Gretna Green

a Scottish village on Solway Forth, eight miles from Carlisle. According to old Scottish law, a couple might be regularly married by declaring themselves man and wife in the presence of witnesses. If, for instance, a couple presented themselves before a hotelkeeper as man and wife, they were recognized as such by the laws of Scotland as firmly as though the banns had been proclaimed and they had been united by a priest in cassock and bands. The ease with which such a marriage might be arranged made Gretna, the first town on the Scottish side of the border, a favorite resort for runaway couples from England. Many a thrilling ride is related. Unless pursuing friends were able to overtake the flying pair before they reached Gretna Green, it was too late to interfere. These marriages came to an end through the enactment of a statute that marriages contracted in this irregular way should be null and void, unless at least one of the parties had resided in Scotland not less than twenty-one days. James Barrie has written an entertaining sketch entitled Gretna Green Revisited.