Kilwinning,” of which the earl of Cassillis was the deacon in 1672,
who was succeeded by Sir Alexander Cunningham, and the earl
of Eglinton, who like the first of the trio was but an apprentice.
There were three Head Lodges according to the Scottish Code of
1599, Edinburgh being “the first and principall,” Kilwinning
“the secund,” and Stirling “the third ludge.”
The Aberdeen Lodge (No. 1 tris) has records preserved from 1670, in which year what is known as the Mark Book begins, containing the oldest existing roll of members, numbering 49, all of whom have their marks registered, save two, though only ten were operatives. The names of the earls of Finlater, Erroll and Dunfermline, Lord Forbes, several ministers and professional men are on the list, which was written by a glazier, all of whom had been enlightened as to the “benefit of the measson word,” and inserted in order as they “were made fellow craft.” The Charter (Old Charges) had to be read at the “entering of everie prenteise,” and the officers included a master and two wardens.
The lodge at Melrose (No. 1 bis) with records back to 1674 did not join the Grand Lodge until 1891, and was the last of those working (possibly centuries before that body was formed) to accept the modern system of government. Of the many noteworthy lodges mention should be made of that of “Canongate Kilwinning No. 2,” Edinburgh, the first of the numerous pendicles of “Mother Lodge Kilwinning, No. 0,” Ayrshire, started in 1677; and of the Journeymen No 8, formed in 1707, which was a secession from the Lodge of Edinburgh; the Fellow Crafts or Journeymen not being satisfied with their treatment by the Freemen Masters of the Incorporation of Masons, &c. This action led to a trial before the Lords of Council and Session, when finally a “Decreet Arbitral” was subscribed to by both parties, and the junior organization was permitted “to give the mason word as it is called” in a separate lodge. The presbytery of Kelso<[1] in 1652 sustained the action of the Rev. James Ainslie in becoming a Freemason, declaring that “there is neither sinne nor scandale in that word” (i.e. the “Mason Word”), which is often alluded to but never revealed in the old records already referred to.[2] One Scottish family may be cited in illustration of the continuous working of Freemasonry, whose membership is enshrined in the records of the ancient Lodge of “Scoon and Perth No. 3” and others. A venerable document, lovingly cared for by No. 3, bears date 1658, and recites how John Mylne came to Perth from the “North Countrie,” and was the king’s Master Mason and W.M. of the Lodge, his successor being his son, who entered “King James the sixt as ffreman measone and fellow craft”; his third son John was a member of Lodge No. 1 and Master Mason to Charles I., 1631–1636, and his eldest son was a deacon of No. 1 eleven times during thirty years. To him was apprenticed his nephew, who was warden in 1663–1664 and deacon several times. William Mylne was a warden in 1695, Thomas (eldest son) was Master in 1735, and took part in the formation of the Grand Lodge of Scotland. Others of the family continued to join the Lodge No. 1, until Robert, the last of the Mylnes as Freemasons, was initiated in 1754, died in 1811, and “was buried in St Paul’s cathedral, having been Surveyor to that Edifice for fifty years,” and the last of the masonic Mylnes for five generations. The “St John’s Lodge,” Glasgow (No. 3 bis), has some valuable old records and a “Charter Chest” with the words carved thereon “God save the King and Masons Craft, 1684.” Loyalty and Charity are the watchwords of the Society.
