Mother Kilwinning.

universal applause , —the brethren , in consideration of the learning , sobriety , and sound divinity of the said Mr . Gillies , do unanimously admit him as an Honorary Member of the Mother Lodge of Kilwinning . " In conferring this honorary rank upon a Protestant

clergyman iu consideration of his " sound divinity , " the Lodge of Kilwinning nob only cast a reproach upon the faith of those of their brethren belonging to another sect of Christians , but commit themselves to the expression of belief in a creed repugnant alike to the feelings of brethren of the Jewish persuasion

, Mahomvnedans , and all others to whom the religion of the Cross is a " stumbling-block , aud rock of offence . " Iu unison with this profession of faith on the part of the descendants of tlie Craftsmen whose zeal for the Roman Catholic religion led them to devote time and talent in the construction of the Abbey

and Monastery of St . Winning , the prayers of the Mother Loclge continue to be presented to 1 V . G . \ A . ' . O . ' . T . ' . U . ' . through " our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ . " Looking at the statutes and charges by which our ancient Scottish brethren were bound to regulate their lives , the Kilwinning Erate ; : nity of the

present time cannot , in thus ignoring the universality of faith claimed for Masonry , he chargeable with a narrow-mindedness peculiar to themselves , nor with the obliteration or removal of the landmarks indicating their relation , as Masons , to the religion of the country in which the loclge lias for so many centuries existed .

According to the Eglinton MSS ., already frequently referred to in these papers , Wardens of lodges were held answerable to the Freshylery ( a convocation of parish ministers ) for " all offensis" committed by the " maissonis subject to the ludgeis" over which they were placed ; and to the Deacon ancl Warden of Kilwinning was it " geiven ... to put furth of their

socictie and cumpany .... all personis dissobedieut atlier t . i Kirlc , Craft , Coiiusall , " etc . ;—at tho period in which these statutes were penned in connection with the Ordinance issued for " ye guid ordour keeping" of the Lodge of Kilwinning , the Presbyterian Kirk of Scotland was that to which the Scottish

Craft were amenable for offences against religion and morality ;—an old MS . " Narration of the Founding of the Craft of Masonry , " still preserved in the archives of the Loclge of Kilwinning , opens with a prayer which could only be offered by Christian Masons : " 0 Lord God ! the Father of Heaven , with the power of His glorious Son , ancl tho Holy Ghost , which are Three Persons in one Godhead , be with us at our

heginning , ancl give us grace so to govern us in our living that we may come to the bliss that never shall have an ending . Amen ! So mote it be ;"—and the following sentence in the Charges to Prentices embraced in the same MS . clearly show the Eoman Catholic faith to have been that of the Craftsmen to whom the Mason oath was administered prior to the

Reformation : —" .... that you sail be a trew man to God and the Hol y Church , and that you use no heresie nor error , to your understanding , or discredit man ' s teaching . . . So help me God and tho Holy Dame . " So much , then , for the Universality of the Masonic faith , as exemplified in the practice , past and present , of Mother Kilwinning . But while thus as a lodge

assuming a position antagonistic to the principle which excludes from the mystic circle everything approaching to sectarianism , Mother Kilwinning ' s benevolence is not so circumscribed . Erom the earliest recorded disbursements , the general poor of Kilwinning and the surrounding parishes appear to have , up till the beginning of the present century , indiscriminately

shared with the indigent of the Order the funds set apart for the alleviation of distress arising from " honest poverty ; " nor has the haughty Moslem failed to eat of the crust provided by the bounty of the Kilwinning Lodge . As many of the unorganised branches of Mother

Kilwinning became absorbed in the erection by charter of new lodges , the making of Masons by individual members of the Mother Loclge , scattered throughout the country , became less frequent ; aud because of the initiation fees being iu numerous cases appropriated to the use of the parties officiating , the

practice was discountenanced by the loclge , aud eventually prohibited . In 1769 a couple of delinquents are thus subjected to Masonic discipline : "It having been presented to the Lodge that George Moodie ancl John Armour have since last meeting entered ... as Apprentices , but neither them

nor these apprentices have appeared at this meeting , nor anj * money paid into the Box for them , the Lodge , to show their abhorrauce of such practice , declare that all the four shall be incapable to enter into any Masonic meeting until the lodge receive satisfaction . " Then as now " black mail" was wont to be levied upon lodges by indolent and improvident brethren : and to protect themselves from this other species of

imposture , Mother Kilwinning passed , in 1717 , the following enactment : " As the loclge have been imposed upon by begging brethren , both here and at Irvine , it is resolved that no charity be given to travelling brethren without an order from the Master . " Varied have been the offerings made to the

Kilwinning Lodge— -jewels , songs , aprons , etc . ; but while all such are simply acknowledged by a vote of thanks , to that presented in 177-Jfc by a non-resident brother is accorded a minute which casts into the shade all former gifts , and at same time reveals the donor ' s appreciation of the wants of a lodgeand the hih

, g estimation in which the brotherhood of the period held everything relating to " refreshment : "— ' * ' The lodge having received from Bro . John Lang , Glasgow , a very handsome present of a Gross of Mason Glasses , with half a Dozen Constables , flower'd and cutt with the name of The Mother Lodge thereon

, sensible that- this is the most valuable Present they have ever received from any Son , they desire the Deputy-Master to return him their acknowledgements , and to drink his health by all the Utiles of Masonry . " One of these Constables ( a very large stalked tumbler capable of holding an English quart )

is still preserved at Kilwinning and graces the festive board on extraordinary occasions . Although resident in Glasgow , Bro . Lang ' s "very handsome present " was farther acknowledged by the appointment in 1775 of that brother to tlie Senior Wardenship of his mother lodge . The Craftsmen of the last century seem to

have had a partiality to drinking from " mason glasses ; " for where the daughter lodges in the district did not happen to possess a stock of the favourite crystal , that belonging to Mother Kilwinning was