Yesterday (Saturday) was the first chance I could take a trip beyond the borders of Ayrshire in over four months, with the partial lifting of coronavirus restrictions. As such, my wife, youngest son and I went for a wee jolly down the road to Ireland's Gretna Green - the small village of Portpatrick in Dumfries and Galloway, and in historic Wigtownshire.
Prior to 1940, it was perfectly valid to marry irregularly by the laws of Scotland by simply exchanging consent with your intended before witnesses (marriage by declaration). After Hardwicke's Act of 1753 clamped down on clandestine and irregular marriages in England and Wales, runaway couples wishing to elope simply headed north to the first Scottish place they came to - Gretna being the most famous, but equally possible at Coldstream, Lamberton Toll and other places (anywhere where someone who understood your accent could witness you saying "I do"!) For the Irish, the equivalent was to simply jump on the boat from Donaghadee in County Down, and cross the water to Portpatrick to perform a hit and run raid on the village for the same purpose, to get married there, and then to get the boat back home in time for a celebratory pie and ale at Mrs Miggins' pie shop!
Many of the marriages so performed can be read about in Arthur Brack's 1997 publication, Irregular Marriages at Portpatrick, Wigtownshire 1759-1826: the Gretna Green for Ireland. You'll also find more about irregular mariage in Scotland in my book Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church & State Records, available from Pen and Sword at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Scottish-Ancestry-through-Church-and-State-Records-Paperback/p/16848.
So a few pics! These include the auld kirk at Portpatrick, a view to Northern Ireland, Dunskey Castle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunskey_Castle), and some views of the harbour itself. Records concerning the village will be held by Dumfries and Galloway Archives (https://www.dumgal.gov.uk/article/15308/Local-archives), and Dumfries and Galloway FHS may also be able to assist with enquiries (https://dgfhs.org.uk/).
Enjoy - it's well worth a trip!
Chris
Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.
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