THE BUILDER DECEMBER 1926

Old Convivial Craft Customs
By BRO. WILLIAM L. BOYDEN, Washington, D. C.

A PEEP into the past, disclosing from actual records many quaint
and curious customs of the Fraternity in regard to refreshment. In
an age when a strong head, ability to drink and not be drunken, was
considered an admirable quality in a man, temperance still had its
original meaning of reasonable use, without abuse of any of the
pleasures of life.

CRITICISMS have often been made in times gone by, charging that the
Masonic institution was responsible for a great deal of
intemperance. In the olden days refreshments, both solid and
liquid, were items of legitimate expense, regularly charged and
regularly charged and regularly paid for at the old time inns.
Although this usage has been radically changed and the bibulous
features of Masonic gatherings have long since been discontinued,
unwarranted conclusions are still drawn from the curiosities of the
old books of account and books of record. In this particular,
Masonic usages a hundred years ago cannot be fairly tested by
current standards of Masonic conduct. The denominational
organizations and their membership could not successfully meet a
similar test. Neither the one nor the other should now be called to
book upon more exacting standards of conduct than were set up by
the moral sense of contemporaries. Liquors seem to have had, in
former times, as respectable standing in the bill of fare at public
places of entertainment, in the homes, and in public gatherings, as
do coffee, tea and other beverages in the social arrangements of
the present day. From the church, the lodge room and from places of
social assemblages, it was viewed in the same light. The temperate
use of it as a beverage was regarded as no offense against
religion, morals or good manners. Considering the habits of the
great mass of mankind at that period it is worthy of note and
commendation that this essential Masonic duty, the restraint of
improper desires and passions, was so faithfully observed by the
Craft, not only in their seasons of social recreation and
refreshment, but in other circumstances and relations.

The following is taken from the History of Rising Sun Lodge,
Royalton, Vt., printed in 1907, which touches upon this old custom:

"Not to treat a caller or visitor, and especially the minister when
he called at one's house, was deemed inhospitable and rude.
Illustrating this condition, a good old Christian lady years ago
related to me an experience of her own which occurred when she was
a little girl. The minister of the parish called at her home. The
family supplies happened to be 'shy' on rum, and her good mother,
ashamed at the prospect of not being able to entertain her guest
aflter the usual manner, called the little girl into another room,
lifted her out of a back window and sent her post haste to a
neighbor to obtain a supply of the 'ardent' wherewith to regale the
parson."

And the Rev. Bro. Joshua Young, in an address before Old Colony
Lodge, Massachusetts, some years agone said:

"The use of intoxicating liquors was discontinued, in more than one
Masonic lodge, long before they were banished from ministerial
councils, ordinations and funerals."

WHAT THEY DRANK

In addition to the liquors generally known, the brethren seemed to
favor several concoctions popular at the time, such as Negus,
so-called from its inventor, Colonel Negus, in the time of Queen
Anne, 1702-1714, a mild, warm punch or wine, usually port or
sherry, with a little lemon and not much sugar; rum punch was made
from wine, rum, oranges and lemons; another favorite drink alnong
those of the Craft who were seafaring men was Rumbo. Smollett, in
1751, in his "Peregrine Pickle," refers to the use of Rumbo,
sometimes called bumbo. It was a strong drink made up of rum, sugar
and nutmeg, a sort of sailor's grog.

Lyon, in his history of the Lodge of Edinburg, says:

As appears from occasional scraps of the treasurer's accounts, one
shilling per bottle was the price of the punch that was used in the
lodge, and the quantity named was no unusual allowance on festive
occasions to each attending operative apprentice, to the officer,
to the stewards "when making punch in the meeting," and to each
visiting brother. "Cold toddy" seems at a much later period to have
been the favorite lodge drink, and one of the minutes of the year
1809 is made to record the surreptitious removal of "forty-one
bottles of this beverage, the property of the lodge."

That lemons formed an important part of the bibulous menu is
evidenced from a minute in a lodge in Durham, England, where it is
recorded under date of Aug. 21, 1787:

On the same night, Br. Robt. Darnel, made a motion that there
should be lemons provided against the next and every succeeding
lodge night, which was unanimously agreed to,

Here is a sample of what was paid for liquid refreshments after
punches and the like passed out of fashion, taken from the records
of Apollo Lodge, Troy, New York:

Apollo Lodge, to Jonth. Hatch, Dr. 
to 21 lbs. cheese at 8d................... 0   14   0
   1 gal. wine ........................... 0   10   0
   1/2 lb. tobacco ....................... 0    1   0
   6 pipes ............................... 0    0   0
   50 segars ............................. 0    1   6

                                           1    7   6

Troy, 2d April, 1799.

