Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

THE EAKL OF KILMARNOCK . The memory of a noble brother , who suffered death for his adherence to "Bonny Prince Charlie , " has been revived by the discovery of a relic of the Earls of Kilmarnock—to Avit , the ai-ms of that ancient family , which adorned their aisle in the old parish church of St . Marnock prior to the middle of last century . The relicwhich is probablnot less than 300

, y years old , and in a good state of preservation , was discovered by Bro . Archibald McKay , Poet Laureate of the Kilmarnock St . John ' s Kilwinning Lodge , No . . 22 , and is described as being carved in oak , and measures about two and a half feet in length by abcufc fcAVo feet in breadth . The various figures are well executed in has relief . The two supporters are squirrels—the fess chequethe

hel-, met , the coronet , or lucken dexterhand , and the other ornamental carvings being still bold and sharp . Neither motto nor inscription was found upon it , but such may originally have been painted on it . The coat of arms was removed from the old church about the year 1740 , when the building was in course of being taken clown for the purpose of being rebuilt . The body servant of

the Jacobite Earl became possessed of the escutcheon , and retained it as a relic of his unfortunate master , and after his death it was carefully preserved in the family as a memento of both master and servant . Brother the Earl of Kilmarnock , AA'ho was beheaded at London for the part he took in the rebellion of 1745 , was a member of Mother Kilwinning , and for two years held the chair of that lodge , and during his occupancy of it in 1742 , succeeded the Earl of Lev-en as Grand Master Mason of Scotland . Under date 20 fch December , 1742 , Ave find in the minute

book of the mother lodge the folloAving entry : — " Our late Most Worshipful Master , the Earl of Kilmarnock , being this year elected Grand Master for Scotland Avas necessarily absent at Edinburgh ; on that account it was therefore moved thafc the lodge should proceed to the election of a neiv Master , and they unanimously agreed upon the Eight Hon . Alexander , Earl of Eglinton , who

was proclaimed and acknowledged accordingly . " This , the tenth Earl of Eglinton , had on the 20 th January of the same year received the rite of initiation from the hands of Lord Kilmarnock , and being also passed and raised on the same day , in the Avords of the record of that meeting , "His Lordship of Eglinton paid five guineas into the box for the poor , besides the expense of the day

which he also cleared , and obliges himself by subscription hereto annexed to abide by the rules of the lodge . " His Lordship ivas afterwards , in 1750 , raised to the dignity of Grand Master Mason of Scotland , and continued to take an active interest in the affairs of the Craft until 1769 , when he Avas mortally wounded by a poacher whom he attempted to disarmand being carried to Elinton

, g Castle , shortly afterwards expired . We may conclude this pot pourri paragraph by stating that ( speaking of the brother whose oaken coat of arms has been again brought to the light ) a scion of one of the branches of the family to which Bro . E . H . J . Crauford , M . P ., belongs , attended the unfortunate Earl of Kilmarnock to the " scaffold and held a corner of the cloth to receive his head as it fell

from the block , for performing ivhich office of friendship Craufurd of Craufurdland Avas disgraced by being put to the bottom of the army list . He hoAveA'er regained his position in the army , and distinguished himself in the battles of Dettigen and Fontenoy , —D . M . L .

BliETUKEN OI ? THE MYSTIC TIE . When Avas the term " brethren of the mystic tic" first applied to Masons ? I inoiv ifc is used iu Burns ' s farewell to his lodge , but suspect its having been in use before . —H . E . CAPESTONE OR COPESTONE . Which is correct , Capestone or Copestone , and Avhy ? *—S . C .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

TUB BATTERT . A foreign brother said to me , speaking ofthe recepi •'••;> of a name of a distinguished brother , " " the vivas wire great at the battery . " What did he mean ?—M . W . RED oa . The same brother also used another expression whit a

has greatly perplexed me . In describing a lodge festi ' . i'l he said "there was mooch , ver mooch , red oil , "— -i ' .-. v what?—M . W— [ Wine is called red oil in lodges of Adoption , Avater , Avhite oil . These lodges have a nomenclature peculiar to themselves . See Clavel or Eagon for further information . ]

ST . THOMAS ' S HOSPITAL . NOAV that the remoA-ai of St . Thomas ' s Hospital is determined , the following extract from Entick ' s Constitutions , 4 to ., London , 1767 , may be worthy of a place in " Notes and Queries . " At p . 176 , he tells us : — " Particular lodges were not so frequent and mostly occasional in the south , except in or near the places Avhere great

works were carried on . Thus Sir Bobert Clayton , Lord Mayor of London , got an occasional lodgo of his brother Masters to meet at St . Thomas ' s Hospital , Southwark , A . D . 1693 , and to adArise the Governors about the best design of re-building that hospital , as ifc now stands most beautiful , near Avhich a stated lodge continued long afterwards . " —Ex . Ex . —[ It is to be hoped , looking at fche

utter confusion which the Masons are now in with rega . rd to the Grand Lodge Property , that the present governors ; of the Hospital will not get another occasional lodge to consult Masons , however exalted in the Order , now that they have again to re-build their Hospital , for if they do , the poor will be utterly deprived of its advantages , as it would be impossible for any twenty Masons of the present day to argue upon any plan , however bad , in less than a dozen years . —En . ]

BRO . DR . RAWLLXSON , It has been questioned whether Bro . Dr . Bawlinson was a Masou . To prove that he was , one need only to turn to the list of Grand SteAvai-ds for the Granel Feast on March 30 th , 1734 , and the seventh on the list is " Eichard Eawlinson , LL . D . and F . B . S . "—* A * .

THE GRAND TREASURER ' S STAEF . In the early accounts of Grand Lodge the Grand Treasurer- ' s Staff was his symbol of office . " What was ifc like?—WARD . ATHOL MASONS . Why Avere the sect of Ancient Masons called Athol

Masons?—F .- —[ Because the Duke of Athol was elected their Grand Master in 1776 , and continued so until 1813 , a period of thirty-seven years , and it was a convenient ; method of distinguishing betAveen tho ancient and modern , fraternities , the former of which were not a sect , but genuine Masons , Avho seceded from the Grand Lodge in 1739 , on account of certain things they disliked iu the management of the order . ]

A CRUISING PROV . o . ir . Amongst the curiosities of a hundred years sincej there was the rarity of a Prov . G . M ., Avhose address must have been at sea , for in 1762 one Bro . "JohnBluvit , Commander ofthe Admiral Watson , Indiaman , appointed Prov . G . M . for East India , Avhere no other provincial is to be found . " Query ? Is there any nearer connection , between the Admired Watson and the admirable William Watson than is to be found in fche difference of the words preceding each name ?—Ex , Ex .

JIASONIC BENEFIT FUND . Is the Masonic Benefit Fund , established in 1798 , open to the younger members of the Craft ?—K . —[ It has long since been dissolved . Masonry is not a Benefit Society . ] :