Gretna Green: Vacation of Choice for Disobedient Daughters and the Men Who Love Them

In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, when Lydia writes home to tell of her elopement, there is a reference to a place called Gretna Green. This destination has been mentioned in other period pieces, and I've always taken for granted that it was a popular spot for elopements, but never looked into why that was the case. 

The face of a girl who still believes he's going to buy the cow
(BBC's Pride and Prejudice, 1995)

So what started it all? Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act of 1754, which stated, among other things, that the age of consent for marriage, without parental approval, was 21. What was the remedy for those who just couldn't hold out? Scotland!

Gretna Green was the first stop over the border between the two countries, and therefore became the most logical place to get hitched before the bride's angry male relatives caught up to the happy couple. 

"Told you we didn't have time to make that extra stop" 
As explained by BBC History, the town's blacksmith shop  became the first place a ceremony could be held. Scotland was playing it pretty free and loose with the marriage regulations, and didn't require church or state involvement to be legitimized. Thus, the "anvil priest" was born. Eventually Scotland added a residential requirement in order to prevent runaways from entering into clandestine marriages, but it wasn't until 1940 that "marriage by declaration" was outlawed.

Today, Gretna Green is still reaping the benefits of ol' Hardwicke's Act, and it remains a popular wedding locale: http://www.gretnaweddings.com/index.html

While you won't be married by the town blacksmith, you can still choose his old shoppe as your venue. 

Sweet.