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Article MOTHER KILWINNING. ← Page 3 of 5 →
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Mother Kilwinning.
public mind in covenanting times would have something to do with the exclusion of the-Mason Craft from transacting secular business within the house of God ; and this once effected , the privilege of the Mason court of Kilwinning convening in the parish kirk , at first granted by royalty itself , and confirmed at a
subsequent period by the same authority , was in their case never afterwards conceded , and for twenty-two consecutive years from December , 1643 , did the Mother Lodge constitute their annual court within the eoomceiled walls of Hew Smithe ' s upper chamber , till in 1665 the use of the Court-house was granted 5
them . The " suittis callit , " and " ye court law " ' confirmed , " the minute of ' 43 proceeds as follows : —• " Item . Commissioun be given and allowit be us the foirnamit subscryvirs as Wardene , Deaconnes , and fellows of Craft of the Ludge of Kilwyning , the antient Ludge of Scotland , to secluide away put furthe
of thair antient Cumpanie all disobedient persones that is not willing : to keip ' and fulfill the ' - antient : stattutis set down of b ' efoir be our worthie fbrefaithers of worthie memories "" '•¦ ' . ' .. '; ' •'¦ . . - - Item . ' That ha fellow of Craft nor maister -be ' ressavit nor admittet wtbut the ' number of sex
' . maisteris ' ahd twa ' enterit . prenteiss ; the Wardene ofthe said Ludge being ane of the sex , and that the day ' of the ressaiving ' of the said feliaw of Craft or maister be orderly bukit , and his ' name and mark be insert in the said buik , with the . names of the sex adifiitteris and enterit prenteisand the names ' of the intenderi ' s-
, tkat sehall be chosen to every personne to be also ihcert thairinto ^ -provyding always , that na man be ' - admittit wtout ane essay ' and sufficient try all of his ' skill and worthiness in his vocation and Craft . "
These " items , " it will be observed , are in substance but a ' recapitulation of part . of the "• " stattutis and ordinaheies" of » 1598 , which have already appeared in these pages . The meeting then proceeded to the election of the deacon and warden of the lodge , and the appointment of one " quartermaster" and one " officer" foreach
, of the districts of Carrick , 'Hyle , -Cuningham , ' -and Renfrew ; and thereafter agreed upon -sundry rules which were to be observed by the' Ludge at -fiiture meetings—such as the payments each member-was to make to " the boxe , " the penalties to be' incurred for non-payment of duesand the fixing the time and
, place of certain district meetings . During the next thirty years , there is little , else recorded than the annual election of office-bearersj and-the fining ' of members that were absent -from such -meetings ' . It will serve to show the length to which the -Craftsmen of Mother Kilwinning were expected , nay bound , to
extend their C . \ T . \ when we mention'that a MS . copy of the Charges supposed to have been at this period in use in the lodge contains the following clause : — "And also , that every Maister and Felloe sail cume to the assembly gif it be within fifty miles about him , if he have warning . " , ; , '
8 In January , 1656 , the Mason Court of Kilwinning met in Ayr , and held a sort of Provincial Grand Lodge , at which there appeared in addition to the deacon and warden twelve " delegates " representing Ayr , Maybole , Kilmaurs , Irvine , Kilmarnock , Mauchline , and Renfrew : the business of this Court was the imposition of fines and uplifting of dues . At this epoch of the Mother Lodge ' s history , the fees for admission were , Prentice 20 s ., Felloes of Craft
40 s . Scots ,, with 4 s . additional paid for the mark : fines for non-attendance were of frequent occurrence , ranging in amount from one to ten groats : along with the names of brethren present at lodge courts , those of the absentees are invariably inserted , some of whom appear to have been in this respect from two . to six
years in default . In the early part of the 17 th century district meetings were at intervals of a few years held at Ayr , till upon the 20 th of December , 1659 , " the Ludge appointed that a meeting of the Deacon and Warden , and two Fellows of Craftand ane entered Prentice
, out of ilk quarter , viz . two out of Cunningham , two out of Kyle , two out of Carrick , and two out of Renfrew , should be held at Ayr yearly , upon the Wednesday before Candlemasday , to take ordours with the Transgressors of the actis of Court in the Mason Court buiks of the Ludge of Kilwinning , —
and that reports of such meetiugs be given . to the Kilwinning Ludge yearly , upon the 2-9 th of December . " We are inclined to- think- that 'the appointment of these-stated meetings at Ayr was brought-but by the disaffection of' the Squaremen ¦ ( Masons , " - ' "Wrights , Slaters , 'and Glaziers ) of that town , \ vho v claiming :-the
privileges granted to the Craftsmen ' of Scotland , by the charter of- Queen Mary ¦ in ; 1564 / -deGlined : -paying into the Kihvinniug treasury , especially as . they ' had a "box "' of ; tlieir own , or : to be : regulated-in . 'the management . of trade affairs by the statutes ' ¦ of the Mason Court of Kilwinning ; , and this opinion is
strengthened by the fact of the Deacon of the Masons arid 'Wrights of Ayr ¦ having , independently of the Kilwinning Lodge joined with the Edinburgh i aud other-lodges in constituting 1 by charter , in 1628-30 , iSt . : Clair of liosh ' n ,- ; his heirs and . successors , to be thejperpe'tual " patrcfns , protectors , and overseers " of the Scottish . Craft .
