Grand Lodge Of Scotland.

This was seconded by Bro . Major CROMBIE , who said they all knew the invaluable services which Bro . Sir Michael had given to thc Craft in Scotland . ( Applause . ) Thc evidence of it had been before them in the past , and he was sure that in thc future they would seethe result of his handiwork in the prosperity of Grand Lodge . ( Applause . )

The GRAND MASTER , who was received with enthusiastic applause , thanked the brethren , and assured them that for anything he had been able to do for Grand Lodge he was sure he had been more than amply repaid by the kindness , consideration , and friendship which he had invariably received from the members of the Grand Lodge —( applause)—and that he would never forget , but would always remember with affection , the Masons of Scotland and the Grand Lodge for whom he had acted so-long . ( Applause . ) Grand Lodge was then closed in ample form .

Consecration Of The Gilbert Greenall Chapter, No. 1250.

CONSECRATION OF THE GILBERT GREENALL CHAPTER , No . 1250 .

Another new chapter in West Lancashire was consecrated at the Masonic Rooms , Warrington ; on Thursday , the 3 rd inst ., by Comp . H . S . Alpass , Pro G . S . E ., l \ 7 ,., as M . E . Z ., assisted by Comp . W . Ashton

Clayton , Pro G . J ., P . Z ., filling the chair of H . ; Comp . John Bowes , P , G . Treas ., P . Z .. as J . ; Comp . Thomas Tunstall , P . G . Soj ., acting as P . G . S . E . ; Comp . Hugh Williams , P . P . G . S . B ., P . Z ., as S . N . ; Comp . D . W . Finney , P . P . G . F . A . Soj ., as P . S . ; J . R . Goepel , P . P . G . F . A . Soj ., P . Z ., officiating as Director of Ceremonies . _ -

The chapter having been duly opened by the Principals , the companions were then admitted , the following , in addition to thc companions mentioned above , being present : — Comps . Robert Wylie , P . Prov . G . H ., P . Z .: Joseph Skeaf , P . G . Or ; ., P . Z . ; P . J .

F . dlesten , P . P . G . S . B ., P . Z . 14 S ; Sir Gilbert Greenall , 14 S ; Spencer Wallliead , 14 S ; Robert Heaton , 14 S ; Win . Richardson , 14 S ; A . G . Webster , 14 S ; Wm . Taylor , 220 ; T . Webster , H . S 23 ; J . H . Galloway , 14 S ; Thos . Hutchinson , 14 S : Thos . H . Sutton , 14 S ; Thomas Domville , 14 S ; Peter Ball , P . G . Janitor ; Joseph Wood , 249 , 594 , 10 94 ( Freemason ) .

The ceremony of consecration was then proceeded with , the Presiding Officer calling upon the Acting Prov . G . S . E . to read the petition and charier , and the M . E . Z . inquired of thc companions if they approved of the officers named in the charter . The companions having" signified their approval in the usual way , the M . E . Z . commenced to constitute the companions into a regular chapter in ancient form . Comp . Bowes , Prov . Grand Treasurer , rendered the scriptural portion in a faultless manner .

Thc M . E . Z ., II ., J ., and S . N . carried thc consecrating elements round in thc usual way , solemn music being played by Comp . Joseph Skeaf , P . Z ., Provincial Grand Organist . The M . E . Z . then dedicated and constituted the chapter . The companions below thc rank of Principals retired , and a conclave of Installed Principals was formed , when Comp . Robert Wylie , P . Z ., P . Prov . G . H ., proceeded to inslal , with his well-known ability , Comps . Thomas IT . Sutton , as J . ; William Richardson , , as 11 . ; Price J . Edelslcn , as Z . <

Upon thc re-admission of the companions a ballot was taken for the S . E ., when Comp . Spencer Wallhcad was unanimously elected and invested by the M . E . Z . Comp . Robert Heaton was elected Treasurer ; also Comp . John H . Galloway was elected S . N . ; and Comp . William Taylor , as P . Soj .

Several propositions for exaltation and joining were then made , and the chapter was duly closed . The companions adjourned to the Lion Hotel , where a substantial banquet was provided . After the usual loyal and Masonic toasts had been given and responded lo , the companions separated at an early hour .

Cavernous Masonry.

CAVERNOUS MASONRY .

BY BRO . W . HARRY RYLANDS , F . S . A . Thc Abbey of Arbroath , or Arbrothic , as it was formerly named , is so well known that I need only mention one or two points in its history , referring those who wish to pursue the matter further to the work ( which will repay perusal ) from which I have collected the following notes : " History of

Arbroath , " by George Hay , Arbroath , 1876 . the Abbey ot Benedictine Monks , dedicated to Thomas A'Bccket , was founded by William the Lion , Kin" of Scotland , described as " a school companion of St . Thomas , and a sharer of his tribulations in England . " The work of building- appears to have commenced ei g ht years after the murder of A'Bccket , and five years after his canonization , or A . D . 117 S .

