Recollections Of The Lodge Of Freemasons At Thornhill.

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE LODGE OF FREEMASONS AT THORNHILL .

ZONDOS " , SATURDAY , JUSTE 9 , 1866 .

By D . MURRAY LYON , one of the Grand Stewards in the Grand Lodge of Scotland . ( Continued from page 383 . ) The first foundation-stone laid under the immediate auspices of St . John ' s , Thornhill , was that

of its OAVU hall , April 4 , 1834 , the R . W . Bro . W . M'Lachlan , presiding—the brethren afterAvards dining together in honour of the great

occasion . To place the corner-stone of the New Parish Church of Morton was the nest public act of the Thornhill Lodge , work peculiarly appropriate to a Eraternity professing to be the handmaid to

religion . On the forenoon ofthe llth of May , 1840 , after entering three candidates , the lodge , accompanied by most respectable deputations of brethren from Cumnock and Dumfries , the clergymen and other influential gentlemen in the district , proceeded to the site of the proposed building , and laid its foundation according to the rules of

Masonry . * j £ 55 * j * ^ » i > The third instance of St . John ' s troAvel beingemployed in preparing a bed for the reception of a corner-stone Avas at the site of the Cample Bridge ,

Sep . 10 , 1847 . The R . W . Bro . Janies M'Lachlan presided , and deputations Avere present from the Lodges Kilwinning , Dumfries ; ' St . Magdalene , Lochmabenj Quhytewoollen , Lockerby . In the procession appeared the TOAVU Council , and the

Thornhill Lodge of OddfelloAvs , the tAvo latternamed bodies being invited to dine Avith the lodge , on the express understanding that they ( the neutrals ) should " retire in half an hour after the dinner is over . " Whether the Council or the

OddfelloAVS accepted an invitation qualified Avith so undignified a condition cannot be ascertained from the minutes of the day's proceedings ; but it is recorded that the dinner in question Avas attended by upAvards of eighty brethren .

The placing of the key-stone of the Cample Viaduct , March 24 , 1842 , Avas also the occasion of another public demonstration by the lodge , Avhich Avent in procession to Closeburn Hall , Avhere it AA'as joined by Bro . Sir James Stuart Menteth , Bart ( a member of St . Luke ' s , Edinburgh , and an Honorary Member of No . 252 ) , AVIIO , acceding to

the request of the R . W . Bro . Robert Brown , accompanied the lodge to the Cample and there performed the ceremony in true Masonic style . Sir James Menteth is again found elongating his C . \ T . \ that he might the better serve the

Thornhill Lodge , Avhen it met on the 7 th of June , 1850 , for the purpose of laying the foundationstone of riiornhill Railway Station-house . Having assumed the hiram . Sir James directed the Craft in their mystic AA'ork , gave it the finishing stroke , and thereafter in eloquent terms addressed the assemblage .

The next corner-stone planted by St . John ' s , was that ofthe Union Bank at Thornhill in 1852 . Bro . Dr . Pringle of LaAvnhall Avas the Acting-Master , and the Dumfries and Lochmaben Lodges Avere represented by deputations .

The Lodge having , as we have seen , been called to erect its Doric column over against the site of a temple dedicated to Masonry , Virtue , Universal Charity , and Benevolence—of an edifice dedicated to religion—and of Avorks closely allied with the

commercial greatness of this country , the Tyrian monarch next unveiled the emblem of his mystic rule at the corner-stone of a building to be erected , not for oppressing the poor , who , Ave ICUOAV on DiA'ine authority , are ever with us , but to afford a

refuge to those Avho are helpless and have no one to take care of them . It was by request of the lodge that its Proxy Master , Bro . Dr . M'CoAvan , presided at laying the foundation-stone of the Upper Nithsdale Combination Poor House , 4 th August , 1854 .

The laying of yet another foundation-stone by the lodge No . 252 , remains to be chronicledthat of the new Parish School-house of Morton , August 23 , 1864 . Responding to an invitation from the proper quarter , the brethren , to the

number of seventy , repaired to the site of the building , where the ceremony began by the instrumental band playing the national anthem . This Avas followed by the Chaplain of the lodge offering up an impressive and well-ordered prayer ;

on the conclusion of Avhich , the Treasurer and Secretary deposited in the hollow of the stone a couple of hermetically-sealed jars containing the current coins of the realm , newspapers , & c . It is unnecessary further to particularise the details of a ceremony with Avhich all are so familiar . Suffice it to say that the Wardens and other officiating