Show MEN GRE EN tho bla a nut EASY in te resting facts about scotch marriages in their historical legal and social relations ioni so many popular traditions have mea n destro y edof la 04 fit it is not ng to learn that the legend of the marrying blacksmith of gretna green must be dismissed laith obber myths and along with him a I 1 of the incidents dissociated wath that me tro polis of scotch marriages the camden of great britain A writer in the fall hall gazette re lates a visit to the famous village jhc h as everybody knows is just across the border not much are than gunshot distance beyond the imaginary line separating north from south britain it is about five miles northwest of carlisle and perhaps tarde miles east of an dan and southeast of there is both a gretna and a gret na green station the visitor alights at the latter a very quiet little place w ith only a few homely comforte com forta ble looking houses plain stone or whitewashed so a eon old erable number of americans and other excursionists find their way to the village in the course of the year a visitor scarcely excites any attention at all the writer calls upon the registrar of births deaths and who bas re aided in the village for many years and by whom the interviewer had his answered as fast as he questions cou A them in scotch as good and rich as if we were seventy miles instead of less than one across the border but mr ker I 1 said after ten minutes miscellaneous gossip you surely dont mean to tell me pro iessi onal rivalry and all that I 1 kind of thing apart that there was such a marrying blacksmith as I 1 have mentioned no there never was a the registrar who I 1 understand the duties of his office more for occupation than anything els and is a genial and genuine S atchman every inch of him but B come be reasonable why 1 have seen the blacksmith the an vil and the glowing forge 0 dis of times in pictures one la c A F other besides be is in chambers and a scotch works you know I 1 never mind its right what I 1 tell you the blacksmith is all imagination the notion has arisen from the hot pursuit after those who made these runaway marriages the red hot speed at which everything was done wid the burning ardor of the bridal pair SCOTCH MARRIAGES will you please tell me mr ker about what has been done here in the way of mar crying who did it and where it was done well getna green being like coldstream Cold stream and be chick on tweed just over the border was years ago a very convenient place for those who wished to get married wit bout leave its nearness near to carlisle was also an advantage the scotch law made no bother about bans paren consent presence of a clergyman or the contracting parties being tinder age all that was need e d ws that the two runaways should in the presence of witnesses take one another to be husband and wife and they were properly elou ih married and the marriage cou d not be disputed in england that is of course not now the state of the scotch law no the act of 1857 made resi deuce in scotland sor twenty one days over three sundays obliga t r y on the part ither of the ma 11 r th e woman wishing to get inar fried but all other incidental mat terp hold good that is it the prospective bridegroom holidays in scotland for three weeks and on the twenty second day his sweetheart comes down from englat by the mail ahey can be married let or hindrance quite so years ago the burn nurn her of marriages taking place here w as very high between 1845 and 1850 murray of hollaar Holl bar alone N and there vv re aber i carriers marri ers pr ac trig at t he same time tord L akines name is still to be seen n the book at springfield of course a anybody coula li marry the flying couples but certain men were nearly always patronized patroni zei ta the of out allert THE BUSINESS NOT ifandy bow about marriages now at gretna yes there are still some willi lang the post runner mori A lice postman a dozen couples these last twelve mouths he has a register which goes hundred years back there used to bo six or seven mar biers but willio 0 almost all the work now a first rate to his everyday to ny letters are delivered every morn 10 9 re u batly to the minute and h ave e et a for care who are hiis clients and chaj d 0 t h ley aalf 6 I 1 A laidy servants who come over after fter carlisle fair but there are of course others the marriages ally take place at term lime willie charges variously sometimes five shillings sometimes seven shillings sixpence occasionally he mal r get two three or fire guineas th parties just ariga e a room at public house and atler they have signed willie lan g a roll he gives the bride a tir lea te if her bus band deserts her she can bring him to through the courts just like an ordinary wife and make him sup port her the children are oj course legit amate the gretna gre marriages are in fact alen moist the opposite ot morganatic alliances in the government returns they are set down as arregu ir regu lar marriages marri agea olle of their disch advantages is that they preclude the children from being baptized and from other church privileged aut these can be remedied I 1 y the parties to a marriage here going be fore the and getti 0 4 u ali theorization for me to enter it in my returns while waiting at the station for the carlisle train I 1 asked the intelligent booking clerk about the irre gulat marriages ot those who rin ower the mereb ile said they are not thought respectable the people who get married here are mainly farm servants I 1 think |