How Gretna Green Became the Quickie Wedding Capital of 18th-Century Englanders格雷特纳格林：18世纪英格兰人的“闪婚之都”

In the U.S.， Las Vegas is known as the ultimate quickie wedding destination. But across the pond， the verdant village of Gretna Green in Scotland has been a hotbed of runaway “I do’s” for more than 260 years—longer than Sin City has even been around. And it was all thanks to one stuffy British lawyer who， in an attempt to reform English marriage laws， inadvertently made elopements to the tiny Scottish hamlet de rigueur1 for couples looking to tie the knot as soon as possible.

在美国，拉斯维加斯因能让人极速结婚而成为遐迩闻名的胜地。但大洋彼岸，郁郁葱葱的苏格兰格雷特纳格林村260余年来就一直是私奔情侣缔结良缘、高喊“我愿意”的大本营——这比拉斯维加斯这座“罪恶之城”存在的历史还要绵长。而这一切都要归功于一位古板的英国大律师——他曾尝试对英国的婚姻法进行改革，却在无意之中让期待尽快结合的情侣把私奔至这个苏格兰小村庄当成必要的仪式。

Before the 1750s， couples in England who wanted to get married only had to make a declaration to make the union legal and binding. However， the Church of England’s rules on marriage were a little more complicated. In order to hold an official church wedding， a couple had to make their plans publicly known several weeks before the ceremony through the reading of banns—public announcements， made on three different Sundays before the wedding， that would give the public the chance to object to the union for any legal or religious reasons， such as if one half of the couple had a previous marriage that was never annulled2. （In a time when a divorce was hard to obtain， it wasn’t uncommon for people to simply try to skip town， then get married to someone else later on.） And if either person was under 21， they had to have parental permission to marry.

18世纪50年代之前，想要结婚的英国恋人只需发布一则声明就能使婚姻合法并具有约束效力。然而，英国国教对婚姻的规定则更复杂一些。为了举行正式的教堂婚礼，男女必须在婚礼前几周，通过发布公告的方式让公众知晓他们的结婚计划——这种公开声明要在举行婚礼前的三个礼拜连续每个周日发布，以便给人提出任何法律与宗教缘由反对这一结合的机会，例如，夫妇中有一方之前有过一段婚姻且从未解除。（在一个很难离婚的时代，人们只要试着跑路，就可随后与他人结婚，这种现象并不算罕见。）还有，如双方中有一方未满21岁，他们必须征得父母的许可方能结婚。

But since weddings that didn’t comply with these church rules were still considered legal by the British government， these so-called clandestine or irregular marriages became quite common. There were a number of other reasons why couples might have opted to forgo an official wedding， whether it was to avoid a pricey marriage license or parish fees， evade the public announcement requirement， marry despite parental opposition， conceal a pregnancy， or comply with religious beliefs outside the Church of England.

但是，不符合这些教会规定的婚礼仍然被英国政府视为合法，这些所谓的秘密或非正常婚姻在当时变得相当普遍。还有其他一些原因也可能会让新人选择放弃正式的婚礼，如为了节省昂贵的结婚证或教区费用、为了逃避公开声明的要求、不顾父母的反对而结婚、隐瞒未婚先孕或信奉英国国教以外的宗教信仰。

Skirting the marriage laws

法外成婚

Some clergy members were willing to perform clandestine marriages for a fee， but those who did so risked being fined and suspended by the church for up to three years. Couples looking to get around the rules could seek out imprisoned clergy， who ostensibly had nothing to lose. As a result， London’s Fleet Prison3， which fell outside the jurisdiction of the local bishop， became an especially popular place to get married... until the glut of Fleet weddings came to the attention of one of the highest-ranking members of the British government.

某些神职人员为了收取费用甘愿为秘密婚礼证婚，但这样做的人却有面临罚款和被教会停职长达三年的风险。希望绕开这些规则的情侣则可以寻找那些被监禁的神职人员，因为表面上，他们不会再有任何损失。因此，不属于当地主教管辖范围的伦敦舰队监狱一度成了一处特别受人欢迎的结婚场所……舰队婚礼由此泛滥，直到引起一位英国政府最高级别官员的注意。

To combat this scourge4 of irregular marriages， Lord Chancellor Philip Yorke， 1st Earl of Hardwicke， introduced “An Act for the Better Preventing of Clandestine Marriage，” also known as the Marriage Act of 1753. The law established two main requirements for a marriage to be considered legal： The ceremony had to be performed in a church （usually the bride’s local parish） according to Anglican rites and both members of the couple had to be at least 21 years old or have their parents’ permission.

为了应对非正常婚姻带来的危害，哈德威克伯爵一世、大法官菲利普·约克提出了“一项更好地防范秘密婚姻的法令”，也被称为《1753年婚姻法》。该法令规定了婚姻被视为合法的两项主要条件：结婚仪式必须在教堂（通常是新娘所在教区）按照英国圣公会的仪式举行，并且双方必须至少年满21岁或得到父母的许可。

Still， some young lovebirds were determined to get around the rules. Numerous English couples avoided Lord Hardwicke’s Act by traveling to Scotland—very often in secret. There， girls as young as 12 years old and boys as young as 14 could get married without parental consent. They simply needed to express their desire to be married in order to be legally bound together. So Gretna Green， the most easily reachable village across the Scottish border from England， became a hotspot for elopements.

然而，一些年轻的爱侣还是决心要绕开这些规则。许多英国恋人通过前往苏格兰——通常是偷偷摸摸地——来规避哈德威克伯爵婚姻法。在那里， 女孩到12岁、男孩到14岁，结婚无须经过父母同意。他们只需表达自己的结婚意愿就可以在法律上获准结合。因此，格雷特纳格林，这个从英格兰跨越苏格兰边境最容易到达的村庄便成了私奔的一大热门地点。

Tying the knot with anvils

铁砧证婚

Though Scottish marriage laws allowed for pretty much anyone to legally marry a couple， brides- and grooms-to-be arriving from England often felt as if they needed some kind of formality to make their wedding seem more official. In seeking out responsible， upstanding local citizens in a town where they likely knew no one， couples often turned to toll keepers， innkeepers， and blacksmiths to perform the ceremony.