Freemasonry In Kelso.

FREEMASONRY IN KELSO .

BY W . FRED . VERNON , P . M . NO . 2 G 1 , AND R . W . M . 58 , SCOT . ( Continued from page 45 . ) IT was not until the year 1753 that the loclge applied for a Charter of confirmation from the Grand Lodge , which was granted in due course , the date of it being " the sixth clay of February , one thousand seven hundred

and fifty-four years . " The name of the brother who was mainly instrumental in persuading the brethren to own the authority of Grand Lodge deserves to be recorded and his memory kept green . He was a collector of Excise , and his name was James Lidderdale . He affiliated into the loclge in 1752 , and , being an enthusiastic Mason , was a great acquisition to the Craft in the district ; for he rosenot only to be Master of Kelso Loclgebut Provincial

, , Grand Master over the Lodges of Dunse , Haddington , Selkirk , Old Lodge of Peebles , Cumberland Kilwinning Peebles , and Kelso . Up to the 18 th of June , 1754 , the lodge was worked only in the Apprentice and Fellow Craft degrees , but upon that day some brethren , who had come from Edinburgh to assist at the laying of the foundation-stone of Kelso bridge the clay previous , formed themselves into a Loclge of Masters , and raised five brethren to the

sublime degree , which was regularly worked from that day forth . We find these worthy old Masons were given to hospitality , as well as generosity , instances of which were given in our last , and that they frequentlyentertained visiting brethren , as instanced by the following two notable examples . In 1757 the Right Honourable and Most Worshipful Charles Sholto Douglas , Earl of Aberdeen , Grand Master of Scotland , being in the town for a short time , visited the lodge , along with Bros . William Scott and

John Lumsdean , Esqs . Again , in 1785 , the celebrated aeronaut , Vincent Lunardi , having visited the town for the purpose of making an ascent in his balloon , a special meeting was called to entertain the distinguished visitor , who was made an honorary member of the lodge . At this meeting he gave a graphic account of his balloon ascent from the town a few days previous , which is carefully recorded in the minutes . In the old minute-book hehas inscribed his name— "Vincent Lunardiof LuccaItalOctober the 25 th

, , y , , 1785 , " and immediately below he has made a very fair sketch of his balloon . There are many other instances of the brethren of this lodge entertainingstrangers , but we will only note one more , which shows , perhaps more than either of the instances I have quoted , or any of the others recorded , the true fraternal spirit which pervaded our old Kelso brethren . From November , 1810 till June 1814 there residedon parolein Kelsoa number of French

, , , , , , prisoners of war , as many as 230 being at one time located here . Notwithstanding that the French were at that time considered the natural enemies of our country , and that the national feeling and prejudice against them amounted almost to a mania , we find these worth y Masons entertaining their French brethren upon St . Andrew ' s Day , 1810 , not many clays after their arrival , and doing what they could to render the unfortunate position of their foreign

brethren as pleasant as possible . " The Right Worshipful , " says the minute of the above date , " in addressing them , expressed the wishes of himself and the brethren to do everything in their power to promote their comfort and happiness , after which he proposed the healths of the brethren who were strangers in a foreign land , which was drank with enthusiastic applause . " This was true Masonry . Another very pleasing feature in connection with the past was the strict observance of St . John the Baptist ' s Day . We may note here , en passant , that