GRETNA MARRIAGES

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 83, 24 April 1937, Page 13

GRETNA MARRIAGES

How a legend can be fostered till it becomes accepted tradition, and ex ploited so as to provide, a profitable revenue, is shown in tho rei'erences to Gretna Green marriagee in Ihe ro'port of Lord Morison's Committee on Gcottish Marriage Law. The scaadal of irregular mqrriages was stopped by law in England in the iqiddle of the eighteenth century: after which there eontinued to occur, fairly fvequently, ; elopements across the border into Scotland, where marnage could still be contracted without seripus formaiity. Gretna Green was one of the many places convenient for the eelebration of these marnages: and in Gretna itself, there were several spo'ts, such as a public house under the sign of an anvil, where the 4eeremony' might take place. Tho famous 4Smithy' was not among these. It turns out to be a latter-day invention of a canny Scotsman of the 1890 'a, who built a 4 museum' and a blacksmith's shnp in Gretna Green for tlie express purpose of cairying 011 a marriage business there. Wc nro tnld

that in 1932 the income from this business amounted to over £2009. Novelty, curiosity, and- spurious iroxxnce no doubt combined to attruct the regular flow of euyturiers which this figure impliee. But b&hind ths romantie faeada, report finds evjdencs of ^ very unsatisfactory state of affairp. These Gretna Green 4mqj»iages ' are not preceded by notices, or f ollowed, in every case, by registration before a competent offieial authority. Copsequently, many parties to tfiese marriages have found thempelves In the unenviable position of not knowing .whether their 4 marriage' is really valid or not, In short, the existene of rrregular forms of marriage in Scotland 4opens a wide door to scduction, deceit and fraud.' The report xecommends the obvious remedy — suppression of this marriage traffic by confining the colobration of marriage to properly qualifled officials, and by extending tka right to proclaim a marriage and issue banns to the principal Church bodies in GcoUaud.