From a document preserved in the Vatican , dated 2 nd October , 1517 , we learn something of the size of the Abbey Church at that time ; although the town contained only " about 200 hearths , " the church itself is compared to its advantage with thc then St . Peter's and St . Maria del Popolo , at Rome , Great as was its wealth and privileges , gradually , like that of the English monasteries , it became dilapidated . James , Dukeof Ross . brothcrof James IV .,

who was also Archbishop of St . Andrew's held it in commendam , as twentyseventh , or twenty-eighth , abbot . Afterwards James Beaton , Bishop of Glasgow , and his nephew , the celebrated Cardinal , David Beaton , became , at the age of twenty-nine years , thc thirtieth abbot . He was the last abbot who performed the clerical duties of the Abbacy . Lord John Hamilton possessed it in 155 1 , and on the attainder of his family it was conferred , in 1570 , on Esme Stuart , afterwards Duke of Lennox . In 1583 , it was returned

lo the Hamilton family , and in 1606 James , second Marquess of Hamilton , had the Abbacy erected into a temporal lordship in his own favour . It was resi ' . ied , with compensation , in 16 . 3 6 , and passed into the possession of William Murray , altcrwards Lord Huntinglowcr and Earl of Dysart , who sold it in 16 4 , 3 to Patrick Maule , Earl of Panmure . In 1636 , it appears , however , to have been granted by Charles I . as an endowment of the Bishopric of Brechin , but at the time of the Commonwealth it reverted again to the Crown , in whom it is still vested .

Mr . Hay quotes ( p . 29 ) "Spoltiswoode's Religious Houses 111 Scotland : " " TheTyronensian Order was represented by six important houses in Scotland : 1 . Kelso ; 2 . its cell , Lcsmahago ; 3 . Kilwinning ; 4 . Arbroath ; 5 . Fyfic , its cell ; C . Lindores , kc . Left desolate , thc Abbey of Arbroath was blown down by winds , burnt by fire , let to a thread

manufacturer , and , in 1 S 75 , the great kitchen , and what was once the dungeon , were stores for groceries . " Many documents relating to the history of thc town of Arbroath arc extant , in one , about 1529 , there is mention of thc " Master of Works , " and in 1666 , George the Second , Earl of Panmure , employs John Mylne , Master Mason to the King's

Cavernous Masonry.

Majesty , as " the undertaker of the worke . " ( The same mentioned by Bro . Murray Lyon in his "History of the Lodge of Edinburgh , " page 92 . ) After his death , December , 1667 , the work was entrusted to Alexander Nisbet , who also became the King ' s Master Mason [ lb . p . 126 J , a manuscript containing details of the erection being still preserved at Panmure . It was Mr .

Milne , Mason [ Cf . "Hist . Lodge Edin . " p . 95 ] , who , on the introduction of Wesleyan Methodism into Arbroath , in 176 S , invited the preacher to his house ; . and here the Methodists found a home until a manse could be built . The charter for building a chapel was made out , in 1784 , in the name , amongst others , of Robert Milne , Mason .

On p . 283 , Mr . Hay gives a history of the incorporated trades of the town , but that of the Masons does not appear among ihe seven named . The power of granting the right of incorporation rested with the Magistrates and Town Council , and they successfully opposed the endeavour of bodies of tradesmen to assume the privileges of incorporation without their consent . " On the 1 st February , 1742 ( p . 285 ) , the Master Masons petitioned the council

, representing that there were several stranger Masons in the town who were not burgesses , and who bore no part in the public burdens , but who were employed as Masters within the burgh . The Council prohibited these ' stranger' Masons from working in the town until they were burgesses , and paid a sum not exceeding . £ 3 . Scots each to thc mason ' s box , for behoof of the poor of the fraternity .

