Richard Rennison led to the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1939, which outlawed the process of "irregular marriages". When the new law came into force in 1940, Rennison had performed 5,147 marriages. His role then changed to a symbolic one, "blessing" marriages and acting as caretaker of the forge. He also regularly appeared at court to ensure the marriages he performed were judicially recognised. 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
Runaway (Sahlene song) Runaway (Sahlene song) "Runaway" sung by Sahlene was the Eurovision 2002 entrant for that year's host nation, Estonia. The song is an upbeat number with English lyrics which advise the narrator's "babe" to be more open minded in his life's vision: "just runaway to the stars/ I'll be waiting above". The resemblance of the melody of "Runaway" to that of "I Believe I Can Fly" was much noted: Alar Kotkas, co-writer of "Runaway", stated: "I know the two songs are similar" but denied any plagiarism. The studio recording of "Runaway" was produced by Erik Bernholm: the background vocals were performed