Michael Lightfoot wrote: >But you have missed the point. "Of full age" meant parental permission >was NOT required. The fact that Patricia's marriage cert says that, yet >they weren't over 21 would be prima facie evidence that they DIDN'T have >parental permission. It certainly happened. I have several cases in my >parish record transcriptions where the same situation applied. >And then there was Gretna Green... Perhaps like many others, I was baffled about "Gretna Green". It turns out that Gretna Green is a small town on the west coast of Scotland where many "runaway" marriages were performed. A full account can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gretna_Green. Stan

On Tuesday 15 January 2008 22:09:49 Stan Megraw wrote: > Michael Lightfoot wrote: > > > >And then there was Gretna Green... > > Perhaps like many others, I was baffled about "Gretna Green". It turns out > that Gretna Green is a small town on the west coast of Scotland where many > "runaway" marriages were performed. A full account can be found at > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gretna_Green. > Sorry, I should have followed that up with an explanation.  Interestingly, I have been watching the excellent series on the English monarchy which is currently showing here in Oz.  This evening they dealt with the Union of England and Scotland (amongst other things).  However, the program did not mention the continuance of Scottish law in Scotland after that time.   Differences in marriage laws was only one thing.  The Scottish verdict of "guilty but not proven" is another. -- ==== Michael Lightfoot Canberra, Australia OPC Merther & St Clement(s), Cornwall see http://www.cornwall-opc.org michael.lightfoot@canb.auug.org.au ====