Mother Kilwinning.

not unfrequently borrowed to meet the exigencies of their annual re-unions : at that of the " Largs Kilwinning" in 1768 , seven of the "mason glasses sent from Kilwinning " having been broken , the statutory sum fell to be paid into the Mother Lodge box . En passantwe may note a few of the curiosities of

, lodge disbursements : — " soldiers and sundries " cost the Lodge of Kilwinning £ 2 16 s . 2 d . in 1764 ; the sacred and the profane are brought into unseeml y proximity by the entry of £ 3 5 s . as being paid in 1766 for a bible , two song-books , and seventeen mason drinking glasses ; " paid to a Turkwho is a

, masson , 5 s .: " " given to Peter Daly , gentleman , a travelling brother in distress , half-a-guinea the gift of the M . W . M ; paid half-a-crown to a spinster " in a dying condition , and in great want ; " to expenses connected with sale of material of the old Court-house , 1779—men ' s wages , advertising , and drink , Gs . M . ;

auctioneer ' s wages , 4 s . Gel . ; tliree brethren superintending the roup , 4 s . ; 3 % bottles toddy to Stewards when speaking for the dinner to be served on occasion of laying foundation stone of new hall ; 2 bottles of toddy to stewards when making toddy to the meeting ; 2 bottles toddto stewards when settling

acy counts ; to Miss Laird , for her trouble in cleansing the lodge jewels , half-a-guinea ; and during the next twenty years there is no end of allowances of toddy and porter to " musiciauers , " drummers , soldiers , tylers , stewards , fiddlers , and visiting brethren .

In 1779 , " the brethren resolve to resume the ancient day of meeting , viz ., St . Thomas Day , ye 21 st December , next anniversary meeting—the 20 th having by an error continued to be observed for many years past . " Next year , therefore , " the ancient instituted da }* " was resumed as that on which the annual meeting and election should in all time coming take place ,

and which arrangement still continues to be adhered to . We fear the ancient records of Mother Kilwinning must have been a sealed book to those at the helm of lodge affairs when the act just quoted was passed . A g lance at their oldest minute-book would have shown the lodge that not the 21 st hut the 20 th

December was held to be the " ancient iustituted day ; " and the resurrection of the long-buried Masonic ordinance of 1598 proves the brethren of 1612 to have been ri ght in holding their annual election and festival on the 20 th of December , and those to have been Avrong who adopted the 21 st December as the

anniversary day of the Mother Lodge . As Masons have a proverbial love for the preservation of the antient landmarks , now that we have cleared away the rubbish concealing from view one that was restored by the Maister of Wark to His Majesty in the end of the 16 th century , it is for the Loclge of Kilwinning to

consider whether they might not with propriety discard Thomas the Apostle , in so far at least as the celebration of his natal day is concerned , and resume the Twentieth of December as the " ancient day of meeting" for election of office-bearers and holding high festival under the roof-tree of their venerable Mother .

Not till 1783 did Mother Kilwinning procure and issue engraved diplomas ; but the few still emanating from this grand old Masonic centre have been printed from the diploma-plate obtained in the year just mentioned , and run as follows : — " To All Men Enlightened , Greeting :

We , the Most Worshipful Grand Master , Deputy Eight Worshipful Grand Master , Wardens , and Secretary of THE MOTHER LODGE , Kiiwrs-Nrs-G , Do hereby Certify That our Well-beloved Brother A . B . hath been regularly and lawfully Entered an Apprentice , passed a Eellow Craft , and raised to the Sublime Degree of a Master Masonin this Lodge on the . . .

, " Given under our hand and Seal , Mother Lodge Kilwinning , the . . . and year of Masonry . . . " Here follows that replaced by the above : "' The Light shineth in Darkness , and the Darkness comprehendeth it not . Let your Light so shine before menthat

, others seeing your good works , may also Glorify' Our Grand Master ' who is in heaven . " " To all whom these presents may come , Greeting " 3 & noiri that the bearer , Brother A . B ., was under due and regular vouchers made an ENTERED

APPRENTICE , Passed EELLOAV-CRAFT , & raised to the Degree of a MASTER Mason , iu the MOTHER LODGE KILWINNING . Ancl as such We recommend him to all Brethren ou the face of the Earth ;—and to prevent this being made a bad use of , by falling into impure handsWe have caused our Brother to write his

, name upon the Margin , so by causing him to sign it on a seperate paper , you may be able to Judge if this he his Diploma . Given under our hand and seal , at Kilwinning , the clay of A . L . 5779 . "

With the exception of a simple note written upon an Svo page of parchment certifying that the bearer " was this day ( Dec . 20 , 1706 ) entered a Mason A pprantise in the Mother Loclge of Kilwinning , " we have not been able to discover the form of the Kilwinning diploma of a date prior to 1779 ; but as the following is a copy of that in use , iu 1768 , by the Ayr daughter of Mother Kilwinning , it is not unreasonable to suppose that it might be a transcript of the Kilwinning one of the same period : —¦

" And the Darkness Comprehendeth it not : " In the East , a place full of Light , where Eeigneth Silence and Peace ; " At Ayr the , in the Year of Li ght 5768 , aud of Salvation 1768 ; % M . t , the Master , Wardens , and Sectry of the Holy Lodge of St . Johnnamed the Ayr Squaremen

Kil-, winning Lodge , Adorned with all ye Honours , And Eegularly Assembled by the Mysterious Members of the said Lodge , —Do declare , Certify , ancl Attest , to all Men Lightened , Spread on the Eace of the Earth , That Brother W . G ., whose name and signature is underwritten hath been received by us an Enter'd

Apprentice , and past a Fellow-Craft , and that after having Sustained with Strength , Courage , ancl Firmness , tlie most principal Woz * ks , ancl Wondez-full Tryals , We have given him as a Recompence due to his Zeal , diligence , and Capacity , the Sublime Degree of a Mastei " , And have admitted and Initiated him as such to our Mysterious and Secret Works ;—In which he hath helped us with his Talents aud Knowledge .

" As witness our Hands and Seal . " Although iu much " distress" from the want of money sufficient to liquidate the liabilities following upon the erection and fitting up of their new hall , the Lodge of Kilwinning displayed great forbearance with