- Although an old MS . which we found among the papers of the Mother Lodge states that the noble families of Eglinton and Buchan had for very many generations previously given to be members of the Lodge of -Kilwinning : some of the most distinguished of' their soiis , the first non-professional architects or builders ¦ we have been : able from the records to
recogniseas being amembcr of the Kilwinning fraternity "is . the : " king" of Carrick , John Kennedie , Earl of Cassillis , —the husband of the heroine of the popular old ballad entitled " JohnyFaa" —who iu-1672 was-elected . Deacon . The same document
asserts that at a remote era of the lodge's history a third son . ' of Robert ' II . ( Earl of Buchan ) , who contributed ' largely to the building of the Monastery , was : Deacon of ^ the Mason Lodge of Kilwinning . Tlie election of , the Earl of Cassillis to the like post seems to have- necessitated the appointment of a Depute
Deacon ; who should personally discharge the functions of the office ; so long as that should be held by a brother lacking the practical skill in Masonic matters necessary , to a proper discharge of its duties—a precedent whichds perhaps too frequently followed in the conduct of lodges in the present day ; although like our ancient
brethren we may be excused for waiving the application of certain understood rules of the Craft , when these would prevent the admission to high office brethren whose ancient and honourable lineage and dignified social position would tend to secure for the Order not only the favourable consideration of cowans , but an extended membership in a field whence is drawn much
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Mother Kilwinning.
public mind in covenanting times would have something to do with the exclusion of the-Mason Craft from transacting secular business within the house of God ; and this once effected , the privilege of the Mason court of Kilwinning convening in the parish kirk , at first granted by royalty itself , and confirmed at a
subsequent period by the same authority , was in their case never afterwards conceded , and for twenty-two consecutive years from December , 1643 , did the Mother Lodge constitute their annual court within the eoomceiled walls of Hew Smithe ' s upper chamber , till in 1665 the use of the Court-house was granted 5
them . The " suittis callit , " and " ye court law " ' confirmed , " the minute of ' 43 proceeds as follows : —• " Item . Commissioun be given and allowit be us the foirnamit subscryvirs as Wardene , Deaconnes , and fellows of Craft of the Ludge of Kilwyning , the antient Ludge of Scotland , to secluide away put furthe
of thair antient Cumpanie all disobedient persones that is not willing : to keip ' and fulfill the ' - antient : stattutis set down of b ' efoir be our worthie fbrefaithers of worthie memories "" '•¦ ' . ' .. '; ' •'¦ . . - - Item . ' That ha fellow of Craft nor maister -be ' ressavit nor admittet wtbut the ' number of sex
' . maisteris ' ahd twa ' enterit . prenteiss ; the Wardene ofthe said Ludge being ane of the sex , and that the day ' of the ressaiving ' of the said feliaw of Craft or maister be orderly bukit , and his ' name and mark be insert in the said buik , with the . names of the sex adifiitteris and enterit prenteisand the names ' of the intenderi ' s-
, tkat sehall be chosen to every personne to be also ihcert thairinto ^ -provyding always , that na man be ' - admittit wtout ane essay ' and sufficient try all of his ' skill and worthiness in his vocation and Craft . "
These " items , " it will be observed , are in substance but a ' recapitulation of part . of the "• " stattutis and ordinaheies" of » 1598 , which have already appeared in these pages . The meeting then proceeded to the election of the deacon and warden of the lodge , and the appointment of one " quartermaster" and one " officer" foreach
, of the districts of Carrick , 'Hyle , -Cuningham , ' -and Renfrew ; and thereafter agreed upon -sundry rules which were to be observed by the' Ludge at -fiiture meetings—such as the payments each member-was to make to " the boxe , " the penalties to be' incurred for non-payment of duesand the fixing the time and
, place of certain district meetings . During the next thirty years , there is little , else recorded than the annual election of office-bearersj and-the fining ' of members that were absent -from such -meetings ' . It will serve to show the length to which the -Craftsmen of Mother Kilwinning were expected , nay bound , to
