In popular folklore, the village blacksmith and the blacksmiths anvil have become the enduring symbols of Weddings at Gretna Green and Gretna Weddings.

As a "forger", the blacksmith marries hot metal to metal over the anvil, in the same way the anvil priests forged a union between couples who had eloped in love.

In those days, the village blacksmith was the lifeblood of any village, always at work making horseshoes, fixing carriages and farm equipment in his blacksmiths workshop.

In Gretna Green, the blacksmiths Shop was at the heart of the village, at the junction of five old coaching roads, known as 'Headless Cross'.

Over the years, the blacksmiths Shop became Gretna Green's best-known marriage venue, and the word Blacksmith became synonymous with Gretna Green weddings.

The hammering of the Anvil to seal the marriage soon became a notorious sound.  It is said that like the metals the blacksmith forged in the heat of the fire, couples were joined together in the heat of the moment and bound together for eternity