Freemasonry In Namaqualand, South Africa.

FREEMASONRY IN NAMAQUALAND , SOUTH AFRICA .

On the 28 th August , 18 S 5 , the Phcenix Lodge of Natnaqualand , No . 2082 , was opened at O ' okiep , under charter from the Grand Lodge of England . The District Grand Master ' s Deputy , Bro . George Brittain , P . M ., G . D . S . W ., assisted by Bros . H . G . Morton , P . M ., G . D . S . D ., and J . T . Eustace , P . M ., consecrated and dedicated the lodge to Masonry , and installed the W . M . elect , Bro . Edward Hodge , in the chair according to

ancient custom . The following brethren were then installed in their respective offices : Bros . W . W . Townsend , S . W . ; F . Phillips , J . W . ; J . T . Eustace , P . M ., Chap . ; J . M . W . Van Coevorden , S . D . ; J . M . Molesworth , J . D . ; J . E . Cook , Org . ; J . H . PauII , l . G . ; H . Kuthnance , O . G . ; Bro . W . W . Townsend was also appointed to act as Secretary and Treasurer ( pro tern . ) until those offices could be filled .

On the following Monday evening , the 31 st August , the lodge met to transact business , and after labour retired to refreshment . The banquet was prepared by Mr . J . L . Wheley ( since a brother ) in his usual artistic style . After the usual Masonic toasts had been given ,

" The Health of the W . M ., Bro . Hodge , " was drunk with musical , as well as Masonic honours , and united good feeling , for it was unanimously recognised that in electing Bro . Hodge as first W . M . of the lodge no wiser selection could have been made . Bro . HODGE , in reply , thanked the brethren for the great honour they had conferred on him , and said that the want of confidence he felt in himself to properly fill the responsible post he was placed in was overcome by the feeling of assurance in the ability and cordial support of his officers .

After sundry other toasts , alternately enlivened by songs , to which Bro . Molesworth contributed no mean share , the brethren separated as the small hours were stealing on , and several of the Port Nolloth brethren had then to start for home by train . Since the opening of the lodge four meetings have been held , nine initiations conferred , and live joining members admitted . The number of members on the lodge books is now 31 , with applications in hand from several candidates for initiation .

Notwithstanding the many difficulties the brethren had to face in starting , the want of qualified officers to install not being the least , seeing that the nearest place to apply to was Cape Town—360 miles off—and the journey to this and back , either by sea or overland by post cart , was anything but a pleasant one , the Phoenix Lodge of Namaqualand has now made a fair start , with every prospect of future success .

The Blue Blanket.

THE BLUE BLANKET .

A curious and interesting work was published in 1722 , the author being Alexander Pennecuik , Burgess and Guild-Brother of Edinburgh , the title being "An Historical Account of the Blue Blanket ; or Crafts-Men's Banner . Containing the Fundamental Principles of the Good-Town , with the Powers and Prerogatives of the Crafts of Edinburgh , & c , " Psalm lx ., 4 , and Gen iv ., 22 , being quoted on the same page . In the series of "Sketches of notable Masonic works" I wrote in the

defunct " Freemason's Magazine , " will be found one on this wee book , August 15 , 186 S . A second edition of it was issued in 1780 , " enlarged and adorned with the fourteen Incorporations' Arms , " and another edition was published in 1826 , as a supplement to the " Municipal Constitution of the City of Edinburgh , " to which I alluded in an article recently in the Freemason , under the heading of the " Free Crafts of Edinburgh . " Who Pennecuik was is not known , save that he wrote a small collection

of poems— "Streams from Helicon , in 1720 , and another volume in 1726 , " Flowers from Parnassus . " Whatever may have been his skill as a poet and author generally , he does not appear to have been " worldly wise , " according to Claudero ' s ( Wilson's ) Miscellanies , in his " Farewell to the Muses and Auld Reekie" :

" To shew the fate of Pennycuik , Who starving died in turnpike neuk ; Though sweet he sang , with wit and sense , He , like poor Claud , was short of pence . " As with the early Masonic historians , the author begins with Adam , and gradually comes down to more modern times . He dates the origin of the " Blue Blanket , " or Craftsmen's Banner , as far back as A . D . 1200 , so that "it is older than any of the Orders of Knighthood , save that of St .