extend their C . \ T . \ when we mention'that a MS . copy of the Charges supposed to have been at this period in use in the lodge contains the following clause : — "And also , that every Maister and Felloe sail cume to the assembly gif it be within fifty miles about him , if he have warning . " , ; , '
8 In January , 1656 , the Mason Court of Kilwinning met in Ayr , and held a sort of Provincial Grand Lodge , at which there appeared in addition to the deacon and warden twelve " delegates " representing Ayr , Maybole , Kilmaurs , Irvine , Kilmarnock , Mauchline , and Renfrew : the business of this Court was the imposition of fines and uplifting of dues . At this epoch of the Mother Lodge ' s history , the fees for admission were , Prentice 20 s ., Felloes of Craft
40 s . Scots ,, with 4 s . additional paid for the mark : fines for non-attendance were of frequent occurrence , ranging in amount from one to ten groats : along with the names of brethren present at lodge courts , those of the absentees are invariably inserted , some of whom appear to have been in this respect from two . to six
years in default . In the early part of the 17 th century district meetings were at intervals of a few years held at Ayr , till upon the 20 th of December , 1659 , " the Ludge appointed that a meeting of the Deacon and Warden , and two Fellows of Craftand ane entered Prentice
, out of ilk quarter , viz . two out of Cunningham , two out of Kyle , two out of Carrick , and two out of Renfrew , should be held at Ayr yearly , upon the Wednesday before Candlemasday , to take ordours with the Transgressors of the actis of Court in the Mason Court buiks of the Ludge of Kilwinning , —
and that reports of such meetiugs be given . to the Kilwinning Ludge yearly , upon the 2-9 th of December . " We are inclined to- think- that 'the appointment of these-stated meetings at Ayr was brought-but by the disaffection of' the Squaremen ¦ ( Masons , " - ' "Wrights , Slaters , 'and Glaziers ) of that town , \ vho v claiming :-the
privileges granted to the Craftsmen ' of Scotland , by the charter of- Queen Mary ¦ in ; 1564 / -deGlined : -paying into the Kihvinniug treasury , especially as . they ' had a "box "' of ; tlieir own , or : to be : regulated-in . 'the management . of trade affairs by the statutes ' ¦ of the Mason Court of Kilwinning ; , and this opinion is
strengthened by the fact of the Deacon of the Masons arid 'Wrights of Ayr ¦ having , independently of the Kilwinning Lodge joined with the Edinburgh i aud other-lodges in constituting 1 by charter , in 1628-30 , iSt . : Clair of liosh ' n ,- ; his heirs and . successors , to be thejperpe'tual " patrcfns , protectors , and overseers " of the Scottish . Craft .
- Although an old MS . which we found among the papers of the Mother Lodge states that the noble families of Eglinton and Buchan had for very many generations previously given to be members of the Lodge of -Kilwinning : some of the most distinguished of' their soiis , the first non-professional architects or builders ¦ we have been : able from the records to
recogniseas being amembcr of the Kilwinning fraternity "is . the : " king" of Carrick , John Kennedie , Earl of Cassillis , —the husband of the heroine of the popular old ballad entitled " JohnyFaa" —who iu-1672 was-elected . Deacon . The same document
asserts that at a remote era of the lodge's history a third son . ' of Robert ' II . ( Earl of Buchan ) , who contributed ' largely to the building of the Monastery , was : Deacon of ^ the Mason Lodge of Kilwinning . Tlie election of , the Earl of Cassillis to the like post seems to have- necessitated the appointment of a Depute
Deacon ; who should personally discharge the functions of the office ; so long as that should be held by a brother lacking the practical skill in Masonic matters necessary , to a proper discharge of its duties—a precedent whichds perhaps too frequently followed in the conduct of lodges in the present day ; although like our ancient
brethren we may be excused for waiving the application of certain understood rules of the Craft , when these would prevent the admission to high office brethren whose ancient and honourable lineage and dignified social position would tend to secure for the Order not only the favourable consideration of cowans , but an extended membership in a field whence is drawn much