On July 15th we said goodbye to England and hello to Scotland!
Our first stop was Gretna Green, a small town on the border of England and Scotland (on the Scottish side), famous for performing run-away marriages. The town became a wedding destination in the year 1754 after Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act, which placed restrictions on marriages in England. At the time, many very young wealthy teenagers were getting married to people of lower classes, and so this new Act required that couples wishing to get married must first marry in a Church, and they had to be over the age of 21 (unless they had parental consent). The goal of this act was to stop all the young marriages between people of different classes. Scotland however refused to put this Act into place, and marriages in Scotland were valid in England, so young couples began running away up north to Gretna Green (the closest town over the border in Scotland) to get married. Many couples were chased by the father or brother of the bride trying to catch them in time to stop the wedding. Today many marriages are still performed in this town for traditional reasons.
Our next stop was Hadrian's Wall, a 117.5 km long Roman wall extending across England, near the Scottish border. It was built during the rule of Emperor Hadrian, around 122 AD and it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was built when the Romans were conquering Europe, and this wall signifies the farthest north they got in England, never reaching as north as Scotland, and the wall was to separate the Romans from “the barbarians”. Some parts of the wall have grass growing on top (as in the photo below), and other parts are more preserved (as in the 2nd and 3rd photos).
The scenery around the wall is beautiful, with greenery in all directions.
Scotland so far is just beautiful! I love just looking out the window while we drive, and watching how green and beautiful the countryside is. I also have been enjoying seeing cows, horses and other animals in farms along the road. I have also noticed the difference in the local Scottish people’s accents. The accents are much stronger here, and sometimes I have to concentrate pretty hard on what people are saying for me to understand! I’m getting used to it, and I love listening to the different accents! I’m curious how different the accents will be once we reach Ireland.
No comments:
Post a Comment