GRETNA GREEN MARRIAGES.--In order to put a stop to the Gretna Green marriages which have furnished material for much romance in books and much sorrow in actual life, it was enacted by 19 and 20 Vict., c. 96, that "no irregular marriage contracted in Scotland by declaration, acknowledgment or ceremony (after 31 Dec., 1856) shall be valid unless one of the parties had at the date thereof his or her usual place of residence there, or had lived in Scotland for twenty-one days next preceding such marriage." It is manifest from all the decisions that in the absence of impediments, marriage in Scotland is constituted by interchange of consent. No formal expression of such consent is necessary. If the court is satisfied, from the whole circumstances and the conduct of the parties before and after, that they have given genuine consent to present marriage, it will be held that the marriage has been validly constituted. HUSBAND AND WIFE.--By the common law of Scotland the legal status of a married woman is so merged in that of her husband as to leave her incapable of independent legal action. Recent legislation has, however, modified this doctrine. DIVORCE.--The term divorce as used in this chapter means an absolute dissolution and setting aside of a legal marriage. The Scottish courts recognize two grounds for divorce, adultery and desertion. These grounds are open to either husband or wife. The action can only be maintained by the innocent party. ADULTERY.--The evidence must be such as would "lead the guarded discretion of a reasonable and just man to the conclusion that adultery has been committed." If the court has jurisdiction it does not matter that the offence was committed out of Scotland. DEFENCES.--Besides the denial of the allegation of adultery, the following are sufficient defences: 1, collusion; 2, condonation; 3, long delay in bringing the action; 4, connivance or lenocinium of the plaintiff, who is called a pursuer in Scottish procedure; 5, the honest belief that the intercourse alleged to be adultery was lawful, as when a wife enters into a second marriage in the reasonable belief that her first husband is dead. DESERTION.--Desertion or, as the Scottish lawyers put it, "non-adherence," for a period of four years, against the will of the party deserted, is the second ground for divorce. Mere separation, as, for example, the absence of the husband on necessary business or his imprisonment, is not such non-adherence as will entitle the pursuer to a decree. The desertion must be a deliberate and obstinate withdrawal from cohabitation and companionship. If a wife refused to accompany her husband abroad, and he went alone, her refusal, and not his going away, would constitute desertion. FOREIGN DIVORCE.--If a native of Scotland acquires a foreign domicile, and obtains a divorce while abroad, the divorce would be recognized in Scotland if granted for either of the two causes sufficient by Scottish law.