The following Work must not be mistaken for a fiction : it is not a fiction, it is a history. If we have not everywhere preserved the sedate and plodding doggedness of the grave historian, this will nothing invalidate our veracity ; for we believe we may confidently say, that we have not brought forward any fact, professedly as such, without having had good authority for so doing. Our materials and our anecdotes were collected in the parish of Gretna Green itself, and that, too, from such sources as may be held worthy of credit. That portion of the Work most pleasurable to the general taste, will, perhaps, be the Second Volume, or the portion which comes down nearer to the present day ; but if there are any persons living who have visited the Hymeneal shrine of Gretna, (which no doubt there are,) we hope they will not feel offended at anything these pages contain. Our purpose has not been to annoy any one, but only to write a history.
