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Article MASONIC SAYINGS AND DOINGS ABROAD. ← Page 2 of 2 Article MOTHER KILWINNING. Page 1 of 5 →
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Masonic Sayings And Doings Abroad.
the Supreme Grand Council and the Grand Orient of Belg ium . KITE OP MEMPHIS . —This rite , called the Eeformed Eite of Memphis , is reported to be gaining ground in some of the smaller German States , where lodges of
the Philadephes have been founded . Its almost nominal fees are said to be the secret of its success amongst the lower classes of society .
Mother Kilwinning.
MOTHER KILWINNING .
Br D . MURRAY LYON , K . T ., PROV . J . G . W ., OE AYRSHIRE . No . III .
In our last communication we drew attention to the fact that the Earl of Cassillis had been elected to the office of Principal Deacon of the Mother Lodge fully twelve months before he attained the rank of a IV . of C , \ : this was in 1672 , and a subsequent minutethat of 1675 shews the members of
, , the lodge to bo arranged in but two classes , deacons and apprentices , and gives the names of " Eglintoune , " " Cochrane , " and " Corsehill , " as the " deacons out of which ane is to be elected this year " -r-a " list of prentisses " is also given , from which a warden and depute warden fall to be elected . This is inex-plicable ;
for in the second item of the minute of 1648 it is expiressly enacted that " na felloe of Craft nor maister be ressavit nor admittet w'out the number of sex maisteris and twa enterit prenteiss—the wardene of the said luclge being ane of the sex . " How could a warden aid in the reception of a master or a fellow
of Craft unless he had himself previously been received as such ? Possibly , however , the being voted to the warden ' s chair , in the case of an apprentice , carried along with it a right to possession of the secrets , if any , of the higher degree ; or , again ,
the non-appearance at the meeting of 1675 of any brethren of the middle grade , and the presence of scarcely a respectable quorum of masters , may have necessitated the temporary suspension of certain of the ancient statutes bearing upon the advancement of brethren to the ranks of fellow or master . But whatever the law of the Craft with regard to
the constitutional number needing to be present at receptions and passings , the usage iu this respect seems to have been guided by circumstances;—and , notwithstanding that the statutes formerly quoted bear "that no preritis or craftis man in anytimes heireffcer be admittit or enterit but only within the
kirk of Kilwynning as his paroche or secund ludge . " The minute of 1720 implies that initiation mi ght be conferred in places other than the lodge : — " This day the pluralite of members of the Lodge of Kilwinning mete and have taken into consideration the many jars ancl debates of entering of freemen , hath carried
by the p luralitie of votes that there ' s no freeman to be entered or passed without conveying his money before be be admitted either in the lodyje or elsewhere , under the pain of three pounds Scots money to be paid by them that is present at his admission , " A writer in the Builder , in treating of the early history of Ereemasonry , states that there exists in England a tradition that in ancient times " any five or even one
Mason could make a brother Mason ;"—and the correctness of that tradition , in so far , at least , as it relates to Scotland , is fully confirmed by the records of Mother Kilwinning . Compeared before that lodge on the 12 th of July , 1735 , two individuals claiming to be members of court—the one having , as
he alleged , been entered by a member of the Mother Lodge resident in Girvan , a town situated at a distance of thirty-five miles from Kilwinning ; the other as having been entered in Maybole under precisely similar circumstances . Each had paid to the brother entering him one-half of his entry-money ( 2 s . sterling )
, and now tendered the balance . The lodge having satisfied themselves as to the parties claiming recognition being in lawful possession of "the word " agreed to accept the proffered balance of entry-money , to grant credit for the payments made at their entry , and recognise them as members of the lodge in " the
station of apprentices . " Not a word of disapproval is recorded against the manner in which these brethren had been entered , but the lodge expressed dissatisfaction at the parties initiating having failed to forward to the box the money each had recived to account of his intrant ' s dues ; and it was remitted to Bro .
Mollison , collector of excise in Ayr , to inquire and report whether the brethren in Carrick already referred to were in the habit of making Masons without acquainting the Mother Lodge thereanent , and accounting
to her for the dues . Other instances frequently occur in whicli individual members and sometimes a quorum of members of the lodge are spoken of as having at Dairy , Irvine , Manchline , and other places within the county , both " entered" and " passed" in name of Mother Kilwinning , and as having at the annual meetings at Kilwinning payed the dues uplifted
from the parties so entered , and producing at sametime copy of " the obligations taken from them . " Great irregularity , however , seems for a lengthened period to have prevailed in the Lodge of Kilwinning , ancl complaints are continually being put upon record of the " ancient statutis " being infringed uponand
, of the little interest in the lodge ' s affairs manifested by its members . In regard to absentees the meeting of 20 th December ; 1675 , " ordained with consent of the haill maisters of Craft and entered prentisses , to amerc ilk absentee fourtie shillings scots to the funds , and ourders the same to be paid into the box . " But
this stringent enactment must have had little effect in improving the attendance of the brethren ; for several immediately succeeding years' sederunts shew less than ten to have been present at the annual meetings , while those absent without a reasonable excuse number about forty . The same year ( 1675 ) the amount of " dues to be uplifted from the maisters , prentisses , ancl journeymen , " was fixed at "twelve grots per quarter . "
When falling upon the minute , of so much interest to the brethren of the Lodge Canongate Kilwinning , we had hoped in our further reseasches among the ancient records of the Mother Lodge to have been equally fortunate in discovering some one bearing upon the erection of the Old Kilwinning St . John
, Inverness—a lodge whose eonstituton by that of Kilwinning is said to elate from 167 S ; but have with regret to acknowledge the fruitlessness of our labours in this respect . December 20 , 1678 , the members of the Mason court of Kilwinning met , and re-elected
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Sayings And Doings Abroad.
the Supreme Grand Council and the Grand Orient of Belg ium . KITE OP MEMPHIS . —This rite , called the Eeformed Eite of Memphis , is reported to be gaining ground in some of the smaller German States , where lodges of
the Philadephes have been founded . Its almost nominal fees are said to be the secret of its success amongst the lower classes of society .
