Recollections Of The Lodge Of Freemasons At Thornhill.

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE LODGE OF FREEMASONS AT THORNHILL .

By D . MURRAY Lrox , one of the Grand Stewards in the Grand Lodge of Scotland . No . IV . —( Continued ) . ( Oontimted from par / e 323 . ) .. . . . It AA'as Bro . Daniel Mathieson Avho

originated the grand idea of having a Masonic Hall erected in Thomhin , and the happy suggestion was Avrought out on this Avise . Immediately after the installation of the newly-elected office-bearers , December , 1825 , the Master having " mentioned

that it had often been proposed that the members should take steps in order to prepare a lodge room for the convenience and accommodation of the brethren , " a committee Avas named to consider and report upon the practicability of the proioosal

—a scheme AA'hich appears , hoAvever , to have required ten years' deliberation to develope . Of the meetings held in connection Avith the prosecution of this lodge-building scheme there is no record ; but the minute of date February 11 ,

1884 , SIIOAVS that the Duke of Buccleuch having " graciously given" a site for the proposed hall , by a majority of the members then present it Avas agreed to accept of the same , and to authorise the Master and others to borroAV £ 300 upon security

of the house proposed to be erected . This mode of raising the money having failed , the necessary . sum AA'as raised by " shareholds , " —a clause in the agreement reserving to the lodge the right of redeeming the property by the purchase of the

shares , at their original price ( £ 2 ) , held by other parties . Of the first shareholders , Bro . the Rev . Edward Dobie and the lodge invested in the scheme £ 120 and £ 118 , respectively—St . John ' s being credited Avith £ 60 , as the estimated value of

the site , upon Avhich an annual ground-rent of six shillings is payable . The lodge UOAV holds shares in the hall to the amount of £ 240 ; and the property yields to the shareholders from 44 to 6 per cent , interest per annum . The building , Avhich is

situated in South Drumlanrig-street , cost £ 70 Q and is of two storeys—the ground floor containing tAVO shops and a dwelling-house . On the second flat are—lodge-room , 43 feet x 24 . feet ; adjacent , 17 feet x 9 feet ; store-room , 10 feet x 5 feet

there are also four attio-rooms . In the interior of the lodge room are the usual belongings to a public hall , in which capacity it is often let . On the wall , in rear of the dais in the Orient , hang an engraving of the Inauguration of Burns as Poet

Laureate of the Canongate Kilwinning Lodge , and portraits of Bros , the Duke of Athole , Lord Loughborough , the Rev . Edward Dobie . In the centre of the Avestern wall is erected a large Avhite marble tablet , encased in a massive border of polished

granite , and inscribed as folloAvs : — " The site of this lodge , and the garden attached , Avere presented to the Freemasons of St . John ' s , Thornhill , by his Grace the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry , 1834 . " A portrait of his Grace occupies a

place on the right of the tablet , the portrait on the left being that of Sir Thomas Kilpatrick of Closeburn , Bart ., Sheriff of Dumfriesshire . In the south hangs a large and beautiful steel engraving of the Scottish bard ; an elegant time-piece , Avhose

gentle tick reminds the brethren of the flight of time , also occupies a place near the Pillar of Beauty . The gloom of the sterile north is relieved by the presence of a portrait of the M . W . Grand Master , Bro . John Whyte Melville , together with a A ery large oil painting illustrative of Burns ' s " Twa Dos-s . "

The responsibility undertaken by St . John's in the ez-ection of its hall induced a crusade against its debtors ; and the treasurer being constituted "Prosecutor to the Lodge , " with paj'ment guaranteed for his attendance at court , the amount

of arrears was soon very much lessened ; so much so indeed , as to lead the brethren formally to entertain the idea of instituting a school in Avhich their children should receive " a gratis education " —a scheme which has been only partially adopted .

It is singular that when first contemplating the building of a hall , and congratulating each other upon the lodge's prosperity , they should be found compounding Avith Grand Lodge for arrears due for intrants—a rather objectionable course to

pursue , but one m the prosecution of Avhich the lodge was successfully aided by its first Proxy Master , AA'I IO could not , of course , be supposed to know the actual position of his constituents' exchequer .

The first proposition Avith regard to the education scheme was , " that a school be provided so that the children of Freemasons belonging to the lodge may receive a gratis education . " This rather extravagant proposal miscarried , and a scheme of

less ambitions pretensions came to be adopted , and is now in active operation—to wit , the annual payment by the lodge of school fees for the education of six children the sons or daughters , ' or other nominees , of the six members of St . John ' s