SCOTTISH MARRIAGE LAW

Evening Star, Issue 22638, 3 May 1937, Page 11

SCOTTISH MARRIAGE LAW

GRETNA GREEN DEBUNKED How a legend can bo fostered till it becomes accepted tradition, and exploited so as to provide a profitable revenue, is shown in the references to Gretna Green marriages in the report of Lord Morison’s Committee on Scottish Marriage Law. The scandal ot irregular marriages was stopped by. law in England in the middle of the eighteenth century; after which there continued to occur fairly frequently elopements across the border into (Scotland, where marriage cnnld still bo contracted without serious formality. Gretna Green was one of the many places convenient for the celebration of these marriages; and in Gretna itself there were several spots, such as a public house under the sign of an anvil, where the “ ceremony ” might take place. The famous “ smithy ” was not among these. It turns out to bo a latter-day invention of a canny Scotsman of the 1890’s, who built a “ museum ” and a blacksmith s shop in Gretna Green for the express purpose .of carrying on a marriage business there. *Vc are told that in J. 932 the income from this business amounted to over £2,000. Novelty, curiosity, and spurious romance no doubt combined to attract the regular flow of customers which this figure implies. . v But behind the romantic facad- the report finds evidence of a very unsatisfactory state of affairs. These Gretna Green “ marriages ” arc not preceded by notices, or followed, in every case, by registration before a competent official authority. Consequently, many parties to these marriages have found themselves in the unenviable position of not knowing whether their marriage ” is really valid or not. In short, the existence of irregular forms of marriage in Scotland - “ opens a wide door to seduction, deceit, and fraud. The report recommends the obvious remedy —suppression of this marriage traffic by confining the celebration of marriage to properly qualified officials, and by extending the right to proclaim, a marriage and issue banns to the principal church bodies in Scotland.