The English Parliament passed the Marriage Act of 1754, requiring wedding ceremonies to take place in Church and couples to be at least 21 years of age if they wished to marry without the consent of their parents.

This law did not apply in Scotland, where the age of consent remained at 16 and where couples needed only to declare in the presence of witnesses their intention to be husband and wife (a process known as "handfasting") for the union to be absolutely binding and accepted in civil law.

Gretna Green was the first coaching stop beyond the border between England and Scotland and traditionally it was thither that young lovers fled, hotly pursued by their angry families.

Today Gretna Green is a kind of wedding factory and, since we regularly pass by on our frequent visits to Scotland, we had the mad idea of indulging in a handfasting of our own.  We are glad to say that neither Helen nor Sid's family seems to object to our runaway marriage!