig to hold four persons with a driver's seat in front, called Brampton Tubs. They were well known driving to Springfield and the "Blacksmith's Shop", where Tom would entertain his wedding guests on Cumbrian bag-pipes. At Langholme Fair, "Tom the Piper" set up a table and chairs in a tent displaying the sign "The Gretna Wedding Inn" and further announced that music was in his charge. He was a contemporary of old Simon Lang and of John Murray. Tom was illiterate and his wife wrote the "lines" while Tom, in his own parlance, "said the ceremony". In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, several commercial enterprises produced such things as tobacco jars and Staffordshire-ware representing the marriages at Gretna Green.

Pasley was a tobacconist from 1790-1800 and while Tom the Piper's sign was not the first, it was the most popular. Thomas Little confessed in 1843 that he knew his sign was all wrong "but then we know that our best customers, the English, whom we wish to attract and please, have taken such a notion into their heads". In 1907, the village smithy was converted into a shop for the sale of curios and marriages under Scottish Law which then required three weeks' residence in Scotland for a bona fide marriage. A similar house was established at the Star Bridge Toll Bar, both returning their records to the local registrar. Much publicity was given to the anvil. It had even been described as being 400 years old. But as likely as not it belonged to Mr Harkness who was the genuine blacksmith of Gretna for the period 1855-1865 and never carried on or had any connection with the marrying trade. He went to Carlisle, taking his anvil with him, and when he died, his son, weary of a blacksmith's trade, sold the anvil.

In that way it came back to the smithy where Harkness had worked. A verse from Lord Neeve's song published in 1868 (when it was all officially over) sums it all up, as "suppose that Jockie and Jennie say 'we two are husband and wife', the witnesses needn't be many, they're instantly buckled for life". With Linton at Graitney or Gretna Hall, Simon Lang returned to "The Maxwell Arms" for his performances and both were contending with the increasing numbers of "priests" taking advantage of the trade. Simon Lang tried to conduct his ceremony with dignity and decorum, as had David Lang before him. When summoned from his loom, Simon slipped into a long-tailed black coat and presented himself with his register wrapped in a red pocket-handkerchief. The trade was more or less defunct when Simon Lang moved to Felling-on-Tyne, Northumberland, where he died on 24th April 1872. He was buried in Gretna Churchyard.

His son, William Lang, succeeded his father as the accepted "priest" of the Blacksmith Shop as it now popularly called, though whether auld Watty Courthald was ever a blacksmith or a nailor still remains in doubt. William Lang (known as Auld Wullie) was a weaver like his father but for some time was also acting as district postman. Up to 1895, he maintained the registers. Apparently, The Times kept a correspondent at Gretna Green and in 1803 reported the following tale. The young son of a Mr S. Crookholm, near Brampton, resolved to wed. His father, equally firmly, resolved that no wedding should take place. The son was a minor, so a special licence was unobtainable. Mr S., tired of the old man's importunate solicitations, locked him into a room. This he was not able to endure. Only one method of escape was apparent and that a black one. Up the chimney went the bridegroom, off the roof and away to the house of Scarr where his lady-love dwelt.

Impatiently, he attracted Miss W's attention but alas, when she appeared, she did not recognise her own dear love under his covering of soot!. In a husky voice, he begged for soap and water. After some demure, cleansing materials were quietly provided. Overjoyed Miss W beheld her own true love in recognisable form. Plans were quickly made, and as rapidly carried out. Success attended their efforts and the two were married at Gretna Green in December 1803. In 1809, a lady came to Gretna who appeared to think she should have as many husbands as fancy might dictate. Certainly, some names reappear several times. In 1807, Sarah Dunn Gardner had married the 3rd Marquis Townshend. The following year she tried unsuccessfully to obtain a degree of nullity. The next year she appears at Gretna Green with John Margetts of St Ives and went through a form of marriage with him. The unfortunate Marquis, hating the whole thing, lived and died abroad in 1855.

Ten days later, the extraordinary woman married again and there can be little doubt that the reputation together with a poor understanding of the laws of irregular marriages in Scotland contributed to much eccentric conduct and caused as much misery. In 1821, a young English lawyer on the northern circuit, seized the opportunity to visit Scotland and later recounted his amusing adventures in The Scots Magazine. "On the way from Dumfries to Carlisle we pass through Gretna and then was met by a chaise-and-four the horses all in a foam, the postilions whipping and spurring like the very devil, and a gentleman of interesting and manly appearance on the box cheering them on to still greater exertions and more unmerciful flagellations..... but the father had not caught up with his fugitive child who had become a wife at Johnson's Tavern." Johnson's Tavern was Paisley's tippling house and probably Elliott was the marriage monger. The tavern was pulled down in 1830 and the site destroyed by the Caledonian Railway in 1848. The railway improved the chances of runaway couples and the trade of Gretna.

