Betty and the Real World

This week our Real World only involved A Match for Sister Maggy:

Maggy is a large Scots lass who gets called an Amazon (there's Katherine Hepburn doing her level best to imitate one--see right.) from time to time:
Among Classical Greeks, amazon was given a popular etymology as from a-mazos, "without breast", connected with an etiological tradition that Amazons had their right breast cut off or burnt out, so they would be able to use a bow more freely and throw spears without the physical limitation and obstruction; there is no indication of such a practice in works of art, in which the Amazons are always represented with both breasts, although the right is frequently covered.
I know what you're thinking. TMI, right? But, seriously, this sounds like one of those urban legends that a man might come up with. Obstruction? Physical limitation? Trust me. Cha-chas don't work that way.

When Paul wants to marry Maggy out of hand he calls his uncle who has an in with the Archbishop of Canterbury. This will expedite a Special License:
There were two kinds of marriage licences that could be issued: the usual was known as a common licence and named one or two parishes where the wedding could take place, within the jurisdiction of the person who issued the licence. The other was the special licence, which could only be granted by the Archbishop of Canterbury or his officials and allowed the marriage to take place in any church. Marriage law and practice in Scotland differs from that in England and Wales. Historically, it was always considered legal and binding for a couple to marry by making public promises, without a formal ceremony.
I think the Marriage Act of 1939 put an end to the fast and loose nature of a Gretna Green wedding. What a pity that by the time Paul was running Maggy to ground in Scotland he could no longer just take her back to her parent's house, round up some 'public' and do that thing.

At one point, Maggy retorts forcefully in Gaelic. I had previously supposed that only the Irish spoke Gaelic but there is, evidently, a Scottish dialect. Even though people still speak it, the numbers of people who speak it have plummeted from millions (two hundred years ago) to, maybe, 58,000 today:

Year	Number of students in Gaelic medium education	Percentage of all students in Scotland
2005	2,480	0.35%
2006	2,535	0.36% [30]
2007	2,601	0.38%
2008	2,766	± 0.4% [31]
2009	2,638	0.39% [32]