HOBBY'S PECULIAR "PRIDE"

NZ Truth, Issue 568, 6 May 1916, Page 11

HOBBY'S PECULIAR "PRIDE"

Whiskey-maker's Wife Poses as His Housekeeper "Before Company." 3& .iif •"'— ■ •■--. >■•■ ■' '■' - Marriage Dejie^on Death-bad Up- ■ .beld/by Go.urt." - > It is^ well known ,that v ih_ Scotland the|pnarriage£_peremony is < simplicity | itself. There, all a couple need' do to become "married." Is to Join hands and,say t in presence of y l ''kr LEAs^r* TWO" witnesses : , j that .they are husbandf and. wife respectively. Anyway, this" has been ,&*? prevail iug qp^nipo. for generations. It iseems; however, from a recent case, heard, before Lord, De;war, m the Court 'of ., Session, Edinburgh/that even the ; witnes^essmay be despensed with. Ttie judgment' was given' m the action of* Mary Russell or MaoKenzie, Glasgow, 'who claimed that she was the wife 5 " of Thomas Mackenzie, distiller, Banff-) jshlreV ; -■' ' ■ .' ,■' , ; : ! : ! Lord Pewar, m summing up said: "Where it was proved that a man, and woman deliberately exchanged matrimonial consent, their marriage was complete. Mr. Mackenzie and plaintiff exchanged vows, and he afterwirdswrote'a declaration taking her to be his ■wife. He gave tier a. wedding ring, but th© marriage - r . WAS NEVER PUBLICLY- VV : ;, AJtfNOUNCED, ; '■■■ and she always assumed the, position of .housekeeper when his friends were present. A child was born m 1905. He, with plaintiff's consent, registered it as illegitimate, explaining that when the marriage was announced the child would be all right. "In a letter, to be opened after his death, Mackenzie wrote: 'This is to declare that Mary Russell is my Wife.* His false pride was stronger than, his devotion. He denied the, marriage on his deathbed, but left a letter to his trustees asserting that it was true. "Plaintiff says, and I believe her," continued his lordship, "that she has raised this action for the sake of the child. I believe her an honest and truthful witness, and I am of opinion that she had established her case."