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Article MASONIC EXeUESIOET TO BOSLIN GASTLE. ← Page 2 of 14 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Exeuesioet To Boslin Gastle.
which compose the prison of Edinburgh , and which frown most formidably from the rocky eminence on which they stand . On emerging from the tunnel of the Calton Hill , we obtain a view of the palace and chapel of Holyrood and the Queen ' s Park , on which an extensive series of improvements is just now in the course of being made ^ -thanks to her Majesty Queen "Victoria , to whom Gotland owes so much for her annual visits . The palace is a good specimen of the style of architecture in fashion during the reign of Charles IT , ; and comprising as it does part
of the palace built by James V ., it possesses an intense interest from its association with some of the most remarkable events in the history of the unfortunate Queen Miary . The chapel was founded in 1128 by DavidX , who , in consequence of having expended large portions of the national property in the erection and endowment of splendid religious edifices , was styled by one of his successors , James I ., " a sair sanct to the croun . ^ - It was a fine and rather richly-ornamented specimen of the ( 5 othic style of architecture . Nothihg now r ^ of it but the blackened and shattered fragments of the nave , the choir arid transepts haying long ^ ince disappeared amid the ruthless havoc to which this sacred building was from
lone to time subjected y but their foundations were disclosed a few days ago during some excavations made in the neighbourhopd . Its remaining tower , but ? tresses , pinnacles , and aisles possess a melancholy interest to the Masonic excursionist , from being the work of ancient Brethren of the Craft , from bei ^ ated with many historical events , and from enclosing the ashes of many illustrious individuals , including kings ; queens , nobles , and especially Knights Templar , whose monuments , adorned with Masonic emblems , possess peculiar attractions to the student of Masonic history . , the
In a few minutes the train passes St . Margaret ' s station , wh ^ re Korth British Bailway Company have a large range of stores and workshops . The station derives its name f rom a very valuable well , still existing here , which was dedicated to St . Margaret . It has been rendered difiicult of access by the buildings of the station , but when explored is found-to be extremel y interesting—at least to the enlightened Mason—from its elegant groined roof . The groinings are found to beef the most exact geometrical proportions , thus giving another proof of the remarkable skill of our ancient Brethren in the exact sciences , and the great care which they took to construct their works on the most correct and scientific principles .
A few yards to the east are the village and church of Restalrig * , The church was the work of James III ., and was dedicated to the Trinity and the Yirgin Mary . It was for some time used as the parish church of South Leith , but the General Assembly of the Scottish Kirk , at the Reformation , in its rage against everything popish , ordered it to be " razed and utterly casten down and destroyed as a monument of idolatry . " After lying for more than two centuries in ruins , it was repaired , or rather rebuilt , in 1836 ; and , certainly , it is now by no means
calculated to offend the taste of the most rabid Presbyterian by any idolatrous representations or even elegance , having more the appearance of a barn than a place of worship . The Presbyterian form of worship has no doubt conferred great benefits on the Scottish people ; its intellectuality , to speak of nothing else , has helped to keep up a high state of mental culture in the country , but it has had a most depressing effect on the desire manifested in all civilized nations for the erection of elegant and imposing edifices for the service of the Almighty . Hence it is that the parish churches in many parts of Scotland are mean and despicable
buildings , and well deserve the condemnation bestowed on them by the traveller Pennant : — " Keformation in manners of religion , " he says , " seldom observes mediocrity ; here it was outrageous ; for a place of worship commonly neat was deemed to savour of popery ; but , to avoid imputation of that extreme , they went into another , for in many parts of Scotland our Lord seems still to be worshipped in a stable , and that often a very wretched one . " A better spirit now prevails , and we do not despair of a time—though we may not see it—when the architectural glories of our ancient Masons may be equalled , if not eclipsed , in the ecclesiastical fabrics of Scotland .
