Gretna Green Books

Gretna Green: Scotland's Gift to Lovers Olga Sinclair recounts 250 years of runaway marriages to Gretna Green. The stories of eloping lovers come from all walks of life and from all parts of Britain, Europe, and indeed the world. Archive material and true anecdotes are used to explain how Gretna Green became a defiant symbol for young lovers. In 1782 Sarah Ann Child, the immensely wealthly heiress of Child's Bank, eloped with John Fane, Earl of Westmorland; her furious parents close behind. Edward Gibbon Wakefield abducted 15-year-old Ellen Turner and huntsman John Peel married his "bonny Mary White". Chancellors, MPs, princes, aristocrats, the famous and the not-so-famous travelled to Gretna Green to plight their troth and defy convention and authority.

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