Gretna Green the marriage ceremony. The blacksmiths in Gretna became known as "anvil priests", culminating with Richard Rennison, who performed 5,147 ceremonies. The local blacksmith and his anvil became lasting symbols of Gretna Green weddings. Two in particular, The Old Blacksmith's Shop, built around 1712, and Gretna Hall Blacksmith's Shop (1710) became, in popular folklore at least, the focal tourist points for the marriage trade. The Old Blacksmith's Shop opened to the public as a visitor attraction as early as 1887. Victorian chronicler Robert Smith Surtees described Gretna Green at length in his 1848 "New Monthly Magazine" serial, "The Richest Commoner in
Gretna, Dumfries and Galloway the numerous Hotels in the centre of the township. Gretna is also the location of the Gretna Gateway Outlet Village, a development of discount factory shops. Thousands of starlings occasionally fly in flocks above Gretna. The birds gather in flocks called murmurations, having migrated in the millions from Russia and Scandinavia to escape the harsher winters there. A nearby sculpture has been approved called the Star of Caledonia. Gretna was also the official home of Gretna Football Club, who played in the Scottish Premier League during the 2007–2008 season, the club playing 'home' games at Fir Park, Motherwell. The club