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Article THE SCOTTISH CRADLE OF FREEMASONRY* Page 1 of 4 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Scottish Cradle Of Freemasonry*
THE SCOTTISH CRADLE OF FREEMASONRY *
TXTE are pleased to reprint the following able reA-iow of a very interesting book from the North British Daily Mail : — On the richly storied seaboard of Ayrshire , from the stately birthplace of the Bruce on the rocky Carrick coast to the pleasant bay at the Northern extremity of Cunninghame , where the aggressive power of the Norwegian im'ader was finally broken , there is no spot more attractive to the archasological student than that Avhich is dominated hy the
massive toAver of the Abbey of Kilwinning . To the lover of the picturesque the place is not Avithout its charms , for it overlooks the sylvan glades of Eglinton , there is an old-Avorld air about the town that nestles round the Abbey , and the A'iew seaward includes a most magnificent sweep of iand and water , terminating in that peak-crowned island whose sublime beauties make it the gem of the Clyde . Even the modern associations of Kilwinning are in happy keeping AA'ith the dignity of its external aspect .
No one AA'I IO is familiar Avith the region can turn to the spot Avithout having the image recalled to his mental view of that chivalrous nobleman AVIIO in the central years of our century so worthily sustained the brightest traditions of the ancient house of Montgomerie , and , in spite of his sentimental adherence to a Avorn-out political creed , did more than all the other local members of the hereditary aristocracy put together to sweeten the breath of society bj' his broad human sympathies and his fraternal regard
for the poor . Who that AA'as ali \ 'e forty years ago can forget the Tournament , the young Earl ' s expensh'e and mistaken attempt to restore the most picturesque . pastime of days that were dead and could never be recalled—a revival of Avhich the envious clouds conspired to make a failure , but which was still a splendid failure after all ?
"Who that Avas Avont to attend the shooting at the Papingo some thirty years since does not remember the spectacle of the genial Earl , Avhen he had Avon the prize and been proclaimed the Captain-General , gallantly going through the customary dance at the Cross with auld Tibbie Glen ? The literary and theological associations of Kihvinning are by no means such as anyone dare despise . Eobert Baillie , a true master-spirit in an age of great men , the writer of those famous Letters Avhich form one of the most graphic contemporary records of the mihty Constitutional struggle of the seventeenth
g century , \ A'as parish minister of Kilwinning ; and hi the same pulpit ivhich the Principal of GlasgoAv adorned , old Ferguson preached those discourses Avhich haA'e still so much vitality . left in them that a skilful- prophet of . our . own day , Dr . John Gumming , has extracted from them ( forgetting to mention the fact ) many of his brightest gems . These are claims to distinction which b y themselves AA'ould entitle Kihvinning to hold up its head AA'ith any parish in the land ; but they are far from exhausting its features
of historic interest . For it can boast , with perfect'justice , Ave believe , that it AA'as the birthplace of Freemasonry in Scotland ; and when another decade has passed the Archers of Kilwinning Avill be able to say that four hundred years have come and gone sinee : their ancient society was instituted , and the custom began of shooting at the Papingo , Avhich Sir Walter has described with so much spirit in " Old Mortality , " and Avhich continues to be practised down to the present clay—the most venerable celebration
of the sort that holds its ground in this kingdom of Scotland , or , for that matter , in Great Britain , so far as AA-e have over heard . Nor is this all . The Druids' Grove , situated in . a sequestered nook a mile north from the Abbey , its three-hilled altar noM crowned with trees , carries the mind back to pre-historic times , ivhen the solemn
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Scottish Cradle Of Freemasonry*
THE SCOTTISH CRADLE OF FREEMASONRY *
TXTE are pleased to reprint the following able reA-iow of a very interesting book from the North British Daily Mail : — On the richly storied seaboard of Ayrshire , from the stately birthplace of the Bruce on the rocky Carrick coast to the pleasant bay at the Northern extremity of Cunninghame , where the aggressive power of the Norwegian im'ader was finally broken , there is no spot more attractive to the archasological student than that Avhich is dominated hy the
massive toAver of the Abbey of Kilwinning . To the lover of the picturesque the place is not Avithout its charms , for it overlooks the sylvan glades of Eglinton , there is an old-Avorld air about the town that nestles round the Abbey , and the A'iew seaward includes a most magnificent sweep of iand and water , terminating in that peak-crowned island whose sublime beauties make it the gem of the Clyde . Even the modern associations of Kilwinning are in happy keeping AA'ith the dignity of its external aspect .
No one AA'I IO is familiar Avith the region can turn to the spot Avithout having the image recalled to his mental view of that chivalrous nobleman AVIIO in the central years of our century so worthily sustained the brightest traditions of the ancient house of Montgomerie , and , in spite of his sentimental adherence to a Avorn-out political creed , did more than all the other local members of the hereditary aristocracy put together to sweeten the breath of society bj' his broad human sympathies and his fraternal regard
for the poor . Who that AA'as ali \ 'e forty years ago can forget the Tournament , the young Earl ' s expensh'e and mistaken attempt to restore the most picturesque . pastime of days that were dead and could never be recalled—a revival of Avhich the envious clouds conspired to make a failure , but which was still a splendid failure after all ?
"Who that Avas Avont to attend the shooting at the Papingo some thirty years since does not remember the spectacle of the genial Earl , Avhen he had Avon the prize and been proclaimed the Captain-General , gallantly going through the customary dance at the Cross with auld Tibbie Glen ? The literary and theological associations of Kihvinning are by no means such as anyone dare despise . Eobert Baillie , a true master-spirit in an age of great men , the writer of those famous Letters Avhich form one of the most graphic contemporary records of the mihty Constitutional struggle of the seventeenth
g century , \ A'as parish minister of Kilwinning ; and hi the same pulpit ivhich the Principal of GlasgoAv adorned , old Ferguson preached those discourses Avhich haA'e still so much vitality . left in them that a skilful- prophet of . our . own day , Dr . John Gumming , has extracted from them ( forgetting to mention the fact ) many of his brightest gems . These are claims to distinction which b y themselves AA'ould entitle Kihvinning to hold up its head AA'ith any parish in the land ; but they are far from exhausting its features
of historic interest . For it can boast , with perfect'justice , Ave believe , that it AA'as the birthplace of Freemasonry in Scotland ; and when another decade has passed the Archers of Kilwinning Avill be able to say that four hundred years have come and gone sinee : their ancient society was instituted , and the custom began of shooting at the Papingo , Avhich Sir Walter has described with so much spirit in " Old Mortality , " and Avhich continues to be practised down to the present clay—the most venerable celebration
of the sort that holds its ground in this kingdom of Scotland , or , for that matter , in Great Britain , so far as AA-e have over heard . Nor is this all . The Druids' Grove , situated in . a sequestered nook a mile north from the Abbey , its three-hilled altar noM crowned with trees , carries the mind back to pre-historic times , ivhen the solemn