Masonic Notes And Queries.

fifth Earl of Wemyss , and was born on the 31 st of January 1719 . In 1780 he was chosen member of Parliament , and on his father's succession to the Earldom of Wemyss , in May , 1787 , Mr . Charteris succeeded as Lord Eleho . He was an active and influential member of the House of Commons , and succeeded in carrying through it some important measures . In later years he devoted his attention to agricultural pursuitswhich he

, studied minutely , and in which he became proficient . History does not tell us when or where he was initiated into Freemasonry , but he was a very active and zealous member . Ho was prominent as the Master ofthe St . John's Lodge , Haddington ; and on the 3 rd of March , 1779 , he became a member of the Canongate Kilwinning , " where he carried a motion to the effect that all members of the Haddington Lodge should , while

in the Canongate Kilwinning , be full members thereof , and vice versa . " This was a very singular motion , and it is more singular still that it was adopted ; but government in Masonry was not then reduced to such order as at present , and usages and practices were then tolerated which would not be at the present time . Lord Elcho was elected Grand Master on the 30 th of

November , 1786 , " and visited most of the lodges in Edinburgh in the course of the winter , beginning with the Cannongate Kilwinningon the 7 th December . " He was re-elected Grand Master on the 30 th of November , 1787 . " He bore the highest character for amiable manners , benevolence , generosity , and marked kindness to the lower classes ; and he endeared himself to all who were honoured wifcli his acquaintance , the whole tenour of his life being a series of kindness , friendship , and philantrophy : "—an honorable testimony to a worthy man and zealous Mason .

Loan TOEPXCHEH Was initiated in the Cannongate Kilwinning Lodge on the evening of the 7 th of December , 1786 , being the night of Burns ' first visit . He was soon after nominated in the Grand Lodge as Deputy Grand Master , but we believe never rose to the " chief command , " in that body . In June , 1787 , he was elected Master of the Cannongate Kilwinning Lodge , but we are unable

to state how long be served as such . His name was James Sandilands , was born on the 15 th of November , 1759 , and succeeded to his father ' s title in 1765 . He was an officer in the 21 st Regiment of Foot , or Royal Scots Fusiliers ; he served under Burgoyne in our Revolutionary war , and " was one of those who had to pile arms at Saratoga . " He afterwards served in the Coldstream Guards , where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel . In 1790 he was chosen one of the representative

peers of Scotland , but died without issue in 1815 . One of his ancestors , Sir James Sandilands of Calder , " on account of his learning , and serving at Malta , was appointed Preceptor of the Knights Hospitallers of St . John of Jerusalem . Lord Torphichen was a warm friend to the Poet , was present at his coronation as Poet-Laureate of the lodge , and Burns calls him " a higher brother in Freemasonry . "

AKCUIBAID ( ELEVENTH ) EAEL OI ? EGMJTIOS- . "' Twas in that place o' Scotland ' s Isle That hears the namo o' Auld King Coil . "—Burnt . The tenth Earl of Eglinton ( Alexander ) , was killed in a dispute about a fowling-piece in 1769 , and dying unmarried , the honors devolved on his brother Archibald , who figures in the painting of "crowning the hard . " He . was a military officer , and served in a Hihland regiment in AmericaHe was asked

g . by his mother , on his return , to recount the dangers he had passed and the sufferings he had endured ,- he informed her that his chief endurance was from the sting of the vegetable nettle , and the animal muskito on his kilted houchs . He died in 1796 , and having no son ( though twice married ) the title devolved on his kinsman , and another friend of Burns , Hugh Montgomerie , of Coilsfield . This was the Colonel Montgomerie in whose

service Highland Mary was employed as a dairy maid ivhen Burns became her lover . The " palace o' Montgomerie" was near Tarbolton , and near it the trysting tree ofthe lovers , and the brook—the scene of their final pledge and parting . Archibald , tho eleventh Earl ,-was horn in 1740 , and died in 1819 . He entered the army in 1755 , and rose to the rank of Colonel . He was in America with Sir Ralh Abercromb On

p y . one occasion , in assaulting a fort , the troops met with such a terrible five as to compel them to halt . He was behind , turned round as the smoke was clearing away , and exclaimed in the hearing ^ of the Captain , " What ! am I to take the place myself ? " The question was met by a British hurrah , and the fort was carried .