Mother Kilwinning.
MOTHER KILWINNING .
Br D . MURRAY LYON , K . T ., PROV . J . G . W ., OE AYRSHIRE . No . III .
In our last communication we drew attention to the fact that the Earl of Cassillis had been elected to the office of Principal Deacon of the Mother Lodge fully twelve months before he attained the rank of a IV . of C , \ : this was in 1672 , and a subsequent minutethat of 1675 shews the members of
, , the lodge to bo arranged in but two classes , deacons and apprentices , and gives the names of " Eglintoune , " " Cochrane , " and " Corsehill , " as the " deacons out of which ane is to be elected this year " -r-a " list of prentisses " is also given , from which a warden and depute warden fall to be elected . This is inex-plicable ;
for in the second item of the minute of 1648 it is expiressly enacted that " na felloe of Craft nor maister be ressavit nor admittet w'out the number of sex maisteris and twa enterit prenteiss—the wardene of the said luclge being ane of the sex . " How could a warden aid in the reception of a master or a fellow
of Craft unless he had himself previously been received as such ? Possibly , however , the being voted to the warden ' s chair , in the case of an apprentice , carried along with it a right to possession of the secrets , if any , of the higher degree ; or , again ,
the non-appearance at the meeting of 1675 of any brethren of the middle grade , and the presence of scarcely a respectable quorum of masters , may have necessitated the temporary suspension of certain of the ancient statutes bearing upon the advancement of brethren to the ranks of fellow or master . But whatever the law of the Craft with regard to
the constitutional number needing to be present at receptions and passings , the usage iu this respect seems to have been guided by circumstances;—and , notwithstanding that the statutes formerly quoted bear "that no preritis or craftis man in anytimes heireffcer be admittit or enterit but only within the
kirk of Kilwynning as his paroche or secund ludge . " The minute of 1720 implies that initiation mi ght be conferred in places other than the lodge : — " This day the pluralite of members of the Lodge of Kilwinning mete and have taken into consideration the many jars ancl debates of entering of freemen , hath carried
by the p luralitie of votes that there ' s no freeman to be entered or passed without conveying his money before be be admitted either in the lodyje or elsewhere , under the pain of three pounds Scots money to be paid by them that is present at his admission , " A writer in the Builder , in treating of the early history of Ereemasonry , states that there exists in England a tradition that in ancient times " any five or even one
Mason could make a brother Mason ;"—and the correctness of that tradition , in so far , at least , as it relates to Scotland , is fully confirmed by the records of Mother Kilwinning . Compeared before that lodge on the 12 th of July , 1735 , two individuals claiming to be members of court—the one having , as
he alleged , been entered by a member of the Mother Lodge resident in Girvan , a town situated at a distance of thirty-five miles from Kilwinning ; the other as having been entered in Maybole under precisely similar circumstances . Each had paid to the brother entering him one-half of his entry-money ( 2 s . sterling )
, and now tendered the balance . The lodge having satisfied themselves as to the parties claiming recognition being in lawful possession of "the word " agreed to accept the proffered balance of entry-money , to grant credit for the payments made at their entry , and recognise them as members of the lodge in " the
station of apprentices . " Not a word of disapproval is recorded against the manner in which these brethren had been entered , but the lodge expressed dissatisfaction at the parties initiating having failed to forward to the box the money each had recived to account of his intrant ' s dues ; and it was remitted to Bro .
Mollison , collector of excise in Ayr , to inquire and report whether the brethren in Carrick already referred to were in the habit of making Masons without acquainting the Mother Lodge thereanent , and accounting
to her for the dues . Other instances frequently occur in whicli individual members and sometimes a quorum of members of the lodge are spoken of as having at Dairy , Irvine , Manchline , and other places within the county , both " entered" and " passed" in name of Mother Kilwinning , and as having at the annual meetings at Kilwinning payed the dues uplifted
from the parties so entered , and producing at sametime copy of " the obligations taken from them . " Great irregularity , however , seems for a lengthened period to have prevailed in the Lodge of Kilwinning , ancl complaints are continually being put upon record of the " ancient statutis " being infringed uponand
, of the little interest in the lodge ' s affairs manifested by its members . In regard to absentees the meeting of 20 th December ; 1675 , " ordained with consent of the haill maisters of Craft and entered prentisses , to amerc ilk absentee fourtie shillings scots to the funds , and ourders the same to be paid into the box . " But
this stringent enactment must have had little effect in improving the attendance of the brethren ; for several immediately succeeding years' sederunts shew less than ten to have been present at the annual meetings , while those absent without a reasonable excuse number about forty . The same year ( 1675 ) the amount of " dues to be uplifted from the maisters , prentisses , ancl journeymen , " was fixed at "twelve grots per quarter . "
When falling upon the minute , of so much interest to the brethren of the Lodge Canongate Kilwinning , we had hoped in our further reseasches among the ancient records of the Mother Lodge to have been equally fortunate in discovering some one bearing upon the erection of the Old Kilwinning St . John
, Inverness—a lodge whose eonstituton by that of Kilwinning is said to elate from 167 S ; but have with regret to acknowledge the fruitlessness of our labours in this respect . December 20 , 1678 , the members of the Mason court of Kilwinning met , and re-elected