In the trim graveyard which surrounds the church of Restalrig lie the remains of Bro . Peter "W atherstone , marble cutter in Edinburgh , and afterwards innkeeper at Jock ' s Lodge , who died in 1802 , and left a sum of money and a
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Exeuesioet To Boslin Gastle.
which compose the prison of Edinburgh , and which frown most formidably from the rocky eminence on which they stand . On emerging from the tunnel of the Calton Hill , we obtain a view of the palace and chapel of Holyrood and the Queen ' s Park , on which an extensive series of improvements is just now in the course of being made ^ -thanks to her Majesty Queen "Victoria , to whom Gotland owes so much for her annual visits . The palace is a good specimen of the style of architecture in fashion during the reign of Charles IT , ; and comprising as it does part
of the palace built by James V ., it possesses an intense interest from its association with some of the most remarkable events in the history of the unfortunate Queen Miary . The chapel was founded in 1128 by DavidX , who , in consequence of having expended large portions of the national property in the erection and endowment of splendid religious edifices , was styled by one of his successors , James I ., " a sair sanct to the croun . ^ - It was a fine and rather richly-ornamented specimen of the ( 5 othic style of architecture . Nothihg now r ^ of it but the blackened and shattered fragments of the nave , the choir arid transepts haying long ^ ince disappeared amid the ruthless havoc to which this sacred building was from
lone to time subjected y but their foundations were disclosed a few days ago during some excavations made in the neighbourhopd . Its remaining tower , but ? tresses , pinnacles , and aisles possess a melancholy interest to the Masonic excursionist , from being the work of ancient Brethren of the Craft , from bei ^ ated with many historical events , and from enclosing the ashes of many illustrious individuals , including kings ; queens , nobles , and especially Knights Templar , whose monuments , adorned with Masonic emblems , possess peculiar attractions to the student of Masonic history . , the
In a few minutes the train passes St . Margaret ' s station , wh ^ re Korth British Bailway Company have a large range of stores and workshops . The station derives its name f rom a very valuable well , still existing here , which was dedicated to St . Margaret . It has been rendered difiicult of access by the buildings of the station , but when explored is found-to be extremel y interesting—at least to the enlightened Mason—from its elegant groined roof . The groinings are found to beef the most exact geometrical proportions , thus giving another proof of the remarkable skill of our ancient Brethren in the exact sciences , and the great care which they took to construct their works on the most correct and scientific principles .
A few yards to the east are the village and church of Restalrig * , The church was the work of James III ., and was dedicated to the Trinity and the Yirgin Mary . It was for some time used as the parish church of South Leith , but the General Assembly of the Scottish Kirk , at the Reformation , in its rage against everything popish , ordered it to be " razed and utterly casten down and destroyed as a monument of idolatry . " After lying for more than two centuries in ruins , it was repaired , or rather rebuilt , in 1836 ; and , certainly , it is now by no means
calculated to offend the taste of the most rabid Presbyterian by any idolatrous representations or even elegance , having more the appearance of a barn than a place of worship . The Presbyterian form of worship has no doubt conferred great benefits on the Scottish people ; its intellectuality , to speak of nothing else , has helped to keep up a high state of mental culture in the country , but it has had a most depressing effect on the desire manifested in all civilized nations for the erection of elegant and imposing edifices for the service of the Almighty . Hence it is that the parish churches in many parts of Scotland are mean and despicable
buildings , and well deserve the condemnation bestowed on them by the traveller Pennant : — " Keformation in manners of religion , " he says , " seldom observes mediocrity ; here it was outrageous ; for a place of worship commonly neat was deemed to savour of popery ; but , to avoid imputation of that extreme , they went into another , for in many parts of Scotland our Lord seems still to be worshipped in a stable , and that often a very wretched one . " A better spirit now prevails , and we do not despair of a time—though we may not see it—when the architectural glories of our ancient Masons may be equalled , if not eclipsed , in the ecclesiastical fabrics of Scotland .
In the trim graveyard which surrounds the church of Restalrig lie the remains of Bro . Peter "W atherstone , marble cutter in Edinburgh , and afterwards innkeeper at Jock ' s Lodge , who died in 1802 , and left a sum of money and a