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Article EARS OF WHEAT FROM A CORNUCOPIA. ← Page 2 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ears Of Wheat From A Cornucopia.
of its Master to lay the stone . The result of this attempt to lord it over the Provincial Grand Lodge of Glasgow is thus recorded by the secretary at Kilwinning : After a consultation with Dr . Clelland , appointed
Grand Director of Ceremonies , the Secretary , Clerk , and other officebearers of the Grand Lodge , it was thought for the good of both parties that the Mother Lodge should waive her right to lay the stone , and allow the Hon . the Lord Provost ,
as deputed by the Grand Lodge , to officiate in her place ; but that the Mother Lodge should go hand in hand with them , —which arrangement was agreed to , the Master of the Mother Lodge taking the right of the Lord Provost , and the
other officebearers falling into their places with the officebearers of the Grand Lodge . " The position assigned to the head of Mother
Kilwinning at the ceremony referred to , as indicated by the newspapers of the day , was on the left of the Acting P . G . M . of the Under Ward of Lanarkshire , the right being held by Mr . Douglas of Barloch , " acting as Past Grand
Master . " But even for this concession the Lodsre of Kilwinning was solely indebted to the courtesy and conciliatory spirit by which the then heads of the Craft in Glasgow seem to have been animated . That the arrangement following upon the
advancement of Mother Kilwinning ' s pretensions was viewed by that lodge as merely permissive on its part , appears from subsequent proceedings in its own province . After a three years' agitation of the question of its fancied rights among those
sister lodges in which its friends were supposed to possess influence , the Mother Lodge succeeded in inducing a Masonic gathering at Kilwinning , October , 1836 , to adopt the following resolution : —
" That Kilwinning is the seat and Mother Lodge of the Freemasonry of Scotland , and that her Grand Master has the privilege of taking precedence on all occasions where the Freemasons
of Scotland are assembled in a body duly constituted . That this meeting-, while it approves of the conduct of the Master and office bearers of Mother Kilwinning in contending for the privilege of laying the foundation-stone of Glasgow Bridge
on the 2 nd of September , 1833 , at the same time disapproves of the conduct of the Grand Lodge by appointing a substitute to preside upon that important occasion . That such a substitution is a direct infringement of the rights and privileges of Mother Kilwinning . That this meeting is of
opinion that the Grand Lodge has no title to take precedence of the Mother Lodge on such occasions , far less does the Grand Lodge possess the power of delegating any person she may choose to preside over the Mother Lodge in conclave assembled .
This meeting therefore , with all due deference and respect , resolves to apply to the Grand Lodge to enter into some arrangement to prevent a repetition of a similiar infringement of the rights and privileges of ancient Mother Kilwinning . "
With this ebullition of arrogance , which , to take the most charitable view of the matter , must have been prompted by a gross misconception of the relative positions of the bodies to which it
alludes , the Mother Lodge felt pleased ; but for any practical result the affair was abortive . Taking advantage , however , of a spirit of dissatisfaction with Grand Lodge that several years afterwards developed itself in Ayrshire , the Kilwinning Lodge
covertly favoured a movement having for its object the Avithdrawal from Grand Lodge of all proxies from country lodges , and thereby to lessen its influence in the provinces and circumscribe its income . Many who joined in this league made
no secret of their intention , through its operations to bring about the re-assertion by Mother Kilwinning of its prerogatives as an independent body , and the subsequent erection of the " Grand Lodge of Kilwinning . "
The partial carrying out of the minor parts of this plot caused uneasiness to the Grand Lodge office-bearers , who , impressed Avith a desire , through the Mother Lodge , to propitiate the brethren in the west , suggested to the Grand
Master the desirability of promoting a friendly feeling between the Grand Lodge audits ex-Grand ally of Kilwinning , by paying a Grand Visitation to the province of Ayr . Accordingly on the 22 nd of May , 1851 , the Most Worshipful the Duke of
Athole proceeded to Kilwinning , in which mission he was accompanied by Capt . Leith Hay , Acting Substitute Grand Master , and other officials ; and with his characteristic tact and courtesy , aided by the potent influence of " a champagne dinner , "
his Grace succeeded in smoothing the then existing asperities , and in preserving to Grand Lodge the integrity of this ancient province . The peculiarity of its notions as to the inherent rights of its officers led at a later period to its
assumption of a position for its Wardens that could be justified neither by law or usage , nor by any point in its treaty Avith Grand Lodge . The
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ears Of Wheat From A Cornucopia.