At the time Burns came to Edinburgh , Hugh Montgomerie was a member of Parliament for Ayrshire . Burns alludes to his services as soldier and statesman , in his usual free and easy manner : —¦ " Tiie soger Hugh , my watchman stentcd . If bardies e ' er are represented . 1 ken if that ye ' rc sword were wanted , Ye'd fend yc ' re hand ; Cut when there ' s aught to say anent it , - Ye ' re at a stand . "

Archibald , the eleventh Earl of Eglington , was a great admirer of Burns' poetry , and evinced his estimation ofthe Poet by extending a liberal patronage to him;—he subscribed for forty-two copies of the first Edinburgh edition of the poems . THE EAEI , OF GXEXCA . ^ . The bridegroom forget the bride

" may Was made his wedded wife yestreen , The monarch , may forget tho erown That on his head an hour has been ; The mother may forget the child That smiles sae sweetly on the knee : J ! itt I'll remember the , Glencairn , And all that thou hast done for me . "—Burns ;

Few , among the many Masonic friends of Burns , made such during that winter—are more frequently mentioned , or mentioned in more grateful terms , than the Earl of Glencairn . He seems to have become acquainted with the Poet soon after his arrival in Edinburgh , and became at once a very sincere and valuable friend;—his name , his influence , and his purse were ever readto aid the Ayrshire Bardby whom his memory was

y , gratefully cherished by his protege to the close of life . James Cunningham , Earl of Glencairn , was born in 1749 , and succeeded in 1775 as fourteenth Earl . In 1778 he served as Captain in Lord Frederick Campbell ' s Regiment of Fencibles , and subsequently took orders in the Church of England . He married , in 1785 , Lady Isabella Erskine , daughter of David Henry , tenth Earl of Buchan , and so was the brother-in-law of

the Earl of Buchan and of the Hon . H . Erskine . Having no children , the title became extinct on his death , which took place near Edinburgh , on the 21 th September , 1791 . ' Burns looked upon his Lordship as his best friend , and often alludes to him in his writings . His factor on the Finlayson estate , Ayrshire , Mr . Dalziel , laid the first edition of Burns ' Poems , before his Lordship , and he ( says Cromek ) declared that its merits exceeded his expectations . He took it with him iu

November , 1786 , as a literary curiosity , and communicated , through Dalziel , that he wished to know ' in what way or manner he could forward his interest . ' Meantime Burns also had reached Edinburgh ; and there , in a few days , he says , — ' I have found a worthy warm friend in Mr . Dalrymple of Orangefield , who introduced me to Lord Glencairn , a man whose worth and brotherly kindness to me I shall remember when thne shall

be no more . By his interest it has passed in the Caledonian Hunt that they are to take each a copy of the second edition , for which they are to pay one guinea . ' " Mr . Creech was induced [ by his Lordship ^ to undertake the publication of tiie second edition ; and thus Burns found a ready publisher , and the means of bringing his work before the Edinburgh public . He seems to have been a man of great kindness of heart , and a very devoted member of the mystic brotherhood .

THE EABI , OE BUCHAN . "Praise from thy lips- 'tis mine with joy to boast , They best can give it who deserve it most . "—Burns . David , Earl of Bnchan , is a historical personage , both in the annals of Masonry and freedom . He was born in 1742 , and died in 1829 . On finishing his education at the Glasgow University , he joined the army , and was appointed Secretary to

to the British Embassy in Spain in 1776 . His father dying the next year , he succeed to the title and estates , and returned to Scotland . 'He aided in the formation of the Antiquarian Society , and contributed to its lectures . He subsequently published a volume of Essays on the lives of Fletcher and Saltonn , and of James Thomson , the poet ; and was also a contributor to the various periodicals of the day . " We are not advised as to the time whenor the place where he was initiated

, into Masonry ; hut he was elected Grand Master of Masons on tho 30 th of November , 1782 , and re-elected on 1 st of December , 1783 . He frequently visited the Canongate Kilwinning Lodge . He usually wore the Jewel of a Past Grand Master . He was present at the inauguration of Burns as Poet-Laureate . During the evening he addressed a note to the Poet ,