Eloping?

early morning - leaving Scotland

We drove back to London. My mother had a conversation with a Scotsman about his kilt

Scotsman

Scotsman in his kilt

and one of the sheep in Scotland ate some of our picnic lunch.

sheep in Scotland

sheep eating our lunch

unfinished sculpture of ram - sculptor died

We stopped for a couple of photos at Gretna Green.

Aug 1, 1950 - Gretna Green

Gretna Green was the place just over the border into Scotland where couples could run away and get married at age 18 without their parent's consent. You could marry on the spot, in a simple 'marriage by declaration', or ceremony, only requiring two witnesses and assurances from the couple that they were both free to marry.

Gretna Green

Sign

I think my mother was particularly interest in this - not because she wished to elope but because her father was a Justice of the Peace known as the Marrying Squire. At that time in Pennsylvania there were similar marriage laws - you had to have a blood test which took a couple of days and if you wanted to be married younger than 21 you had to have your parent's consent. But you could go over the border to Maryland and be married at 18.

Sunset in Scotland