An old anvil
+
anvil:
yunque
stands in a glass case
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glass case:
campana de cristal
in the middle of an exhibition room in the village of Gretna Green in west Scotland. Outside, tourist coaches
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coach:
bus
fill the car park while traffic thunders along
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to thunder along:
pasar haciendo un gran estruendo
the busy motorway as it crosses the border between England and Scotland. The heavy iron anvil is battered and misshapen
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misshapen:
deformado
from centuries of use by blacksmiths
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blacksmiths:
herrero
. But that is not why it is famous. This is an original ‘wedding anvil’ that symbolises the romantic tradition that has made the name of Gretna Green recognised worldwide.
LOVE ON THE RUN
The story begins back in 1754, when a change in the law in England meant that young couples had to be married in church and could no longer marry without parental consent
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consent:
permiso
until they were 21 years old. Although the law was designed to protect teenagers and young adults
+
SPEAK UP EXPLAINS
Teenagers and young adults:
"Adolescentes y jóvenes adultos". Aunque lo de las fronteras entre edades y generaciones es relativo y ciertamente varía con el tiempo, en inglés resulta muy sencillo establecer quién es un teenager: aquellos cuya edad acaba en -teen; desde thirteen a nineteen. La categoría de young adult es mucho más flexible, y pese que hay quien nunca madurará, suele establecerse entre los dieciocho y los 39.
from unsuitable
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unsuitable:
inapropiado
partnerships, it encouraged many of them to climb on board
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on board:
a bordo
the stagecoach
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stagecoach:
diligencia
northwards
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northwards:
hacia el norte
towards Scotland. Here the law still allowed 16-year-olds to marry without their parents agreeing.
THE ANVIL PRIESTS
First stop on the stagecoach route was the Famous Blacksmiths Shop at Gretna Green. Here the horses and carriages could be checked, shoed
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to shoe:
herrar (un caballo)
, rested and made ready for their journey. For the couples on board it was a moment of joy as they stepped inside to hold hands across the anvil and exchange their marriage vows
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marriage vows:
votos matrimoniales
. When the blacksmith brought down
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brought down:
descender
his hammer onto the anvil, the loud ringing sound signified that another marriage had been made. These blacksmiths became known as “anvil priests”.
Con AUDIO:
Over the Anvil
In the 18th century, a change in English law caused Gretna Green village, just over the Scottish border, to became famous (or infamous
+
infamous:
infame
) as the destination of thousands of underage
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underage:
menor de edad
runaway
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runaway:
fugado
couples who wanted to get married as quickly as possible. Today Gretna Green retains the tradition, and attracts up to two thousand couples a year. They come to be married ‘over the anvil’, in the old timbered
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timbered:
enmaderado
Blacksmith’s Shop where the ceremonies were originally held. Susan Clark is director of Gretna Green Ltd., a wedding, hotel and hospitality business. Her family has owned the Famous Blacksmith’s Shop for generations, and, as she told Speak Up, its legend began with England’s 1754 Marriage Act:
Susan Clark (Northern English accent): 1754 was an act that was passed
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to pass (a law):
aprobar una ley
in Parliament. It was changing the laws, the laws of England. In England you needed to be 21 with parental consent to be married. In Scotland the law was still 16 without parental consent. It was brought into force
+
SPEAK UP EXPLAINS
Brought into force to stop the marriages:
"Se aplicó la ley para detener los matrimonios". To bring into force o to enforce significan hacer cumplir, por aquello que la policía puede usar la fuerza si lo considera necesario. Es por eso que la policía se dedica al law enforcement, esto es, hacer cumplir la ley. Hasta mediados del siglo XVIII, muchos de los matrimonios clandestinos se llevaban a cargo en las inmediaciones de las prisiones porque eran recintos fuera de la jurisdicción de la Iglesia, donde los guardias hacían la vista gorda a cambio de una mordida o comisión.
in England to stop the marriages that were happening in London near the prisons. But what they hadn’t anticipated
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to anticipate:
prever
is that it would have started this flow of people that wanted to be married. It wasn’t [necessarily] somebody that was after a young lady’s dowry
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dowry:
dote
or something – so a bad marriage in a family’s eyes. There were lots of couples that were genuinely in love, were 16, wanted to be married, and they could come across the border into Scotland and be married.
WORTHY PROFESSIONS
But why Gretna Green in particular? And why get married in a blacksmith’s shop rather than a church? Clark explains:
Susan Clark: Gretna Green because it was the first village in Scotland, on the west side of the country, that you came across
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to come across:
cruzarse
. The Blacksmith’s Shop – an act of fate
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fate:
destino
, almost! It’s just because that was the predominant building in the village. And in those days any profession, like a blacksmith or a joiner
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joiner:
carpintero
or people that were well renowned
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renowned:
conocido
in a village, that was enough for them to conduct the ceremony.
EASY WED
Today up to two thousand couples a year are married here in the quick and easy ‘over the anvil’ style, says Clark. Although it is a different sort of couple attracted to Gretna Green now:
Susan Clark: They’ve heard about the history and the magic of Gretna Green and often, in this day and age, the couples that come to be married possibly have been married before, they’ve had all the razzmatazz
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razzmatazz:
teatralidad
and the expense
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expense:
gasto
of the first time round and just want to come quietly, focus on themselves rather than the pressures of families round about on these important days, and they come in their thousands
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they come in their thousands:
acuden a millares
. This year we will organise nearly two thousand weddings in the year, about 1,500 of them will take place in the Blacksmith’s Shop. We have another marriage room down at the manor house
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manor house:
casa señorial
in Gretna Green as well. The biggest number is from England, absolutely, a lot from Scotland as well, but from America, Australia, all sorts of European countries. So yes, it’s a worldwide name that is recognised.
TRUE ROMANCE
But Gretna Green is no Las Vegas, Clark insists. Both the ceremony and its venue retain their authenticity and romance.
Susan Clark: On the whole, a Gretna Green wedding is a very simple, low-cost wedding compared to weddings around the country. We can do a very lavish
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lavish:
esplédido, dadivoso
high-cost wedding if that’s what’s required, but on the whole people are coming to Gretna Green, they want to keep it simple, no fuss
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no fuss:
sin estridencias
, concentrate on each other, and to marry. Weddings that are conducted within the Blacksmith’s Shop are done ‘over the anvil’, where your hands would be sitting on the anvil as the ceremony is conducted. It absolutely is full of magic and romance. And you see it written in [on] the faces of the couples that come to be married. They just get a feel about [for] this quaint
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quaint:
pintoresco
little wedding venue that is the Blacksmith’s Shop. The walls almost speak to you; it has a most extraordinary atmosphere.