Here is a typical bill for refreshments in Rising Sun Lodge, No. 7,
Royalton, Vt. Note the spelling:

The Rison Son Lodge, bot of Moses Cutter--
  1 qt. Gin ..............................$ .38
  1 qt. W.I. Rum ........................   .38
  1 qt Brandy............................   .38
  3 1/2 lbs. "Cheas" ....................   .35
  4 doz. crackers .......................   .48

Royalton, April 19, 1826.

PURCHASED WHOLESALE

Frequently where lodges could afford it, they purchased their wine
in large quantities, it being much cheaper that way, and stored it
in the cellar below the lodge. A "pipe" was a wine measure
containing about 126 wine gallons; a pipe of port contained about
138 wine gallons, Sherry 130, Madeira 110, Lisbon 140. As early as
1738 we find recorded in the Turk's Head Lodge, Wiltshire, England:

It was agreed that as fault was found with the wine, a pipe of good
wine should be fixed upon by some of the brethren, and that upon
their approbation, the whole should be bottled off, and the Mason's
seal placed on each bottle and kept for the use of the lodge only.

In the Canongate Kilwinning Lodge, Edinburgh, June 4, 1740, the
Master informed the lodge

That for the benefit and use of the lodge there wa.s commissioned
from London, one puncheon containing one hundred and eight English
gallons of Rum, and one barrel containing two hundred and
fifty-five and one-half pounds of sugar, which being arrived,
Brother Thos. Trotter generously advanced the money for the same,
amounting conform to the Invoice and Bro. Allan's receipt yron, to
the sum of Fifty-four pounds, seventeen shillings and seven pence
sterling.

In Master's Lodge, No. 2, Albany, N. Y., Nov. 21, 1786, it was
resolved

That the Treasurer take order to procure for the use of the lodge,
one quarter caske of Lisbon, or sherry wine, five gallons spirits,
two loaves sugar and two dozen glasses.

From a minute in the Old Dundee Lodge, London, Nov. 27, 1788, it
would seem that the purchase by brethren of the lodge, of the
necessary "spirits," was

not at all satisfactory, for it was resolved on that date

That one of the Stewards order from some person not a member of
this lodge a certain Quantity of wine and Licquors as Necessary.

In the Shakespeare Lodge, London, Feb. 24, 1803, it was

Resolved That Messrs. Dunlop and Hughes be ordered to send a Pipe
of Red Port, similar to the sample now produced, for the use of the
Lodge, sealed with the Seal of the Lodge, and that Brother George
Harvey be requested to draw up certain regulations to be observed
in future in the Cellar, respecting the same, to be submitted at
the next meeting of the Lodge for their consideration.

REGULATING THE COST

Only a few years after the establishment of lodges in this country,
we find the following among the regulations of St. John's Lodge,
No. 1, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1739, relative to the use of
liquors:

13. The Junior Warden is to keep an account of what liquor comes in
for the use of the Lodge, which is not to exceed 2 shillings 6
pence per head, in failure of which he is to forfeit the surplusage
(without a dispensation from the Master and members) the said
Warden to render an account to the Secretary, who is to settle the
same with the Master and Treasurer before the Lodge is closed.

Sept. 14, 1764, the Lodge of Emulation, London:

Moved and seconded, that no Liquor be made and mixed anywhere by
any member of this Lodge, but in the Lodge, under the penalty of
every member being at the expence of the Liquor he shall make
contrary to this order, which is carried in the affirmative.

The Lodge of Unity, No. 183, London, had this among its by-laws in
1782:

Article 3rd. All liquor drank at the Lodge during Lodge hours and
the beer drank at supper by the brethren not exceeding a pint each
to be charged in the bill of expenses that night but no liquor
called for before or after Lodge hours shall be allowed by the
Lodge.

Lodge No. 43, Lancaster, Pa., was evidently averse to keeping a
charge account in the matter of refreshments, for in 1785, its
fourth by-law provided "That no brother come to the lodge without
money to pay the expenses of the night."

That some innkeepers encouraged the meetings of lodges at their
places by giving the rent free for the sake of the trade, is
evident, as we find in the history of Solomon's Lodge,
Poughkeepsie, N. Y., in 1787, that the paying of rent at Bro.
Poole's apparently became irksome or not sufficiently
"speculative," for Bro. Emott moved that the lodge fall into our
former mode of buying our liquors of Bro. Poole and pay no rent."

