==================Aug25
============Gretna Green; The Scottish Place for Las Vegas-Style Quickie Marriage
埃斯特·韦伯, 记者来鸿:英格兰情侣向往的那片乐土. BBC Chinese, Aug 25, 2014
www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/fooc ... c_gretnagreen.shtml
, which is translated from
Esther Webber, Gretna Green: The Bit of Scotland Where English People Go to Get Married. BBC, Aug 18, 2014
www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28679430
Note:
(a)
(i) The English (chiefly West Country) surname Webber: “a weaver, early Middle English webber, agent derivative of Webb”
* West Country
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Country
(ii) The German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) surname Weber: “a weaver, Middle High German wëber, German Weber, an agent derivative of weben ‘to weave’”
(iii) The English (chiefly Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Midlands) and Scottish surname Webster: “a weaver, early Middle English webber, agent derivative of Webb”
(b) Gretna Green
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gretna_Green
(a village in the south of Scotland famous for runaway weddings; historically the first village in Scotland, following the old coaching route from London to Edinburgh; Gretna Green sits alongside the main town of Gretna [qv, for Etymology])
(c) “The estimated 5,000 marriages that take place every year [in Gretna Green] seem extraordinary if you consider that a mere 3,000 weddings took place across the entire county of neighbouring Cumbria - population 500,000 - in 2011.
(i) Cumbria is a county, historically [“from the 12th century until 1974”]called Cumberland
(ii) Compare Umbria
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbria
(The region [in Italy] is named for the Umbri tribe, one of those who were absorbed by the expansion of the Romans)
(iii) Online Etymology dictionary
(A) Cumberland: “Old English Cumbra land (945) "region of the Cymry" (see Cymric)”
www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Cumberland
(B) Cymric (adj): "1839, from Welsh Cymru 'Wales,' Cymry 'the Welsh,' plural of Cymro"
www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Cymric
(d) “In 1754, an English law stopped couples under 21 marrying without their parents' permission. But in Scotland it was permitted for girls from the age of 12, and for boys aged 14 or older. Moreover, anyone in Scotland could marry a couple by ‘declaration.’ * * * in 1977 English couples could finally get married [in ENGLAND] without parental consent at 18”
See next posting.
(e) “Young star-crossed lovers in England would elope and Gretna was the first town they would come to, two miles over the border. Enterprising blacksmiths set themselves up as ‘anvil priests,’ carrying out the ceremony in return for a drink or a few guineas.”
Guinea (British coin)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea_(British_coin)
(1663-1814; was the first English machine-struck gold coin; The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, where much of the gold used to make the coins originated)
(f) “Adie and Sarah Miles, 52 and 49, are having their picture taken outside a venue called The Famous Blacksmith Shop. They have ‘eloped’ from Bognor Regis on the English south coast without telling their family and plan to surprise them on their return.”
(i)
(A) Adie
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adie
(is both a surname and a given name)
(B) The Scottish surname Adie: “from the personal name Adie, a popular medieval pet form of Adam”
Dictionary of American Family Names, by Oxford University Press.
(ii) The English (of Norman origin) surname Miles: “via Old French from the Germanic personal name Milo, of unknown etymology”
(iii) Bognor Regis
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bognor_Regis
(in the county of West Sussex; section 1 Origin of name)
(g) “ The Wedding Warehouse bridalwear shop over the border in Carlisle deals with a steady stream of couples on their way north.”
(i) Carlisle, Cumbria
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlisle,_Cumbria(a city; 10 miles
(16 km) south of the Scottish border; 2011 census: 75,306; [name origin:] Caer-luel (Caer meaning fort in Common Brittonic; luel refers to god Lugus))
(ii) Compare caer
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caer
English place suffix -chester, English noun castle, and Spanish surname Castro (from noun masculine of the same spelling) are all derived from the same Latin noun “castrum” meaning “fort.”
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