Gretna Green is a small village on the west coast in the south of Scotland.^[1] It is in Dumfries and Galloway, near the mouth of the River Esk, and has a railway station serving both Gretna Green and Gretna.^[1] The Quintinshill rail crash, with 227 deaths the worst rail crash in Britain, occurred near Gretna Green in 1915. The United Kingdom House of Commons is made up of Members of Parliament (MPs). ... Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale was created as a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the general election of 2005. ... For the national legislative body up to 1707, see Parliament of Scotland. ... Dumfries is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament. ... This is a list of Members of the European Parliament for the United Kingdom in the 2004 to 2009 session, ordered by name. ... Scotland constitutes a single constituency of the European Parliament. ... List of burghs in Scotland List of cities in the United Kingdom Lists of places within Scottish regions List of places in Orkney List of places in Shetland List of places in the Borders region of Scotland List of places in the Central region of Scotland List of places in... This article is about the country. ... Dumfries and Galloway (Dùn Phris agus an Gall-Ghaidhealaibh in Gaelic) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. ... The River Esk is a river in Dumfriesshire, Scotland that flows into the Solway Firth. ... Gretna Green railway station serves the town of Gretna Green in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. ... The Quintinshill rail crash on 22 May 1915, which killed 227 people, was the worst ever rail crash in British history. ...

Gretna Green is distinct from the larger nearby town of Gretna.^[1] Both are alongside the A74(M) motorway and both are very near to the border of Scotland with England.^[1] Gretna Green is a small town in the south of Scotland, on the border with England. ... The M74 is a major road in Scotland. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

Gretna is the home of the football team Gretna F.C.. “Soccer” redirects here. ... Gretna Football Club is a Scottish football club from Gretna, near Annan, Dumfries and Galloway and promoted to the Scottish Premier League in the 06/07 season. ...

Marriage

The old blacksmiths shop at Gretna Green

Its main claim to fame are the Blacksmith's Shops, where many runaway marriages were performed. These began in 1753 when an Act of Parliament, Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act, was passed in England, which stated that if both parties to a marriage were not at least 21 years old, then consent to the marriage had to be given by the parents. This Act did not apply in Scotland where it was possible for boys to get married at 14 and girls at 12 years old with or without parental consent. Since 1929 both parties have had to be at least 16 years old but there is still no consent needed. In England and Wales the ages are now 16 with consent and 18 without. In addition, English law required the "asking of the banns" (periodic announcements of an impending marriage, with an invitation for anybody who knew of a reason the parties could not marry to state the reason) or, later, the advance issuance of a license for a marriage to be legal; this allowed people who opposed a marriage—even one that could be performed legally—to know that it was planned, and thus possibly to prevent it. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 532 pixelsFull resolution (3008 × 2000 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 532 pixelsFull resolution (3008 × 2000 pixel, file size: 1. ... Marriage is an interpersonal relationship with governmental, social, or religious recognition, usually intimate and sexual, and often created as a contract, or through civil process. ... An Act of Parliament or Act is law enacted by the parliament (see legislation). ... For other marriage-related legislation, see Marriage Act In England and Wales, the Marriage Act 1753, also called Lord Hardwickes Marriage Act, required formal ceremony of marriage, therefore abolishing common-law marriage. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... This article is about the country. ... The banns of marriage or, simply the banns, (from an Old English word meaning to summon) are the public announcement from the pulpit that a marriage is going to take place in that church between two specified persons at a specified time. ...

However, before these changes took place, the laws led to many elopers fleeing England and making for the first Scottish village they came to — Gretna Green. The Old blacksmith's shop, built around 1712, and Gretna Hall Blacksmiths Shop 1710 became, in popular folklore at least, the focal point for the marriage trade. The Old Blacksmiths opened to the public as a visitor attraction as early as 1887. To elope, most literally, merely means to run away. ... A blacksmith A blacksmith at work A blacksmith at work A blacksmiths fire Hot metal work from a blacksmith A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from iron or steel by forging the metal; i. ... A Visitor attraction is a place that primarily, or as a side-effect of its main purpose, caters for visitors, be they tourists, day-trippers or those on an educational mission. ... 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ...

The local blacksmith and his anvil have become the lasting symbols of Gretna Green weddings. Scottish law allowed for 'irregular marriages', meaning that, so long as a declaration was made, in front of two witnesses, almost anybody had the authority to conduct the marriage ceremony. The local blacksmiths in Gretna became known as 'anvil priests'. As a "forger", the blacksmith marries hot metal to metal over the anvil, in the same way the anvil priests forged a union between couples who had eloped in love. A blacksmith A blacksmith at work A blacksmith at work A blacksmiths fire Hot metal work from a blacksmith A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from iron or steel by forging the metal; i. ... For other uses, see Anvil (disambiguation). ...

Gretna's two Blacksmiths shops and countless Inns and smallholding became the backdrops for hundreds of thousands of weddings. Today, Gretna Green remains one of the most popular wedding venues in the world, and thousands of couples still come from all over the world to be married 'over the anvil' at Gretna Green.

In law, Gretna Green marriage came to mean a marriage transacted in a jurisdiction that was not the residence of the parties being married, in order to avoid restrictions or procedures imposed by the parties' home jurisdiction. A famous Gretna marriage was the second marriage in 1826 of Edward Gibbon Wakefield to the young heiress Ellen Turner, the Shrigley Abduction. Edward Gibbon Wakefield Edward Gibbon Wakefield (20 March 1796 – May 16, 1862) was the driving force behind much of the early colonization of South Australia, and later New Zealand. ... The Shrigley abduction was a British case of an attempted forced marriage of young heiress Ellen Turner to later colonial politician Edward Gibbon Wakefield. ...

In 1856 Scottish law was changed to require 21 days residence for marriage, and a further law change was made in 1940. Other Scottish Border villages previously used for these marriages were Coldstream Bridge, Lamberton, Mordington and Paxton Toll. Coldstream Bridge, linking Coldstream, Scottish Borders with Cornhill, Northumberland, is an 18th century Grade II* listed bridge between England and Scotland, across the River Tweed. ... Lamberton is a hilly ancient parish and former landed estate in Berwickshire, Scotland, its eastern boundary being the North Sea. ... Mordington is an agricultural parish in the extreme south-east of Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders region. ...

But today, possibly as many as one of every six Scottish weddings still take place at Gretna Green or in the town of Gretna.^{[citation needed]} Gretna Green is a small town in the south of Scotland, on the border with England. ...

See also

• Ower Bogie

Ower Bogie (i. ...

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} 1:50,000 OS map 85

• Ordnance Survey Landranger Map (number 85) - 1:50,000 scale (1.25 inches to 1 mile). ISBN 0-319-22685-9.

Coordinates: 54°59′N, 3°04′W Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...