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Gretna Green is a pairish in the historical coonty o Dumfriesshire, in Dumfries an Gallowa, Scotland. It is near the mairch wi England, define't bi the smaw River Sark that flowes intil the mooth o the wastren ewest Solway Firth. It wis historically the first veelage in Scotland follaein the auld coachin route fae Lunnon til Edinburgh. Gretna Green railwey station servis baith Gretna Green an Gretna. The Quintinshill rail disaster, the maist daithly rail skroil in Breetish history (226 recordit deiths), occurt near Gretna Green in 1915.
Gretna Green | |
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![]() The Mairiage Room | |
Location within Dumfries an Gallowa | |
OS grid reference | NY318680 |
Cooncil area | |
Lieutenancy area | |
Kintra | Scotland |
Sovereign state | Unitit Kinrick |
Post toun | GRETNA |
Postcode destrict | DG16 |
Diallin code | 01461 |
Police | Scots |
Fire | Scots |
Ambulance | Scots |
EU Pairlament | Scotland |
UK Pairlament |
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Scots Pairlament |
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Gretna Green sits alangside the main toun o Gretna.[1] Baith places is aiccessed fae the A74(M) motorwey.[1]
Gretna Green is maist kenspeckle for its waddins, follaein the 1754 Mairiage Act that forfendit couples unner the age o 21 mairyin in England or Wales withoot thair paurent's consent. As it wis legal yet in Scotland tae mairy, couples begoud crossin the mairch intae Scotland and thair first stap wis the Famous Blacksmith's Shap in Gretna Green.
Gretna Green is ane o the warld's maist faur ben waddin destinations, acause o its romantic waddin tradeetions datin back ower centurys, that oreeginatit fae cross-mairch skirtins acause o the differences atween the Scottish mairiage laws an the English mairiage laws.
Gretna's "skirtin mairiages" begoud in 1754 whan Laird Hardwicke's 1754 Mairiage Act cam intae force in England. Unner the Act, if a paurent o a person unner the age o 21 objectit til the minor's mairiage, the paurent coud legal na-say the union. The Act tichtent the the requirements for mairyin in England an Wales bit it didna applee in Scotland, whaur it wis possible for boys tae mairy at 14 an girls at 12, wi or withoot paurental consent. It wis, housomiver, anely in the 1770s, wi the biggin o a towl road passin throu the umwhile obscure veelage o Graitney, that Gretna Green becam the first easy reakable veelage ower the Scots mairch.[2]
Scots law alloued for "iraiglar mairiages", meanin that if a declaration wis made afore twa witness, awmaist onybody hid the authority tae conduct the waddin ceremony. The blacksmiths in Greta becam kent as "anvil priests" (stiddie priests), culminatin wi Richard Rennison (1889-1969) that performt 5,147 ceremonies. The local blacksmith an his stiddie becam lastin seembols o Gretna Green waddins. Twa in parteecular, The Famous Blacksmith's Shap, built in 1713, an Gretna Hall Historic Marriage House and Hotel (built 1710) becam, in faur ben fowklair at least, the focal tourist pynts for the mairiage tred. The Famous Blacksmiths Shap appent til the public as a veesitor attraction in 1885, unner the awnerskip o Hugh Mackie. Gretna Green Ltd., noo awnt bi the fowert-generation of the Mackie faimily, Alasdair Houston MBE, wi the uphaud o his sister, Susan Clark, is noo a VisitScotland five-star, awaird-winnin veesitor attraction, an remeens ane o the UK's mais faur ben waddin venues.
Victorian chronicler Robert Smith Surtees descrived Gretna Green at lenth in his 1848 The New Monthly Magazine serial The Richest Commoner in England:
Syne 1929, baith pairtys in Scotland hae hid tae be at least 16 year auld, bit thay can yet mairy withoot paurental consent. In England an Wales, the age for mairiage is noo 16 wi paurental consent an 18 withoot it. O the three forms o iraiglar mairiage that hid existit unner Scots law, aw bit the last wis abolisht bi the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1939 that cam intae force fae 1 Julie 1940. Afore this Act, ony ceetizen wis able tae witness a public plicht.
Gretna Green's twa blacksmiths shaps, coontless inns, an tafts became the backgrunds for tens o thoosands o waddins. Nouadays the're several weddin venue in an aroond Gretna Green, fae umwhile kirks tae purpose-built chaipels. The services at aw the venues is aye performt ower an iconic blacksmith's stiddie. Gretna Green endures as ane o the warld's mait faur ben waddin venues and thoosands o couples fae aroond the warld come tae be mairit "ower the stiddie" in Gretna Green.
In common law, a "Gretna Green mairiage" cam tae mean, in general, a mairage transactit in a jurisdiction that wisna the residence o the pairtys bein mairit, tae avyde restrictions or throu-comes imposed bi the pairty's hame jurisdiction.[3] A kenspeckle "Gretna" mairiage was the seicont mairiage in 1826 o Edward Gibbon Wakefield til the young heiress Ellen Turner, cried the Shrigley abduction (his first mairage wis til an heiress an aw, but the paurents wantit tae avyde a public scandal). Ither touns that quick, surrepteetious mairiages coud be obteent cam tae be kent as "Gretna Greens".[4] In the Unitit States, thir hae includit Elkton, Maryland,[5] Reno, Nevada, an Las Vegas, Nevada.
In 1856 Scots law wis chainged tae require 21 day residence for mairiage, an a forder law chainge wis made in 1940. The residential requirement wis liftit in 1977.[6] Ither Scots mairch veelages uised for sic mairiages wis Caustrim Brig, Lamberton, Mordington, an Paxton Toll.[7]
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