Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Scotland
of Ereem ^ sonry , and this Lodge in particular , I yielded to tho invitation of the W . M ., and will claim your indulgence while I venture to detain you for a brief space only . " He then went on to state that he regretted that there w as no series of documents from which they could form .. any connected history of the Craft since its
establishment in Scotland ; no doubt it had existed " even since symmetry began , and harmony displayed her charms . " He stated that , according to the historian Bede , a Lodge , or free guild of Masons , was established in Lombardy towards the close of the 10 th century . They obtained bulls from the Pope , confirming and enlarging their privileges , giving them , in addition , the exclusive right to build churches throughout Christendom , making them wholly independent of the sovereigns of the different countries in which their works were carried on , and
responsible to the Pope alone . Natives of all countries were admitted into their ranks ; and whenever any great work was to be executed , there they assembled in sufficient numbers for the purpose ; and as soon as that was completed , removed to some other , perhaps distant , work , where their services were again called for . They derived all from one central school , obeyed in their design the same hierarchy ; were directed in their construction by the same principles of propriety and taste , kept up with each other , in the most distant parts to which they might be sent ,
the most constant correspondence , and rendered every minute improvement the property of the whole body ; and all new conquests in the arts were always left concealed among the members of the Fraternity , in imitation perhaps of a law which , according to Yitruvius , the ancient architects had established among themselves . The result of this unanimity was , that , at each successive period of the monastic dynasty , on whatever point a new church or monastery might be erected , it resembled all those raised at the same period in every other place ,
however distant from it , as much as if both had been built by the same hands . Eor instance , we find at particular epochs , churches as far distant from each other as the north of Scotland and the south of Italy to be minutely similar in all the essential characteristics . The leading members of the body of Ereemasons in these early times were the bishops and higher orders of the clergy , the Pope being at their head . It is not known at what period Ereemasonry was introduced into Scotland . But in the twelfth centuiy , when the abbeys of Melrose , Kelso , and
Kilwinning , were constructed , a body of foreign Freemasons were sent for . Kilwinning , in Ayrshire , was nb doubt the first established Lodge , for we can trace it back by records to the end of the 15 th century , and all meetings of the Grand Lodge were held at Kilwinning , till shortly before the appointment of the noble family of Sinclair to the Hereditary Grand Mastership in the reign of James II . From that period down to the year 1736 , little information appears to be on record when the last Sinclair of Rossly resigned the office , and the Grand Lodge ,
in its present form , was duly instituted . This Lodge received its charter 14 th November , and was opened 81 st December , 1757 , when various office-bearers of the Grand Lodge from Edinburgh were present , together with the Masters of several of the Edinburgh , Inverkeithing , and other Lodges . Mr . Burnet Abereromby , his brother Ralph , afterwards Sir Ralph , John Bruce , sheriff of the
county , John Syme and Alexander Ahercrombie , both W . S . in Edinburgh , Ensign Robert Oirock , of the buifs , James Campbell , M . D ., George Haig , merchant in Alloa , Robert Mitchell , writer in Alloa , Robert Stein , and others , were among the first admitted members . Sheriff Bruce was appointed Proxy Master , and in that capacity attended the Grand Lodge in Edinburgh , in December , 1758 .
<< rIn l 774 , the Hon . W . Cathcart was elected Master . This nobleman was afterwards commander in-chief of the expedition to Copenhagen , and was created an earl in 1814 . In December , 1777 , Bro . James Mason was appointed Master , in succession to the Right Hon . Lord Cathcart , who had held the office for three years . His lordship ' s retirement was caused by his having been appointed to the command of a company in the regiment of Atholl Highlanders ; and our Lodge nobly came forward on this occasion in support of their country in their country ' s need—an example we might on the present occasion follow with honour to this ancient institution . ( Cheers . ) A recruiting party had been sent to Alloa for the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Scotland
of Ereem ^ sonry , and this Lodge in particular , I yielded to tho invitation of the W . M ., and will claim your indulgence while I venture to detain you for a brief space only . " He then went on to state that he regretted that there w as no series of documents from which they could form .. any connected history of the Craft since its
establishment in Scotland ; no doubt it had existed " even since symmetry began , and harmony displayed her charms . " He stated that , according to the historian Bede , a Lodge , or free guild of Masons , was established in Lombardy towards the close of the 10 th century . They obtained bulls from the Pope , confirming and enlarging their privileges , giving them , in addition , the exclusive right to build churches throughout Christendom , making them wholly independent of the sovereigns of the different countries in which their works were carried on , and
responsible to the Pope alone . Natives of all countries were admitted into their ranks ; and whenever any great work was to be executed , there they assembled in sufficient numbers for the purpose ; and as soon as that was completed , removed to some other , perhaps distant , work , where their services were again called for . They derived all from one central school , obeyed in their design the same hierarchy ; were directed in their construction by the same principles of propriety and taste , kept up with each other , in the most distant parts to which they might be sent ,
the most constant correspondence , and rendered every minute improvement the property of the whole body ; and all new conquests in the arts were always left concealed among the members of the Fraternity , in imitation perhaps of a law which , according to Yitruvius , the ancient architects had established among themselves . The result of this unanimity was , that , at each successive period of the monastic dynasty , on whatever point a new church or monastery might be erected , it resembled all those raised at the same period in every other place ,
however distant from it , as much as if both had been built by the same hands . Eor instance , we find at particular epochs , churches as far distant from each other as the north of Scotland and the south of Italy to be minutely similar in all the essential characteristics . The leading members of the body of Ereemasons in these early times were the bishops and higher orders of the clergy , the Pope being at their head . It is not known at what period Ereemasonry was introduced into Scotland . But in the twelfth centuiy , when the abbeys of Melrose , Kelso , and
Kilwinning , were constructed , a body of foreign Freemasons were sent for . Kilwinning , in Ayrshire , was nb doubt the first established Lodge , for we can trace it back by records to the end of the 15 th century , and all meetings of the Grand Lodge were held at Kilwinning , till shortly before the appointment of the noble family of Sinclair to the Hereditary Grand Mastership in the reign of James II . From that period down to the year 1736 , little information appears to be on record when the last Sinclair of Rossly resigned the office , and the Grand Lodge ,
in its present form , was duly instituted . This Lodge received its charter 14 th November , and was opened 81 st December , 1757 , when various office-bearers of the Grand Lodge from Edinburgh were present , together with the Masters of several of the Edinburgh , Inverkeithing , and other Lodges . Mr . Burnet Abereromby , his brother Ralph , afterwards Sir Ralph , John Bruce , sheriff of the
county , John Syme and Alexander Ahercrombie , both W . S . in Edinburgh , Ensign Robert Oirock , of the buifs , James Campbell , M . D ., George Haig , merchant in Alloa , Robert Mitchell , writer in Alloa , Robert Stein , and others , were among the first admitted members . Sheriff Bruce was appointed Proxy Master , and in that capacity attended the Grand Lodge in Edinburgh , in December , 1758 .
<< rIn l 774 , the Hon . W . Cathcart was elected Master . This nobleman was afterwards commander in-chief of the expedition to Copenhagen , and was created an earl in 1814 . In December , 1777 , Bro . James Mason was appointed Master , in succession to the Right Hon . Lord Cathcart , who had held the office for three years . His lordship ' s retirement was caused by his having been appointed to the command of a company in the regiment of Atholl Highlanders ; and our Lodge nobly came forward on this occasion in support of their country in their country ' s need—an example we might on the present occasion follow with honour to this ancient institution . ( Cheers . ) A recruiting party had been sent to Alloa for the