Note 1470 — Chapter X · RISE OF CIVIL MARRIAGE (continued 2)
Reading edition
By the act of 7 and 8 Vict., c. 81 (1844), supplemented by 34 Vict., c. 110, and 26 and 27 Vict., c. 27, the essential features of 6 and 7 Will. IV., c. 85, were adopted for Ireland, the proximate cause being the excitement aroused by the case of the Queen v. Millis, 1843: see chap. vii, sec. ii, p. 316, above; and also Hammick, Marriage Law, 232-39; Geary, Mar. and Fam. Rel., 557 ff.
In Scotland except as restricted by 19 and 20 Vict., c. 96, the principles of the canon law are still in force, "subject only to such modifications as it has undergone from time to time by the application of the rules of evidence established in that country, and the course of judicial decisions" (Hammick, op. cit., 221). But in 1856 by 19 and 20 Vict., c. 96, called Lord Brougham's Act, for a contract to be valid, the parties must have resided in Scotland at least twenty-one days preceding the ceremony. This put an end to "Gretna Green" weddings, but otherwise private contracts are still legal. Thus three kinds of marriages are recognized: (1) "regular marriages" before a minister according to custom or statute; (2) "irregular marriages" per verba de praesenti; (3) "irregular marriages" per verba de futuro, subsequente copula; but in this case the contract must be written or proved by confession on oath: Hammick, op. cit., 221 ff. That Scotch marriages are binding in England was established by the celebrated judgment of Lord Stowell in Dalrymple v. Dalrymple in 1811: Dodson, A Report of the Judgment, 1 ff., 97 ff.; Stephens, Laws of the Clergy, I, 672, 688; Friedberg, Eheschliessung, 426, 427; Kent, Commentaries, II, 87. In general, see Geary, op. cit., 531 ff.; Friedberg, op. cit., 428, 437-59; idem, Geschichte der Civilehe, 18 ff.; Moore, How to be Married, 85 ff.; Robertson, in Britannica, XV, 567; Tegg, The Knot Tied, 216-23 (Gretna Green); Jeaffreson, Brides and Bridals, II, 203-16 (Gretna Green); Glasson, Histoire du droit et des inst., VI, 162-69; Wharton, Laws Rel. to Women, 265-98 (present English law), 298-303 (Scotch law); Stephens, Laws of the Clergy, I, 671-779; Carlier, Mar. aux États-Unis, 41 ff.