The Craft Gilds (Corps d’État) of France, and their progeny the Companionage, have been fully described by Mr Gould, and the Steinmetzen of Germany would require too detailed notice if we were to particularize its rules, customs and general character, from about the 12th century onward. Much as there was in common between the Stonemasons of Germany and the Freemasons of Great Britain and Ireland, it must be conceded that the two societies never united and were all through this long period wholly separate and independent; a knowledge of Freemasonry and authority to hold lodges in Germany being derived from the Grand Lodge of England during the first half of the 18th century. The theory of the derivation of the Freemasons from the Steinmetzen was first propounded in 1779 by the abbé Grandidier, and has been maintained by more modern writers, such as Fallou, Heideloff and Schneider, but a thorough examination of their statements has resulted in such an origin being generally discredited. Whether the Steinmetzen had secret signs of recognition or not, is not quite clear, but that the Freemasons had, for centuries, cannot be doubted, though precisely what they were may be open to question, and also what portions of the existing ceremonies are reminiscent of the craft anterior to the Revival of 1717. Messrs Speth and Gould favour the notion that there were two distinct and separate degrees prior to the third decade of the 18th century (Ars Q.C., 1898 and 1903), while other authorities have either supported the One degree theory, or consider there is not sufficient evidence to warrant a decision. Recent discoveries, however, tend in favour of the first view noted, such as the Trinity College MS., Dublin (“Free Masonry, Feb. 1711”), and the invaluable<[3] Chetwode Crawley MS. (Grand Lodge Library, Dublin); the second being read in connexion with the Haughfoot Lodge Records, beginning 1702 (Hist. of Freemasonry, by W. F. Vernon, 1893).
Two of the most remarkable lodges at work during the period of transition (1717–1723), out of the many then existing in England, assembled at Alnwick and at York. The origin of the first noted is not known, but there are minutes of the meetings from 1703, the Rules are of 1701, signed by quite a number of members, and a transcript of the Old Charges begins the volume. In 1708–1709 a minute provided for a masonic procession, at which the brethren were to walk “with their aprons on and Comon Square.” The Lodge consisted mainly of operative “free Brothers,” and continued for many years, a code of by-laws being published in 1763, but it never united with the Grand Lodge, giving up the struggle for existence a few years further on.
The other lodge, the most noteworthy of all the English predecessors of the Grand Lodge of England, was long held at York, the Mecca of English Freemasons.[4] Its origin is unknown, but there are traces of its existence at an early date, and possibly it was a survival of the Minster Lodge of the 14th century. Assuming that the York MS. No. 4 of 1693 was the property of the lodge in that year (which Roll was presented by George Walker of Wetherby in 1777), the entry which concludes that Scroll is most suggestive, as it gives “The names of the Lodge” (members) and the “Lodge Ward(en).” Its influence most probably may be also noted at Scarborough, where “A private Lodge” was held on the 10th of July 1705, at which the president “William Thompson, Esq., and severall others brethren ffree Masons” were present, and six gentlemen (named) “were then admitted into the said ffraternity.” These particulars are endorsed on the Scarborough MS. of the Old Charges, now owned by the Grand Lodge of Canada at Toronto. “A narrow folio manuscript Book beginning 7th March 1705–1706,” which was quoted from in 1778, has long been missing, which is much to be regretted, as possibly it gave particulars of the lodge which assembled at Bradford, Yorkshire, “when 18 Gentlemen of the first families in that neighbourhood were made Masons.” There is, however, another roll of records from 1712 to 1730 happily preserved of this “Ancient Honble. Society and Fraternity of Free Masons,” sometimes styled “Company” or “Society of Free and Accepted Masons.”
Not to be behind the London fratres, the York brethren formed a Grand Lodge on the 27th of December 1725 (the “Grand
- ↑ The Associate Synod which met at Edinburgh, March 1755, just a century later, took quite an opposite view, deciding to depose from office any of their brethren who would not give up their masonic membership (Scots Mag., 1755, p. 158). Papal Bulls have also been issued against the craft, the first being in 1738; but neither interdicts nor anathemata have any influence with the fraternity, and fall quite harmless.
- ↑
“We have the Mason Word and second sight,
Things for to come we can fortell aright.”
(The Muses Threnodie, by H. Adamson, Edin., 1638.) - ↑ The Chetwode Crawley MS., by W. J. Hughan (Ars. Q.C., 1904).
- ↑ The York Grand Lodge, by Messrs. Hughan and Whytehead (Ars Q.C., 1900), and Masonic Sketches and Reprints (1871), by the former.
