GRETNA GREEN

a village just north of the border between England and Scotland. It is famous as the place where English couples traditionally ran away to get married, usually without their parents’ permission, which they would have needed to be married in England. The Scottish laws concerning marriage were much less strict, and many couples were married by the Gretna Green blacksmith (= a person whose job is making things out of iron). These marriages were made illegal in Scotland in 1940.