Why did people in our Regency and Victorian stories run away to Gretna Green to get married?
It’s a combination of different legal systems and geography. In the middle of the 18th century, England passed a law to stop clandestine and irregular marriages. From then on, people could not marry without proving that they were who they said they were and that they were over the age of 21 or that they had the permission of their guardians, if under that age. I’ve written about the reason for the act and what it established, if you’re interested.
The law did not apply to Scotland, which had its own laws. In Scotland, you were married if:
- you were not already married
- the pair of you said you were husband and wife in front of witnesses
- you consumated the marriage.
Gretna Green was the first village north of the border on the highway that ran from England to Scotland on the western side of Britain. The highway on the eastern side was far busier, and the chances of being caught by pursuing angry parents higher. Other villages along the border were not as easily accessible, since much of the border country was wild and hilly. So Gretna Green became synonymous with runaway marriages, as anxious couples arrived and demanded to be married right away.
And the Blacksmith’s shop? In fact, anywhere would have done, but the blacksmith had a building at the junction of five coaching roads. Easily found. And Joseph Paisley, the local blacksmith, saw an opportunity for a side business, witnessing and recording marriages for a few coins. He would ask, “are you of age to marry” (14 for boys and 12 for girls in Scotland at the time), and “are you free to marry”. Then he’d strike the anvil and it was done.
The hammering of the anvil soon became a notorious sound; romantically it is said that like the metals he forged, the Blacksmith would join couples together in the heat of the moment but bind them for eternity. [https://www.gretnagreen.com/why-the-blacksmiths-shop-a740]
Paisley performed marriages in the blacksmith’s shop for over 60 years, and his successors to the forge carried on the tradition.
This clears up some of the confusion I experienced when reading Chaos Come Again. Thank you for the clarification.
I’ve done some work to clarify it, Claire. Thanks for your comments on the book. I’ll also add this piece, or a version of it, in the author notes.
I hadn’t heard the tale of the noise of the hammer hitting the anvil being the final note in a Gretna wedding. As to Paisley being a blacksmith, Elliot says he wasn’t a blacksmith, but had the reputation of marrying people quickly. “Strike while it is hot.” Paisley was sometimes a fisherman. Elliott married Paisley’s granddaughter and succeeded him in the occupation of Gretna “Parson”.Elliott’s memoirs were published and are very interesting. .
The story comes from Gretna Green’s website, and might well be apochryphal, as so many family tales are. I must look for Elliot’s memoirs. Thank you, Nancy.