2-708-522 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Old Blacksmith's Shop and Marriage Room, Gretna Green, Scotland, 1940s? Sign reading: 'This is the famous Old Blacksmith's Shop and Marriage Room, Gretna Green'. The town of Gretna Green in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, has been a destination for weddings since at least the 18th century. The blacksmiths in Gretna became known as 'anvil priests', as Scottish law allowed for 'irregular marriages', meaning almost anybody had the authority to conduct marriage ceremonies. Under the 1754 Marriage Act, if a parent of a person under the age of 21 objected to the minor's marriage, the parent could legally veto the union. However the act only applied in England and Wales, not in Scotland.