Scotland Travels: Gretna Green

Music. - Ballad of The Lovers by Robert Austin Music Gretna Green, Scotland. historically the first village in Scotland following the old coaching route from London to Edinburgh. Gretna Green sits alongside the main town of Gretna and both are accessed from the A74 Motorway. Gretna Green is most famous for weddings: This started after the 1754 Marriage Act prevented couples under the age of 21 marrying in England or Wales without their parents' consent. As it was still legal in Scotland to marry without such consent, couples began crossing the border in to Scotland. The blacksmiths in Gretna became known as "anvil priests", The local blacksmith and his anvil became lasting symbols of Gretna Green weddings. The Blacksmiths building, built in 1713, sits at the heart of the village of Gretna Green, young couples would be met beside the Famous Blacksmiths Shop by the local blacksmith who conducted marriage ceremonies over the anvil in his shop, the Blacksmiths' wife and sympathetic locals would stand in as witnesses. The legend of the marriage anvil began as the Blacksmith Priests would strike the anvil as part of the wedding ceremony -  forging the lives of the two lovers together in an unbreakable bond. Weddings are still conducted at the Blacksmiths.