My dearest Readers,
As promised, I give thee part 2! So do any of you remember that Marriage Act from the last post? The one that had been set into motion in 1754 that forbade couples under the age of 21 from marrying without the consent of their parents? And all those new strict laws regarding special licences which could only be obtained from the Bishop and a whole list of other things to help prevent Fleet marriages? Now you do. Grin.

That particular Marriage Act was only law in England and Wales and not in any other parts of the Isles, like Scotland, Isle of Mann and Guernsey. With dangerous weather and water way passages, Scotland became the go to for couples who wanted to get around English laws. And guess what was the first village just over the border of Scotland? Gretna Green, but of course! In no time it became THE place to wed. So much so, countless historical romances have written about the subject and tossed around Gretna Green as if there wasn’t a single other village IN Scotland. (Which there were). Usually, the couple heading to Scotland was usually followed by angry family members wanting to put a stop to it and it’s said that Scots would sit on the border and place bets as to how long before certain carriage were followed. There were many times parents brought the bride’s husband to trial accusing him for abducting their daughter. Couples got around this by having the daughter pay for some of the expenses. To show just how WILLING she really was. Though in my opinion is was a cheap way for the groom to go…

Now all those stories and legends about a blacksmith marrying couples is actually just that. Stories and legend. With no truth. The story of the blacksmith came about because there were usually scam artists waiting about dressed like priests to marry couples and were described as having the build of a blacksmith when he took off with the couples’ money. Hence the stories. It was said about 100 couples a year got scammed by such individuals. And many didn’t even know they WEREN’T married! One man, David Laing, in 1827, in court, admitted to marrying couples for 48 years and charging as much as 50 pounds a couple! In 1856 Gretna Green faded away into the mist when a law made it illegal for a couple to marry in Scotland unless either the groom or the bride had been a resident of Scotland. Though for only three weeks…

There’s still so many things to touch on pertaining to traditions and rings and betrothals and superstitions, I could make this post go on and on and well…on. I suppose I should keep it simple and end this on the last note of practice that has been argued amongst British scholars left and right as to whether it truly did occur or not. Which of course, it did. And that was the selling of wives and wedding strangers THAT way. In 1886, Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge made the story of wife selling famous. But from the middle ages up until the late 1800′s, it actually wasn’t all that uncommon as people think. Candice Hern wrote a fabulous story on wife selling called THE BRIDE SALE. And…ehm. So did I. Only mine never made it to print. But it did final in the Golden Heart. Twice. And who knows…maybe one day… That said, how did wife selling come about? It’s obvious. Women were a form of property. Why would wife selling NOT be popular? The wife to be ‘sold’ would be led to the square by a head collar. She’d be put on display and her faults and imperfections would be called out to the crowd looking to buy. One particular case known on record was in Carlisle in 1832 when 50 shillings was asked for but the wife was sold for twenty shillings and a dog. Men. I suppose I can only repeat the mantra, I love what I write but I’m damn glad I don’t live in the era I write.
Cheers and much love,
Delilah Marvelle