Gretna Green is a town famous for its clandestine marriages and elopements for centuries. It’s the town to which Lydia and Wickham were believed to have been headed in an effort to “seal the deal” and marriage in secret, in Pride & Prejudice. Gretna Green first gained its reputation for quick marriages for underage lovers when, in 1754, England passed a law “requiring all marriages to be recognized by the church and that couples under 21 have parental consent.” Scotland was more liberal at the time; couples as young as sixteen could marry freely simply by having their marriage proclaimed in front of two witnesses, no clergy needed at all. This caused a veritable stampede of anxious young lovers, spurring on their horses only as far as the first town across the Scottish border, where they could marry safely and consummate their unions with a clear conscience (AM).