Andrew , or the Thistle , " which may , or may not be . The " Blue Blanket , " it seems , was so named because of its colour , and has been for many years highly valued by the various Incorporated Trades of Edinburgh . King James III . " was the first that gave it the Civil sanction , " and from that period it was known as "The Standard of the Crafts within Burgh , " bearing the Inscription" Fear God , and honour the King 1 ,

With a long Life , and prosperous Reign , And we the Trades shall ever pray . " The interest Masonically centres in the account by Pennecuik of the Crafts , many of the particulars afforded being both curious and valuable . The Arms of the Fourteen Incorporations are given in a series of six plates , viz ., those of the Surgeons , Goldsmiths , Hammermen , Wrights and

Masons , Skinners , Furriers , Tailors , Baxters , Fleshers , Cordiners , Websters , Waulkers , and Bonnet Makers . The Arms ot the Surgeons are certainl y suggestive of instruments , which make " the flesh creep , " indicative of surgical operations ; those of the Hammermen ( closely identified with the Masons in the olden time ) having a hammer in the centre of a shield

surmounted by a coronet . I he "Wrights and Masons , " though on separate shields , are placed in juxtaposition , those of the former having a Square and Compasses interlaced , and the Masons being the ordinary operative Arms , which have been incorporated in those of our Grand Lodge , since its origin early last century , and are still a prominent feature thereof .

The " Hammer-Men " included the following Trades : —Blacksmiths , Cutlers , Saddlers , Lock-smiths , Loriners , Armourers , Peutherers , and Shear-Smiths .

The Blue Blanket.

"The Seal of Cause for the Hammer-Men , " 12 th April , 1496 , and a ratification of date , September 161 I 1 , 16 S 1 , are worth a careful study . The former provides that " Ni Parsonis of the Hammyrnian Craft sett up Buth to wyrk within the said Burgh quhill he be made an Freeman thairof , and be examinit be thrie of the best Mastars of the said Craft , gif he be sufficient and wyrkand good and sovir wark , lyne stuff , and habill to serve

our Soverane Lord and his Leiges , and then to be ndmitlit to set up Buth , he pay and therefor to the said Uphold of Divyne Service to be done at St , Elio's Altar , and Reparacioune of the Ornaments thairof , Fourtey Shillings . " Though all the copies preserved of the old Masonic Charges formerly used in Scotland are clearly of English origin , the foregoing of 1496 indicates that portions of the texts of those old Rolls were in use years prior to their

formal adoption from South Britain , and not confined to the Masonic trade . The "Buth" [ Booth ] of the Hammermen answered to the Lodges oi the Masons . Apprentices had to complete their time in the former Craft before being engaged as journeymen , under pain of 20 shillings fine , and Masters had to pay a similar sum to the Altar aforesaid on taking " ane Prentice to

teach him the said Craft , " and they had on Saturday afternoons to examine and pass the work . Even the Surgeons , with St . Mungo as their Patron Saint , were not allowed to practise " any Poynts of our saids Crafts of Surgery , or Barbar Craft , within this Burgh , but gif he be first frie man and Surges of the samen . . . . Every man that is to be made fyie man be examined and provit on their Points , " & c .

Free to use the Crafts as a means of livelihood , in the city of Edinburgh evidently , after a lawful apprenticeship and satisfactory workmanship , constituted a " Frie-man" Craftsman , and hence the notion that " Frie " was a corruption of Frere nowhere suggests itself in an examination of the old laws of the Crafts in Edinburgh or elsewhere .

Another item provides ( A . D . 1505 ) that " Every Master that is receiv'd frie man to the said Crafts ( " Chirurgeons " ) shall pay his oukly Penny with the Priest ' s Myte , as he shall happen to come about . " The 6 th Rule enacts " That nae Person nor frie man of the said Crafts purchase any

Lordships in contrair the Rules and Statutes above—written in heredring or skaithing of the Crafts foresaid or common , weall thereof , under the Pain of Tinsel of their Freedoms ; " and the following item requires that " All theft / asters , frie men and Brether of the saids Crafts , readily oj ) ey , and come to their Kirk Master , or Deacon , at all Tyms . "

But enough has been given from this history of the " Blue Blanket " to illustrate the customs of Craftsmen in the "dayes of yore , " and that the freedom conferred in those times meant admission to the privileges and monopolies of the Cralts in the City aforesaid . W . J . HUGHAN .