But this act was stretched b y the masons further than the council intended it to go . In September , 1742 , the council discovered that thc mason fraternity had , at their own hands , stopped the stranger masons from working , and had applied to the Convener and Deacons to be enrolled as a corporation . In consequence of these proceedings , the council rescinded its act of the 1 st February , and ordained that , in the event of thc Convener and Deacons

admitting the masons as a craft , no regard should be had to such admission . It further ordained that any masons applying for such a purpose should not be employed on the town ' s public works , and should not meet with any encouragement from the members of the Council . The masons accordingly were not admitted into the number of incorporated trades . " One of the acts

of the Convener ' s Court ( p . 28 9 ) was as follows : " No tradesman within thc burgh should forestall his nei ghbour in any sort of commodity , buying and selling it to the hurt and prejudice of his nei ghbour craftsman . " " To contribute towards the erection of a new harbour was one of thc chief purposes for which the Arbroath Guildry was brought info existence . " Formed of the merchants of the burgh , and was incorporated in 1724-5 . Thc of Arbroath

Lodge , according to the list given in Bro . Kenning ' s Masonic Diary , is No . 40 , St . 'Thomas , Arbroath , Park-street Hall , constituted 1740 . Olher lodges were formed in 1766 and at later dates . Writing of the eighteenth century , Mr . Hay says ( p . 311 ) : " The Masonic lodges ' , who largely favoured the non-ascetic aspect of life , held their meetiii . " - in the Guild Hall early in the century . They claimed to hold them there or in the Town Hall , on the ground of prescriptive right . "

When , in 17 S 9 , General Million wrote to thc then minister of Arbroath , the Rev . George Gleig , asking for information about thc Abbey , Mr . Glei" - scnl to him , amongst olher matters , ( Hay , p . 31 J " an impression of a seal which was found among the ruins of the Abbey , and which , he adds , was then used by the Lodge St . Thomas , of Arbroath , to seal thc diplomas granted by them to their brethren . "

On page 437 is given thc following interesting statement : — " Thc Cove Haven , thc next noteworth y feature of the coast was at one time a favourite resort of thc smugglers , as were the caves generally in thc days when the contraband trade was in a flourishing slate . It derives its name from the cavern , now called the Mason ' s Cave , which namein its turnarose from

, , the circumstance that formerly the St . Thomas Lodge of Freemasons used to meet in it annually on St . John's Day , for the admission of members and the performance of thc mysteries of their Craft . Thc brethren walked in procession from Arbroath to the cave . The cavern is about 231 feet long and from 12 to 24 feet wide . At its further end there is a fine snrin . nf

water . Ihe Rev . Mr . Aitkin , writing about 1790 ( in the " Old Statistical Account of Scotland , vol . . \ ii ., p . 1 S 2 ) , says of the cave : ' The Mason Lodge of Arbroath built a gate to it , and gave it a door many years ago . Part of the stonework of this erection remains , but thc Masonic gatherings in the Mason ' s Cave have not been held for many years . This cavern iAbout the most accessible of thc scries . The descent to it is b y means of a brae or sloping bank , one of many such occurring on the coast . '" It may be added that no regular path leads lo the cave , after having passed the brae some little distance of rough boulders must be traversed . It

can DC approacnea even at high tide , and according to the charts the bay in which it is situated is called Carlingheugh Bay . The spring is a very small one , and trickles into a bowl , running over and gradually losing itself in the length of thc cave . The door , or rather entrance—in which some of the masonry still remains , is about live feet across , and the light it admits is too small to allow anything lo be seen of the interior . On visitino- illc it is to take candles

cave customary . Mr . Hay wrote in 1876 . He says that thc gatherings have not been held " for many years . " I am informed that this procession was performed in full clothing , with banners , and that it took place sometime in the forenoon perhaps about n or 12 o ' clock , a distance of about a mile and a half bcin « covered . It appears not to have been given up until about the year i 86 (? after that time the lodge possessed a Masonic Hall . '

Was this a survival of an old custom , or was it merel y the icsult of laws which the Government made in 1745-6 , when , being afraid lest meetingseven meetings for worship—should be used lo haich treason , " not more " thaifour persons were permitted to meet for E piscopalian worship , unless the services was conducted b y a person who had qualified himself b y taking the oaths to Government ; " soldiery being employed to see that this law was respected ?

Again , by what right did the Free Masons erect a door to the " lod ^ e ? " Surely , the landowner , or even thc public , would have raised an objection ¦ or is it that they received permission from the family of Carnegie of Scaton ' the owners of the land perhaps from thc Sir James Carnegie , who , ' with others , returned to the Grand Lodge ol" Scotland about 1740 ?

Whatever may have been the tradition or reason for the procession and lodge meeting it cannot but be of some interest , as being , I believe , theonlv instance on record of a Masonic meeting being held in a cave , in an open cliff , on thc sea shore ! l

i here appear lo be p lenty of records and documents extant bearing on the history of Arbroath , its Abbey antl Church , so justly celebrated ; and 1 have put together these notes in the hope that they will excite some brother who has the opportunity to place us in possession of any facts , throwing light on the Cralt of Masonry contained in the records . I cannot but think that there must be many .