Reading history and classic literature books have taken me to some of the fantastic places in England and in UK. One such place is Gretna Green, a village in the Scottish borders in Dumfriesshire. The visit being due twice earlier, this time around it seemed like a Divine will. Following a long day footslogging Ben Nevis, the plan that evening was to unwind at the forest bunkbed we were resting the previous night, but then an impromptu decision was made to shorten the next day rainy and arduous return home and off we were on the road. Few taps on his mobile later, B had already booked a reasonable stay at a hotel on the motorway. Unbeknownst to this place, he later told me we're staying at Gretna. And that was it; I for sure was in for some history digging the next morning
While inside this heritage place next morning, the information personnel at the door asked, ' So, what brings you here?' ‘Jane Austen’, I quipped -and that led him to conclude I was fairly aware of the antiquities of the place. Gretna Green was notorious for runaway weddings in the mid 18th century and briefly mentioned in Austen's novels of Pride & Prejudice when the youngest Bennett sister Lydia elopes with Wickham and mentions this place as her destination in her letter. Run away marriages stirred quite an excitement and were standard newspaper gossip in Jane Austen's time. Forbidden relationships and elopements were considered adventurous and also seen hyped and reflect in the fiction of the time.
As the village of Gretna Green on the Scottish border were easily accessible, eloped couples from England flocked here to get married; the Scottish laws were lenient : you could marry on the spot only requiring two witnesses and assurances from the couple that they were both free to marry. The eloped English couples preferred to keep some English marriage traditions and that called for someone in authority to perform the ceremony where the local artisans and craftsman, most often the village blacksmiths came to the rescue. This made the Blacksmith’s Forge at Gretna Green a favorite place for weddings and the tradition of the blacksmith sealing the marriage by striking his anvil led to the Gretna blacksmiths becoming known as ‘anvil priests’. This custom is still prevalent in the weddings here and the Blacksmiths Shop, where lovers have come to marry since 1754 still remains a popular wedding venue.
While inside the visitor centre, I witnessed some old telegrams displayed that were posted to the priests to annul the eloped marriage. Although one might find them amusing in today's times, it would have been gruesome for those affected by the alliance. One such telegram addressed to the priest at Gretna Green read 'MARRIAGE CEREMONY MUSTN'T BE PERFORMED. BRIDEGROOM KNOWN EXCONVICT. GIRLS MOTHER IN STATE OF COLLAPSE'. Some telegrams read the groom already being married. There are also other excerpts on the information wall that read there were a plenty of re-marriages to formalise the relationship that had borne illegitimate children; the blacksmiths surely made a fortune out of these ceremonies. Further inside in the ‘Anvil Room’ is where the anvil is, that sealed the fate of many - resides humbly in the center of the room. There is also a makeshift room on display, a provisional arrangement that was in use for the far travelled couples to stay before the wedding ceremony, the decor of the room is maintained in a fashion that seems unaffected by the time and one is surely bound to teleport to those humbling times. While times have changed, the thrill of tasting the forbidden fruit still seems alluring, the idea of romance, of stolen kisses, of secret love letters, defying society for the unwavering love for that special one - I guess nothing changes, the definition of love still remains the same. This one was for an old fashioned hopeless romantic fool in me.
All in all, it was a good day spent albeit heavy showers outside. If you find time or maybe thinking a quick nibbles on your way back home from Scotland to England, a fiver for this place with history galore is surely a good stopover.
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