The Dumfries Kilwinning Mss.

y tyme untc this day maners of masones have been kept in this forme as Ave ! as men mi ght governe it , and furthermore at divers assemblies hive been made it ordained certaine charges by the advice of masters & felloAves . Tunc unus ex senioribus tenebat Librum ut ille vel il I £ ponant vel ponaut intniis super librum efc tunc precepta cieberunfc Jegi .

Everie mai y' is a mason is to take heed to this charge well , for if any man ind himself guiltic of any of these followings y he amend himseli toAvard God in the first place , and they be charged to take good heec y ' they keep ye charge , for it is a great perill for a man to forswea * himselfe on a booke .

1 . The first charge is y' they shall be true men to God & the holy Church and use no error nor heresie to the best of y understanding or God ' s teachiio * .

2 . That they be true Leidgemeu to the Kir-p * -v out treasone or falsehood it y' t ' . iey conceall no treason or tret A n-y [?] AVIII shew it to the King and his Counsell . 3 . That you be true on to another , viz ., every l ^ ason y' is allowed a mason of the daft of masonrie you shall do to them as you Avill havc them do to vou .

4 . That you keep all the Counsel ! of the Lodge it Chamber & all other things belonging to the Alasons good . 5 . That you be true and tlo not steall or use thift nor keep no theeA-es nor theeves followers so far as you know or understand . 6 . That you be true to tho Lord or master q you serve & work truly for his advantage .

7 . That you call all masones fellows or els brethren & no other foul name .

8 . lhat you shall not take your fellows wife in vallanie nor [?] his daughter nor his servant nor put them to any disworship . 9 . That you pay truely for your meat or drink q soever you go to board . and that yon do no vallanie q you go to board q : b y the Craft may be disgraced or slandered .

This is the Charge in general y belongs to every Into mason both Alaster and fellows . Now will I rehearse other matirs y' belong particularly to Alasters it fellows . 1 . That no master take upon him any lords work or other mans unless he knoAv himself able to perforin it so y ye craft have no slander or disgrace and y' the lord be truel y served .

2 . That no master take any Avork but y' he take sufficient paym' so y' ye Lord may be truely served and the Alaster to live honestly & to pay his felloAves truely .

The Dumfries Kilwinning Mss.

3 . That no At ' or fe'low shall supplant each other of y work , A iz ., if he have taken work or stand APof Work , you shall not put him out unless he cann' go on AV' it for want of cunning to end the Avork .

4 . lhat no APor fellow shall take one apprentice under the tearm of 7 years and" y'the apprentice be free borne , Avhole of limbs , and no bastard . 5 . Thafc no Al'" take any to be made mason w' oufc the consent of his fellows at the least 6 : or 7 : at y' he y' is to be made free be able in all degrees , viz ., free borne and of good kindred , true , < fc no bondman it y' he have right limbes as a man ought to have .

6 . lhat no Ar take ; me aprenttee unless he have sufficient employm' for 2 or 3 at least . 7 . Thafc no AP or fellow put any Lords work to task y' Avas Avont to be for meate it wages . 8 . That every AP givo such Avages as the persoues employed may deserve so y' he be not [? deceived ] wt fals Avorkmen .

9 . That none slander others behind his back , to make him lose his goods or good name . 10 . That no fellow w' in or AV' out the lodge may ly or swear ungodily . 11 . That every mason reverance his [ elders ] ancl put him to worship .

12 . That no mason shall be a common player at cards or dice or wry other unlawful game q by the Craft may be slandered . 13 . That no mason use lecherie or debauchrie .

14 . That no fellow go into the toune in the night except he have a fellow to bear him witness y' he was in honest place and Company . 15 . That every Alason come to the Assemblie if it be AV 1 in 50 myles of him and have Avarning , and if he have tresspassed ag the Craft to abyde yc Avard of Al & fellowes , and if any Al or fellow

have tresspassed Avy' the AI and fellows make them agree and if they cannot cause them accord to let them go to the Common Law . 16 . That no AI or fellows make any Alould or Square or Rule to any Layer or sett any . Layer AV' in the Lodge or AV' out sending moulde stones .

17 . That every mason it fellow receive it cherish strange fellows q they come over tbe countrie it set them on the Work and if they will as the maner is , if you have not moyled stones in his place to set him on Avork you shall [ refresh ] him AV' money to the next Lodge . Masters kind prove true in niynde I pray you love your fellows AVCII and brothers and servants then prove true agaiuo This day your Craffc all craffc excelled . "

The Grand East Of Ulster.

