Gretna Green

So. It's 1753 and you and your young sweetheart have decided that you want to get married. Congratulations and have a long and happy life together. But just a moment. There's a problem. The new Act of Parliament, Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act, has just been passed and it states that unless you are both 21 or over you can't get married unless you have the consent of both sets of parents. Oh dear. I can't imagine that daddy will consent to marrying that scoundrel from the village - so what can you do? Well, why don't you elope to Scotland?

Yes, since 1753 that's exactly what countless numbers of young lovers have done. The Marriage Act didn't apply in Scotland and so as long as the boy was 14 and the girl was 12 it was legal to marry without parental consent. In 1929 this changed to 16 years old but the principle is the same. Gretna Green is one of the first villages you find once you've crossed the border into Scotland, and the couples waste no time looking for someone to perform the ceremony.

In those days the law in Scotland allowed for irregular marriages which meant that almost anybody could perform a ceremony on the condition that there were two witnesses. The blacksmiths, people who worked with iron and steel to make objects, became popular choices and in no time their workshops were regularly transformed into wedding venues. The first was used from 1710 and the other two years later. These blacksmiths became known as 'anvil priests' and their work was symbolic with the idea of marriage - the union of two parts (two pieces of hot metal in the case of their regular work and a young couple when performing wedding ceremonies).

Even today, some 250 years on, Gretna Green remains a hugely popular place to get married. It's also a great place to have as a base while you explore some of the attractions in the surrounding area and pass a few quiet days before going back to tell your family what you've done!!