Topographical, statistical, and historical gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

GRETNA.
717
in Scotland, not celebrated by a clergyman, is now
rarely or never heard of. "What the Scottish people,
however, generally eschewed as evil, the English,
under certain circumstances, did not scruple to avail
themselves of; and the Marriage act of 1754 had not
been many years in force, before " Love found out
a way" of evading its enactments, and still, to a
certain extent, playing propriety. It was only requi-
site that the knot should be tied in Scotland, to set
at defiance all parents and guardians ; for matches
so made, appear to have been almost exclusively
"stolen," or "runaway," and the parties all English.
To enter Scotland was sufficient ; and the situation
of Gretna — only 9 miles north-west of Carlisle — ren-
dered it a most convenient spot for fugitive lovers.
The parish of Gretna, says a characteristic but
accurate and amusing account written about 46 years
ago, by the Rev. John Morgan, the incumbent,
" has been long famous in the annals of matrimonial
adventure, for the marriages of fugitive lovers from
England, which have been celebrated here. People
living at a distance erroneously suppose that the
regular and established clergyman of this parish is
the celebrator of those marriages: whereas, the per-
sons who follow this illicit practice, are mere impos-
tors, priests of their own erection, who have no right
whatever either to marry or to exercise any part of
the clerical function. There are, at present, more
than one of this description in this place. But the
greatest part of the trade is monopolized by a man who
was originally a tobacconist, and not a blacksmith,
as is generally believed. It is 40 years and upwards
since marriages of this kind began to be celebrated
here. At the lowest computation about 60 are sup-
posed to be solemnized annually in this place. Taken
at an average through the year, they may be estimated
at fifteen guineas each j consequently this traffic brings
in about £945 a-year. The form of ceremony — when
any ceremony is used — is that of the church of England.
On some occasions, particularly when the parson is
intoxicated, which is often the case, a certificate only
is given. The certificate is signed by the parson
himself, and two witnesses under fictitious signa-
tures. The following is a copy of one of these cer-
tificates, in the original spelling: — " This is to
sartfay all persons that my be consernid, that A. B.
from the parish of C. and in county of D. and E. F.
from the parish of G. and in the county of H. and
both comes before me and declayred themseless both
to be single persons, and now raayried by the forme
of the Kirk of Scotland, and agreible to the Church
of England, and givine ondre my hand, this 18th day
of March, 1 793." Joseph Paisley, the individual above
referred to, removed from Gretna-green to Springfield,
in 1791, and kept up his lucrative employment till
his death, in 1814.* On more occasions than one he
earned the handsome fee of 100 guineas, or upwards,
claration might with equal effect be made in any other part of
Scotland, and be witnessed by any other person. A mere pro-
mise of marriage, if followed conjunctione corporum, makes a
valid marriage in Scotland. 1 ' — Remarks on the case of Wakefield
i?i Blackwood's Magazine, vol. xxi. p. 324.
* Paisley was long an object of curiosity to travellers. In
person he was tall, and had been well-proportioned, but at his
death he was literally an overgrown mass of fat, weighing 25
stone. He was grossly ignorant, and insufferably coarse in his
manners, and possessed a constitution almost proof against the
ravages of spirituous liquors: for though au habitual drinker,
he was rarely ever seen drunk. For the last forty years of his
life he discussed a Scots pint — equal to two English quarts — of
brandy per diem! On one occasion, a bottle-companion, named
Ned the Turner, sat down with him on a Monday morning to
an anker of strong Cogniac, and before the evening of the suc-
ceeding Saturday, they kicked the empty cask out at the door ;
neither of them were at any period of the time drunk, nor had
they the assistance of any one in drinking. Paisley was cele-
brated in his prime for his stentorian lungs, and almost incredi-
ble muscular powers ; he could with ease bead a strong poker
over his arm, and has frequently been known to straighten an
ordinary horse-shoe in its cold state; in fits of irascibility he
would, by a grasp, squeeze the blood from the finger-ends of any
in briefer space than a barber requires to smooth the
chin of a country bumpkin ; yet, like all his succes-
sors — and all persons, in fact, who earn money, no
matter how much, in pursuits which frown defiance
on propriety and moral decency — he never became
rich. A fellow of his own stamp, who became hus-
band to Paisley's grand-daughter, fell heir to his
trade in much the same way that some persons ac-
quire the right of vending quack medicine ; and, for
many years, though competed with by a rival nearly
as successful as himself, he almost equalled the no-
toriety of his tobacconist predecessor.!