The Grand East of Ulster .

t AVING i ' or several years past been actively engaged in collecting materials for a Historical Sketch of the Alasonic Order in Ireland , my attention has frequentl y been directed to the extraordinary difficulty experienced in procuring evidence Avith reference to events of comparatively recent occurrence , and in no instance has this v truth been more fully vorifieil than in my enquiries concerning the history of the Grand Lodge of Ulster—a

fact rendered the more remarkable when I state that I am myself resident in Ulster , and that my Ulster brethren have almost invariably accorded a willing and ready response to my oft-repeated applications for information on this and other points connected with the history of the Older .

The formation of this Grand Lodge , sometimes st yled the Grand East of Ulster , was no less important an event than an actual revolt from tlio properly-constituted authority , "The Grand Lodgeof Vive and Accepted Masons of Ireland , " and yet Alasonic Avriteis seem to he practically ignorant of the fact that such a Grand Lotlge ever existed , and amongst Ulster

Freemasons of the present day one seldom meets with a brother who has ever heard of such an event . IJro . Gould , in his comprehensive " History of Freemasonry , " does not , so far as I

can ascertain , even once refer to the history of this body , and 1 think I am , therefore , correct in arriving at the conclusion that this exceedingly

painstaking and accurate writer mus ; have been ignorant of its existence . Alillikin , Avriting in 1848 , after referring to thc termination of the conllict between the Afuuster brethren

BELFAST 1811

and the Grand Lodge of Ireland , alludes to it in the billowing words : — "Thus was Masonry placed ou a lasting foundation in Ireland , with but a trilling intermission , occasioned by an attempt to erect a Grand Lodge in flic North , under the name of the Grand East of Ulster . But , as error cannot remain long undetected , some

The Grand East Of Ulster.

of the leaders in this revolt saw , with contrition , the ill-tendency of their proceedings , submitted to the Grand Lodge , and Avere again received within the legitimate pale of Alasonry . " With a A * iew , therefore , to elicit further information on this most interesting and important subject , permit mc to lay before your readers some of the facts which have come to ray knowledge .

The oilice of Deputy Grand Secretary had , prior to his death in the month of January , 1801 , been held by Bro . Thomas Corker , Avho for a considerable length of time before that event had been in a delicate state of health . To this otlicc the then Grand Secretary , Bro . George Darcy Irvine , appointed Bro . Alexander Scton ,

Barristerat-Law , AVIIO , immediately after his appointment , is stated to have proceeded to the house of his predecessor , and , having obtained admission to his oilice , carried off " a hackney coach full " of books , documents , aud other articles , the property of Grand Lodge , of which he failed to make a return to the Grand Lodge , and of Avhich he Avas

subsequently accused of having converted to his own use . In the month of Alay , 1805 , ou his promotion to the ofiice of Junior Grand Warden , Bro . G . D . Irvine resigned the Grand Secretaryship , and Avas succeeded in that oilice by Bro . John Leech , Avho continued Seton in the office of Deputy Grand Secretary . Up till the month of Alay , 1806 , liro . Seton continued in oilice , when , owing to the unsatisfactory

manner in which his duties were performed , Seton Avas dismissed from oilice , and ultimately , on the 10 th of February , 1808 , Leech instituted a Chancery suit against Seton , before the Right Hon . Thomas Lord Baron Manners , Lord High Chancellor of Ireland , of which the following is a carefully-prepared abstract , the details of which have served to throAv a vivid ray of light on the causes leading to this result : —

" On 10 th February , 1808 , John Leech , of the City of Dublin , Esq ., Grand Secretary of the Friendly and Charitable Society known by the name of Freemasons , filed a Bill of Complaint or Petition in the High Court of Chancery in Ireland , anti thereby , after setting oufc the nature and constitution of thc Society , its Ollicers , Lodges , itc , averred , amongst other things , that Alexander Scton ,

Burristerat-Law , the then Grand Secretary ' s Clerk , upon the death of the former Clerk in January , 1801 , and immediately after being appointed to said oilice by the former Grand Secretary , possessed himself of thc books , muniments , and papers of the said Society , and never returned or made an account thereof to Petitioner or his predecessor in ofiice , George Darcy Irvine .

" That on Petitioners appointment as Grand Secretary , in Alay , 1805 , he appointed said Alexander Seton as his Clerk or Deputy , and continued him in said situation until 8 th Alay , 180 J , when Petitioner dismissed him from said office .