of its Master to lay the stone . The result of this attempt to lord it over the Provincial Grand Lodge of Glasgow is thus recorded by the secretary at Kilwinning : After a consultation with Dr . Clelland , appointed
Grand Director of Ceremonies , the Secretary , Clerk , and other officebearers of the Grand Lodge , it was thought for the good of both parties that the Mother Lodge should waive her right to lay the stone , and allow the Hon . the Lord Provost ,
as deputed by the Grand Lodge , to officiate in her place ; but that the Mother Lodge should go hand in hand with them , —which arrangement was agreed to , the Master of the Mother Lodge taking the right of the Lord Provost , and the
other officebearers falling into their places with the officebearers of the Grand Lodge . " The position assigned to the head of Mother
Kilwinning at the ceremony referred to , as indicated by the newspapers of the day , was on the left of the Acting P . G . M . of the Under Ward of Lanarkshire , the right being held by Mr . Douglas of Barloch , " acting as Past Grand
Master . " But even for this concession the Lodsre of Kilwinning was solely indebted to the courtesy and conciliatory spirit by which the then heads of the Craft in Glasgow seem to have been animated . That the arrangement following upon the
advancement of Mother Kilwinning ' s pretensions was viewed by that lodge as merely permissive on its part , appears from subsequent proceedings in its own province . After a three years' agitation of the question of its fancied rights among those
sister lodges in which its friends were supposed to possess influence , the Mother Lodge succeeded in inducing a Masonic gathering at Kilwinning , October , 1836 , to adopt the following resolution : —
" That Kilwinning is the seat and Mother Lodge of the Freemasonry of Scotland , and that her Grand Master has the privilege of taking precedence on all occasions where the Freemasons
of Scotland are assembled in a body duly constituted . That this meeting-, while it approves of the conduct of the Master and office bearers of Mother Kilwinning in contending for the privilege of laying the foundation-stone of Glasgow Bridge
on the 2 nd of September , 1833 , at the same time disapproves of the conduct of the Grand Lodge by appointing a substitute to preside upon that important occasion . That such a substitution is a direct infringement of the rights and privileges of Mother Kilwinning . That this meeting is of
opinion that the Grand Lodge has no title to take precedence of the Mother Lodge on such occasions , far less does the Grand Lodge possess the power of delegating any person she may choose to preside over the Mother Lodge in conclave assembled .
This meeting therefore , with all due deference and respect , resolves to apply to the Grand Lodge to enter into some arrangement to prevent a repetition of a similiar infringement of the rights and privileges of ancient Mother Kilwinning . "
With this ebullition of arrogance , which , to take the most charitable view of the matter , must have been prompted by a gross misconception of the relative positions of the bodies to which it
alludes , the Mother Lodge felt pleased ; but for any practical result the affair was abortive . Taking advantage , however , of a spirit of dissatisfaction with Grand Lodge that several years afterwards developed itself in Ayrshire , the Kilwinning Lodge
covertly favoured a movement having for its object the Avithdrawal from Grand Lodge of all proxies from country lodges , and thereby to lessen its influence in the provinces and circumscribe its income . Many who joined in this league made
no secret of their intention , through its operations to bring about the re-assertion by Mother Kilwinning of its prerogatives as an independent body , and the subsequent erection of the " Grand Lodge of Kilwinning . "
The partial carrying out of the minor parts of this plot caused uneasiness to the Grand Lodge office-bearers , who , impressed Avith a desire , through the Mother Lodge , to propitiate the brethren in the west , suggested to the Grand
Master the desirability of promoting a friendly feeling between the Grand Lodge audits ex-Grand ally of Kilwinning , by paying a Grand Visitation to the province of Ayr . Accordingly on the 22 nd of May , 1851 , the Most Worshipful the Duke of
Athole proceeded to Kilwinning , in which mission he was accompanied by Capt . Leith Hay , Acting Substitute Grand Master , and other officials ; and with his characteristic tact and courtesy , aided by the potent influence of " a champagne dinner , "
his Grace succeeded in smoothing the then existing asperities , and in preserving to Grand Lodge the integrity of this ancient province . The peculiarity of its notions as to the inherent rights of its officers led at a later period to its
assumption of a position for its Wardens that could be justified neither by law or usage , nor by any point in its treaty Avith Grand Lodge . The