As late as 1929, of 325 Gretna Green Marriages, on 62 were registered. Ten years later, the trade was brought to an end. While a musical play called "Gretna Green" was produced at The Haymarket Theatre in 1783 showing the farrier's shop and the blacksmith parson, there is little doubt that the term comes from a nickname for the witness who roughly forged the union between the couple by the long practiced Scottish mode of joining hands for life. Claverhouse devotes a whole chapter to discussing this title. Nevertheless, it is likely that since Graitney Hall became a coach and chaise stop, there would have been some means of correcting the shoes of horses and the remarks about the strength of old Joe Pasley suggests that the farrier's art was not unknown in Gretna Green, metaphorically or factually.

On the morning of the 11th December 1996, I received a telephone call from our colleague John Titford with the first information that Lot no.1273 was to be auctioned by Anderson and Garland of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, among a collection of paintings, furniture, stamp albums, postcards and cigarette cards. The Lot consisted of the registers of Gretna marriages from 1783 to 1895 formerly held by the solicitors, Robert Muckle, Son and Hall of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, who had succeeded W.H. Ord. A speedy and unilateral decision had to be made with some degree of courage. The whole collection is contained in a metal box lettered GRETNA GREEN MARRIAGE RECORDS. The catalogue describes this as the Lang Family Collection of Gretna Marriage Records from which the Langs derived their income from charging fees for their services and by which David Lang, in particular, became famous for his paid attendances at court cases throughout Britain involving legal disputes arising from his ceremonies.

Not without justification, the press has made much of the entry from the 1794 to 1834 register showing the entry of the marriage of the former Chancellor of England, Lord Erskine. It took place on the 12th October 1818 (not 1820, as so many state) at David Lang's shop in "The Maxwell Arms" on the Springfield Toll road. Lord Erskine had formerly been a sailor and soldier and seen much service abroad. In 1770, he married Frances Mary Moore and struggled through years of great poverty before his chance came in 1778. His wife died in 1805 leaving him with eight children but he had become enamoured of Sarah Buck, his housekeeper, of York Buildings, London, and had had several children by her. Scottish Law legitimated children by the subsequent marriage of their parents, which was not so in England until more than a century later. Erskine arrived in Gretna dressed in woman's clothes and a large leghorn bonnet and long veil, accompanied by Miss Buck and the several children.

There was an old superstition that children should be seen to be unborn and kept "under the mother's apron string" so Miss Buck went through the ceremony covering her children under her cloak. Lord Erskine's eldest son, the Hon. Thomas Erskine, drove up to try to prevent the marriage just as the couple were departing and although the family tried to induce their father to dissolve the marriage, it was proved to be valid and binding. Lord Erskine died aged 72 in 1723 leaving Sarah with his many children and very little money. The registers abound in references to such foolhardy efforts to circumvent the law. Through the kindness and verve of Mrs Elizabeth "Liz" Bregazzi and aided by donations from John Dayton, John Titford and "the estate of my late great aunt(!)", with further funds that I made available to Achievements Ltd to contribute, the collection was secured for the Trustees of the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies, because of the well substantiated rumours that it was destined to be purchased by others and leave for Australia or even America. Andrew McCould of the Newcastle Auctioneers expected the lot to fetch "tens of thousands of pounds".

Much was published in the Press after the auction. Any other genealogical or archive body had to seek advice of committees in order to bid and public notice had been far too short. The collection consists of four hard-bound marriage registers: 1794-1834, with one or two early references from 1783; 1825-1850; 1838-1974, and 1874-1895. Each register has a separate index volume, though cursory examination of these shows many discrepancies.

There are also two soft-bound registers for 1828 and 1834; 21 bundles of loose records relating to 1803-1825; 1820-1824; 1828-1829; 1830; 1832 through to 1837 (many of these are copies [or drafts] of certificates); two for 1841; 1842; two for 1843; 1844; two for 1845; 1839 1874; 1853; 1829-1846; six envelopes of correspondence, marriage record slips, certificates of marriage; invoices for search fees and so on. Most of the last are in original manuscript and cover a period from about 1850-1953. One envelope contains a receipt for a sum paid for collection to a family descendant, Simon Lang, by W.H.

Ord on 13th March 1912 when the box was delivered into the custody of Mr Ord's solicitors - ï¿½45. This is equivalent to about ï¿½9,000 today. The total cost, around ï¿½14,000, which my colleagues and I incurred, is perhaps not unreasonable in the light of developments in interest in family history. In the 1870s, Auld Wullie Lang charged 2/6d to search each page of his registers (this equates to several hundred pounds for a full search). The solicitors have, of late, charged ï¿½25 a search. The Trustees of The Institute have agreed to a fee of ï¿½25 per search, pro.tem. (with certificated entry). Over the intervening years I have carried out the searches voluntarily, but it should shortly be possible to search on the Internet and to download images of the entries Thanks to the work of my grandson Michael.

Since 1st January 1855, most marriages recorded at Gretna should be found to have been made in duplicate, one being held by the local registrar, the other by the Registrar General for Scotland at New Register House, Edinburgh. This is far from the case, so making the Gretna Green Registers the more important for research. The parish registers of Graitney for the years 1730-1855 are also held by the Registrar General. These have been kept by the ministers, or session clerks, of the parish church but marriages which can be regarded as irregular may be found entered in the parish registers of many churches along the Scottish border and even in Glasgow and Edinburgh. The Lang Collection is but one of several sources, but it is undoubtedly one of the most important for genealogists of English families. The Lang Collection is by far the largest of all the collections of papers and registers of irregular Gretna Green marriages.

