The Marriage (Scotland) Act 1939 (which came into effect on 1 July 1940) declared that marriages held in Scotland must be conducted by a minister or registrar. Before this, a couple could be married in different ways.They could undertake a ‘regular’ marriage in a church, which required banns to be read some weeks in advance. Alternatively, they could be wed by either mutual agreement, a public promise followed by consummation, or by cohabitation with repute; an ‘irregular marriage’. Consent created the marriage, not the clergy nor the civil official and there were no restrictions on where and when the marriage might take place. South of the border,