one who incurred his anger. Many marvellous stories are told
of this worthy. We believe he is the first pointed out as hav-
ing, on the advice of a learned jurisconsult, settled the form of
procedure according to law, by attesting marriages merely aa
a witness. But this circumstance laid open the secret of his
calling, and after him a sort of democracy ensued in the dispell
sation of the hymeneal privilege. Paisley's immediate prede-
cessor — for the trade was not founded by him, as some of our
contemporaries represent it to have been — was one George Gor-
don, an old soldier, who succeeded Scott of the Rigg.
f " Not long before my visit to Springfield," — says one of the
best of our provincial journalists, to whom our pages are under
no small amount of obligation, — " a young English clergyman,
who had failed to procure his father's consent, arrived for the
purpose of being married without it. The fee demanded was
thirty guineas, — a demand at which his reverence demurred, at
the same time stating, that, though he had married many a
couple, his highest fee never exceeded half-a-guinea. The
clergyman, in fact, had not so much money about him ; but it
was agreed that he should pay ten pounds in hand, and grant a
promissory note for the balance j and the bill— certainly a curi-
osity of its kind— was regularly negotiated through a Carlisle
banking-house, and as regularly retired at the time appointed.
And here 1 must mention a circumstance which has not been
provided for in the late bill anent combinations, though it ma-
nifestly tends to augment the tax on irregular marriages. At
Springfield there are two inns, as well as two priests, one of
which each of the hitter patronises exclusively. More than
this, the house at which a lover arrives at Springfield depends
entirely at what inn he starts from at Carlisle. Though he may
wish to give a preference, and issue positive orders on the sub-
ject, these orders are uniformly disobeyed. The postboys will
only stop at one house ; and that for the best of all reasons, —
that the priest, knowing the value of their patronage, goes
snacks with them in the proceeds. Except in cases of sickness
or absence, the priests never desert their colours. All the
guests of the one house are married by Mr. , and of the
other by Mr. Elliot ± so that those who are most deeply con-
cerned have very little to say in the matter. In this way some-
thing like a monopoly still exists ; and — what is more strange
still — not only the postboy who drives a couple, but his com-
panions, and the whole litter of the inn-yard, are permitted to
share in the profits of the day. The thing is viewed in the
light of a windfall, and the proceeds are placed in a sort of fee-
fund, to be afterwards shared in such proportions as the parties
see tit. Altogether, the marrying business must bring a lar^e
sum annually into Springfield : indeed, an inhabitant confessed
that it is 'the principal benefit and support of the place,* al-
though he might have added that smuggling has lately become
a rising and rival means of subsistence. Upon an average 300
couples are married in the year, and half-a-guinea is the lowest
fee that is ever charged. But a trifle like that is only levied
from pour and pedestrian couples; and persons even in the
middle ranks <»f life are compelled to pay much more hand-
somely. Not long before I visited Springfield, a gentleman had
given forty pounds ; and, independently of the money that is
spent in the inns, many hundreds must annually find their way
into the pockets of the priests, and their concurrents the post-
boys. In its legal effect the ceremony performed at Gretna
merely amounts to a confession before witnesses that certain
persons are man and wife : and the reader is aware that little
more is required to constitute a marriage in Scotland, — a mar-
riage which may be censured by church-courts, but which is
perfectly binding in regard to property and the legitimacy uf
children. Still, a formula has a considerable value in the eyes
of the fair ; and the priests, 1 believe, read a considerable part
of the English marriage-service, require the parties to join
hands, sign a record, and so forth. At my request Mr. Elliot
produced his marriage-register, which, as a public document, is
regularly kept, and which, to say the truth, would require t<»
he so, seeing that it is sometimes tendered as evidence in court."
Elliot's rival for many years was David Laing, who caught
cold on his way to Lancaster, to give evidence on the trial ut
the Waketields, and died at the age of 72. The facetious Thomas
Hood composed an elegy on this blacksmith and *' joiner with-
out license," of which we quote the concluding strophe :
Sleep — David Laing! — sleep
In peace, though angry governesses spurn thee!
Over thy grave a thousand maidens weep.
And honest postboys mourn thee !
Sleep, David ! — safely and serenely sleep,
Bev/ept by many a learned legal eye ! —
To see the mould above thee in a heap,
Drowns many a lid that heretofore was dry; —
Especially of those that, plunging deep
In love, would •' ride and tie !"
Had I command, thou tdiould'st have gone thy ways
In chaise and pair — and loin in 1'ore la Chaise I