Monthly Masonic Summary.

to a Brother Mason Avho has been unexpectedl y plunged in poverty in the declining years of his life , ana as the price is onl y 2 s . 6 d ., Ave think that many of our Order may be willing to subscribe to the little work , which

we trust may be entirely successful . Bro . Holmes is a constant contributor to our pages . The Avork will be put to press as soon as a sufficient number of Subscribers are obtained , for Avhich purpose Names will be thankfull y received b y Tweddell & Sons , Publishers , Stokesley , Yorkshire .

"The Goose And Gridiron,"

"THE GOOSE AND GRIDIRON , "

AVE have taken this very interesting paper from our ably-conducted contemporary the " Keystone , " of Philadelphia . AA e note that it has just reached its decennial auniversaiy , and Ave beg to offer Bro . MacCalla and the Publishers our fraternal good Avishes and hearty sympathies . A better

conducted paper Ave do not know . In the early part of the last century Freemasons almost universally had their Lodge Booms in the upper part of buildings occupied as taverns . This custom obtains largely to this day in England , we believe ,

although the Craft there , as in America , are latterly Avisely erecting Masonic Temples for the exclusive use of the liodges . In Philadelphia the first place of meeting of a subordinate Lodge Avas at " The Hoop " Tavernin 17 30 . The oriin

, g of this name Avas as follows : Ancientl y signs instead of being composed of a painted board , Avere made of carved figures suspended within a hoop . The Clause

Eoll of 43 EdAvard III . mentions a number of such tavern signs , among which are the following : " George on the Hoop , " " Bunch of Grapes on the Hoop , " " Hen on the Hoop , " " Angel on the Hoop , " & c . As late as 1795 a London periodical ('' Looker-on"for January , 1795 )

, says : " A sign of this nature is still preserved in Newport Street , and is a carved representation of a Bunch of Grapes within a Hoop . " In Prance the same name Avas popular . A celebrated French architect named Jacques Androult in 1570

lived at the sign of the Hoop ( le Cerceau ) . These sign-boards have often given names to families . The famous Eothschild family derived their name from the Red Shield ( roth-schild ) above the door of an honest old Hebrew in the Juden-gasse ( Jew ' s Alley ) at Frankfort . The first Provincial Grand Lodge of which Ave have any record in Pennsylvania ,

met at the " Tun Tavern , " in 1732 . This was situated at the corner of the present AVater Street and Ton Alley . The Tun Avas a common sign in England . One Hugh Singleton had a " Golden Tun , " and Richard Grafton , the first printer of the Book of Common Prayerwho also printed

, the proclamation of Lady Jane Grey as Queen of England , for which he fell under the displeasure of Queen Mary , had a Tun on his sign , Avith a grafted fruit-tree growing through it . The " Indian King Tavern , " on Market

Street below Third , Avas the second place of meeting of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania , in 1735 . AVe learn from " The Spectator , " No . 50 , that in 1710 , there were four Indian Kings from '' States between New EnglandNew York and

, Canada , " Avho had audiences with Queen Anne . These circumstances caused the name to be quite popular Avith " mine hosts " for a time .

The "Royal Standard Tavern , " on Market Street near Second , was the hostelrie in which the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania held its meetings in 174-9 ; and the " City Tavern , " on Second Street above Walnut , 1777 . We haA'e noticed these local Philadelphia Taverns connected Avith

Freemasonry prior to speaking of the " Goose and Gridiron Tavern , " in St . Paul ' s Church-yard , London , ( a copy from which sign appears at the head of this article )