Gretna Green

American  

noun

1. a village in S Scotland, near the English border, to which many English couples formerly eloped to be married.

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Gretna Green British  

/ ˈɡrɛtnə /

noun

1. a village in S Scotland, in Dumfries and Galloway on the border with England: famous smithy where eloping couples were married by the blacksmith from 1754 until 1940, when such marriages became illegal. Pop: 2705 (2001)

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Example Sentences

It was not completed until 2008 when the Highways Agency finished converting the A74 between Carlisle and Gretna Green.

From BBC • Oct. 25, 2020

The Tory MP Rory Stewart devised what he called a cairn of friendship or “auld acquaintance” at Gretna Green, where people from both sides of the border were invited to lay a stone.

From The Guardian • Oct. 28, 2017

Our last frontier was at Gretna Green on our drive to Edinburgh.

From Washington Post • Dec. 15, 2016

Brentwood Farmers Market: Every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Brentwood farmers market takes over Gretna Green Way.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 13, 2015

Gretna Green was the invariable resort of runaway couples, owing to the flaw in the Old Scottish law which required nothing more than an acknowledgment before witnesses in order to constitute a valid marriage.

From Curious Church Customs and Cognate Subjects by Andrews, William