The "Probity Ms."

THE " PROBITY MS . "

The copy of the " Old Charges " in the possession of the " Probity Lodge , " No . 61 , Halifax , Yorkshire , was transcribed from a document , not now known , by William Jubb , who owned "The Book M ; or , Masonry Triumphant , " of A .D .1 736 , and inserted the 10 pages of the MS . between the leaves of that work . The date , therefore , of the "Probity MS . " is about 1736 , earlier rather than later . The tpxt of its original , no-o missing , accords mainly with the " Lansdowne " and " Antiquity " MSS ., so hatt original and transcript belong to that family of " Old Charges . "

According to the canon laid down by Bro . Gould in Volume III . of his " History of Freemasonry " ( Chapter XIV . ) , the " Probity MS . " must be assigned to either the Class III . — " Rolls or scrolls , and copies in book form" — or Class VI . — "Late transcripts , printed copies , extracts , or references in printed books " —such as the Roberts , Spencer , Cole , Briscoe , and Dodd MSS ., 1722-1739 .

There is no evidence that Jubb was a Mason . His name is in MS . as an addition to the list of subscribers printed in " The Book M , " and occurs as " Mr . William Jubb , " not " Br ., " as many are described . Of Cla-, s I . be it noted , " there is no evidence of a possible derivation through any other channel than a purely Masonic one , " and Class II . represents the . VISS , " now or formerly in the custody of lodges or individuals , under circumstances which in each case raises a presumption of their being actually used at the admission or reception of new members . "

Clearly to neither of these groups , described by Bro . Gould , can the " Probity MS . " be referred , so that it is not of the value of the " Gateshead" or "Harris" MSS . of the same period ; and yet , owing to the unusual character of portions of its text , its importance is considerable , representing as it does an original MS . of a similar kind to the " Lansdowne " ( sixteenth century ) and "Antiquity " ( A . D . I 68 ' 5 ) MSS .

The brevity of the Invocation to the Trinity ; Order of the Seven Sciences ; Account of the Flood and the survival of the two stones , Marble and Lather ; Nimrod ' s Laws for the Craft ; Charles Martel ' s Charter to hold an Annual Masonic Assembly where they would ; Athelstan ' s Son , Edwin , " made a Mason at Windsor , " and other points of similarity to the Lansdowne and Antiquity MSS . lead me to class it with those texts , especially the initiation of Prince Edwin at Windsor , which , until the discovery of the " Probity" MS ., was peculiar to those two MSS .

The wages cited as having been paid by St . Albanus do not agree with any MS . known , and in my opinion was an error of the transcriber , who has represented us , ( two shillings ) as " eleven pence a week , " and in like manner the additional sum as a gik he has written down for " elevenpence for Drink . " J

Instead of the " Namas Greecious , " or " Namas Greecinus , " of the " Lansdowne" and " Antiquity" MSS . respectively , Jubb has transcribed " Namas Presias . " This great Masonic celebrity was a rival of Methuselah , for he was at the building of King Solomon ' s Temple , and centuries later visited France .

All the laws which usually follow the Charge to the Candidate are omitted in the " Probity MS ., " and purposely so , evidently , as it contains the subscription at foot of " Win . Jubb , Scnptor . " Brethren familiar with my " Old Charges of British Freemasons " ( 1872 ) , may enter the MS . immediately after "Cole ' s MS ., " p . xviii . ; and ,

subject to Bro . Gould ' s approval , it may be placed as 31 A in the classification , p . 194 , Vol . HI ., " History of Freemasonry . " I am indebted to Bros . W . Watson , P . M ., Leeds , and Herbert Crossley , Sec . 61 , Halifax , for a knowledge of the MS ., the latter kindly sending it to me for examination . The MS . I have transcribed for publication . W . J . HUGHAN .