Richard Rennison Richard Rennison Richard Rennison (29 October 1889 – 5 August 1969) was the last "anvil priest" at Gretna Green, Scotland. Between 1926 and 1940, he performed "irregular marriages" of couples over the anvil at the Old Blacksmith Shop, where the couple proclaimed that they were single and wanted to get married in front of witnesses. As "anvil priest", Rennison generally requested a fee of £1, but was known to earn up to £20 for a ceremony (approximately £3,030 in 2012). The popularity of the marriages grew whilst he was performing them, to the point that a special committee was formed
HM Factory, Gretna HM Factory, Gretna H.M. Factory, Gretna was the United Kingdom's largest Cordite factory in World War I. The government-owned facility was adjacent to the Solway Firth, near Gretna, Dumfries and Galloway. It was built by the Ministry of Munitions in response to the Shell Crisis of 1915. The Devil's Porridge Museum, Eastriggs, Dumfriesshire, commemorates the efforts of these workers during the First World War. H.M. Factory, Gretna stretched from Mossband near Longtown in the east, to Dornock / Eastriggs in the west straddling the Scottish / English border. The facility consisted of four large production sites and two purpose-built townships.