Elope

In last night's episode of "Downton Abbey" on PBS, the youngest daughter of the Earl was planning to run away with the chauffeur to get married in Gretna Green.  Somebody in British literature (Jane Austen in particular) is always running off to Gretna Green to elope.  I've always wondered what was so hot about that place.

Well, I looked it up, and it seems to be the Vegas of the British Isles.  Unlike England, in Scotland anybody over the age of 14 can get married without parental consent, there is no waiting period, and as long as you have two witnesses, anybody can officiate -- no clergy or justice of the peace required.

So Scotland is the place for eloping couples, and, if you take the main road from London to Edinburgh, the first town you come to once you cross into Scotland is Gretna Green.  Go no further.

I presume what happens in Gretna Green stays in Gretna Green.