Презентация на тему BRITAIN’S WEDDING CAPITAL (СТОЛИЦА СВАДЕБ БРИТАНИИ)

to a small village on Scotland's border with England.

Many of them go to get married, and many more couples go through mock wedding ceremonies to "renew their marriage vows". The village is Gretna Green and it's sometimes called Britain's wedding capital .

border-граница mock-шуточный marriage vow-брачный обет

ago. In 1754, English Parliament passed a law banning

young people under the age of twenty-one to get married without their parents' permission.
In Scotland, however, this law did not apply. Traditionally, a man and a woman over the age of sixteen could get married by declaring themselves husband and wife in front of two witnesses.

apply-действовать witness-свидетель

if they were in love and under 21 ?

Why, flee to Scotland of course. And Gretna Green was the first village on the Scottish side of the border.

to flee- убегать anvil-наковальня blacksmith's shop-кузница

the local Blacksmith's Shop. Scotland's marriage law allowed any

responsible adult to conduct wedding ceremonies and Gretna's blacksmith was the most important person in the village.

runaway-беглец

"anvil priest" first asked the couple their names and

addresses, then told them to stand up, and asked if they were single and if they were both there of their own free will.

priest-священник to proceed-приступать groom-жених bride-невеста admonition-предостережение

certificate and proceeded to the heart of the ceremony

including the groom placing a ring on his bride's left hand, and an admonition, "What God joins together let no man put asunder." Then he hit the hammer over the anvil and declared the couple man and wife.

to put asunder-разделять hammer-молот

popular that the blacksmith could no longer satisfy the

demand on his own and the village had to get more "anvil priests". They were a colourful set of characters.

had any "qualifications" to perform marriages and used Scotland's

marriage law as a way of earning extra money. If a couple had come unaccompanied, the anvil priest would often knock on a neighbour's
door — and the witnesses were quickly found.

extra-дополнительный to satisfy the demand-удовлетворять спрос unacconpanied-без свидетелей

father (often armed with a gun) was approaching Gretna

Green, he helped them find a hiding place.
One of the last "anvil priests", Richard Rennison, married 5,147 couples in the Blacksmith's Shop!

if word came- если доходил слух to approach- приближаться

fame to Gretna Green no longer apply. But its

reputation is secure.
So many thousands of lovers have married at Gretna Green, that its name and traditions live in all corners of the globe. Couples have been delivered to the anvil by all kinds of transport: lorry, fire engine, horseback — you name it!

in black leather, so the only way to identify

the bride is to find out which one has got the bouquet! And, of course, traditional kilts for Scottish bride­grooms are still as popular as ever.