Couple who eloped to Scotland in defiance of groom's parents celebrate 50 years together
dailyrecord.co.ukA couple who eloped to Dumfries in defiance of the groom’s parents 50 years ago celebrate their golden wedding anniversary tomorrow.
American student Harvey Shaw, then 19, and his Danish sweetheart Birgit Frederiksen, 22, hitched to Scotland from Copenhagen with the intention of tying the knot at Gretna Green.
But the backpacking couple ended up in “wonderful” Dumfries where they were married the “town hall” in Buccleuch Street. in the presence of two strangers they met on the street as their witnesses.That was 50 years ago tomorrow – August 23 – and Harvey and Birgit are still happily married living in Arizona with two daughters and three granddaughters.Harvey recalled: “In 1971 I was travelling in Scotland with my friend, both of us from New York.
It was pouring with rain one night and we waited in a pub hall until it stopped.“When two pretty young ladies walked in, we started talking and discovered they were from Denmark.
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