Messrs Wright, Brown and Strong, the solicitors of Carlisle, hold a later collectioon (1843-1865) by the "priests" John Murray, the stonemason, who with others set up his shop at the Sark Bridge Toll Bar often known as Allison's Bank Toll. While Gretna Hall attracted most of the "quality", Murray went for "quantity" and shortly before Lord Brougham's Act became law, he married more than sixty couples in a day. The Murray Collection is said to consist of six volumes and over six thousand entries. Our acquisition has more than 4,500 entries and thousands of certificates. There are some interesting statistics for those who regard these as essentially Scottish records. A collection of entries from the Lamberton Toll, 1833-1848, is held by The Society of Genealogists. Collections for Alison's and Sark Bridge are held by a solicitor in Carlisle, a small collection for Springfield by the registrar at Gretna and the Ewart Library in Dumfries also holds a small collection of records from Graitney Hall.

In 1949, the Scottish Record Society published the Gretna Hall Marriages 1829-1854 and their index shows that nearly 90% were couples from England and elsewhere, outside Scotland. This index has been published. A first analysis of the Lang Collection indicates that fewer than 3% of Scots were married in the Lang "shops". This is not surprising because Scottish couples were already free from the English legal constraints. The Trustees of the Institute intend, in due course, to publish the indexes and to make the collection more readily available to the public, probably in microform or CD-ROM. The Trustees will also consider where ultimately to deposit the collection. Details of other collections of border marriage records are available from: The Scottish Border Carnival Museum Service, 49 Newtown Street, Duns, Berwickshire, TD11, 3AU. County Records Office, Melton Park, North Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE3 5QX. Berwick-upon-Tweed Record Office, Council Office, Wallace Green, TD15 1ED.

North British Trust Hotels, Gretna Hall Hotel, Gretna Green, Dumfrieshire, DG16 5DY. Mr A. Houston, The Old Blacksmith Shop, Gretna Green, Dumfrieshire, DG16 5EY. The Registrar, Central Avenue, Gretna, Dumfrieshire, DG16 5AQ. Wright Brown & Strong, Solicitors, 7 & 9 Bank Street, Carlisle, CA3 8HQ. Durham University Library & Archives, 5 The College, Durham City, ...... The Ewart Library, Catherine Street, Dumfries, DG1 1JB. John Gray, Orchard Cottage, Duns Road, Coldstream, Berkwickshire, TD12 4DW. General Register Office, New Register House, Edinburgh, EH1 3YT. D.J.

Steel deals fully with irregular marriages in Vol XII of the National Index of Parish Registers, Sources for Scottish Genealogy and Family History (1970) pp.97-107 and in Vol I, General Sources of Births, Marriages and Deaths before 1837 (1968, 1976) pp.315-317. There is a sound article, "Irregular Border Marriages" by G.S. Chrighton in The Genealogist's Magazine vol.20 no.8 pp.208, 264-266. To this may be added Miss Meliora C. Fowle Smith's Irregular Border Marriages published under the pseudonym of "Claverhouse" (1934) in which there is a fuller account of the Gretna marriage records made by David, Simon and William Lang. The Lang registers and papers were acquired by the Institute in December 1996 from an auction house in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Let it be clearly understood that the evidence of these is that Gretna registers are incomplete and many certificates have been lost or destroyed.

Matters of bigamy are discussed in Lawrence Stone's Road to Divorce, England 1530-1987 (1990). As the total cost of the exercise was approaching ï¿½40,000, the Trustees consider that they have carried out one of the purposes of the foundation, but must also make every effort to recover funds for future projects of this kind. As transcribers, indexers and others whose enthusiasm has built up these collections wish to retire or otherwise come to the end of their lives, they or their beneficiaries often put them on the open market and they may be lost for generations. The efforts of the Trustees of the Institute to rescue such collections and to direct them to permanent repositories are to be commended to benefactors. The Trustees are immensely grateful to those who have come to their aid on these occasions. * For some 45 years I have depended upon private income to support my voluntary work for the Institute; this has also included the acquisition of additions to the library and collections.

Much of the funding has come from hard work in other fields, as an agricultural chemist and an archivist abroad, as a lecturer for several universities, from writing, and joint efforts with my wife and family Hoever, I have also had the advantage of gifts and endowments that ultimately derived from my great Aunt Hilda Louise Humphery Smith who died in 1944. In 1987, this enabled me to negotiate and purchase for the Institute a large collection of transcripts of Sussex parochial material and to arrange for its microfilming. In exchange for a quantity of copies of my Atlas and Index of Parish Registers, The LDS Genealogical Society contributed funding and we were able to donate the original collection to the East Sussex Record Officer at Lewes. The microfilms have now been converted to fiches and are available for purchase. A catalogue may be obtained, price ï¿½5 (post paid), from the Registrar of the Institute, 7 July 2003

Question: What small Scottish border town is famously associated with marriages of English runaway couples?
Answer: Gretna Green