St. John's Lodge, Leicester, England, March 5, 1794,

Resolved that every member pay on each Lodge evening, two shillings
for his supper and for ale during Lodge hours. Members chusing to
take Wine or Liquors to pay for them extra.

And Union Lodge, Norwich, England, passed a resolution May 25,
1810, that visiting brethren should be charged the price of a
bottle of wine.

Here is an extract from the minutes of Shakespeare Lodge, London,
June 23, 1831, which is very suggestive:

The Secretary stated to the Lodge that in order to prevent any
errors relative to the number of bottles of wine charged in the
bill, which appeared to him to have on more than one occasion
exceeded the number drunk, he had with the appreciation of the W.
M. provided a quantity of wine tickets.

How some of the lodges refreshed themselves, and absent one hour,
and being rather intoxicated was order'd to where, is indicated in
the ensuing extract from the sit as a private memberrecords of the
Mariners' Lodge, England:

The Lodge to find two shillingsworth of malt Liquor and one Pint of
Gin, Rum and Brandy for every Lodge night only --the Lodge not to
be closed for refreshment, but the refreshment to be brought into
the Room and put on a Table, any one who chooses may partake
thereof, paying 6d for the same. To have no Spirits admitted into
the Room during the time the Lodge is open unless paid for by the
person calling for it.

TREATING

The custom of treating the brethren of the lodge was quite a
prevalent one, being sometimes required, but more often voluntary.
One of the lodges in Norfolk, England, exacted, in 1724, that:

Every Masber on his election shall treat ye brethren with two
bottles of wine and ye Wardens with one bottle each, and on their
second election the Master one bottle and ye Wardens a bottle
between them.

When a member was blest with a lewis or lewisa (son or daughter) he
usually celebrated the event as is evidenced from the records of
the Turk's Head Lodge, Wiltshire, England:

August 16, 1739. Brother Mills having been lately blessed with a
lewis, was pleased to present this Lodge with a crown bowl of punch
upon that happy occasion, and the young lewis' health was drunk to
in form.

September 20, 1739. Our Brother Delarant presented the Lodge with
a bowl of punch on his having a lewisa born, and her health was
drunk in form.

The Lodge of Felicity, London, on June 21, 1748, records:

This being Election night Bro. Griffon was Elected Master and chose
Bro. Harforth and Bro. Morse Wardens and Bro. Gibbs Secr., the
Master paid a bottle, the Wardens and Secretary paid each one
shilling for the Honour done them.

FINES AND FORFEITS

In the Turk's Head Lodge, Wiltshire, England, Dec. 21, 1738, Bro.
Hetherington was called upon by the Master for his lecture, but
excused himself on account of business preventing him, but promised
it on the next lodge night, or the voluntary forfeiture of a gallon
of wine. Caledonian Lodge, London, in 1765, had as one of its
regulations:

That if any member of this Lodge come disguised in liquor, he shall
be admonished by the presiding officer, for the first offense; For
the second, of the same nature, he shall be fined one shiiling; And
for the third, or refusing to pay his fine, he shall be excluded
without any benefit from the lodge.

In Mount Vernon Lodge, Albany, N. Y., 1773, one of the articles of
its regulations provided that

On lodge evening no member under a fine of one shilling shall have
more drink than for six pence in the lodge room without the
Master's consent.

In a lodge in wigan, England, under date of Feb. 25, 1801, "Bro.
John Taylor being disguis'd in liquor he was admonished by the
Worshipful and ordered home." In the early records of Jerusalem
Lodge, London, the Secretary states that "Brother Perdue having
drank a public Toast without his Apron, paid one shilling as a
forfeit for that neglect."

The Worshipful Master himself was called to account in the Lodge of
Antiquity, Bolton, England, Oct. 11, 1799:

The Worshipful was fined 2 shillings six pence fro being absent one
hour, and being rather intoxicated was order'd to sit as a private
member.

GETTING ECONOMICAL

Many lodges, not only as a matter of economy, but realizing that
refreshments were more often the means of the brethren becoming
better acquainted with each other and that expensive wines and
liquors were not necessary for this purpose, began to retrench and
adopted such measures as a London lodge did in 1773 when it enacted
a by-law:

That on account of the great expense incurr'd by allowing wine at
supper and in order to prevent the bad consequences arising
therefrom, no liquor shall be paid for out of the Lodge funds,
which is drunk out of the Lodge room, except beer or ale drank at
supper.

Temple Lodge, Albany, N. Y., April 1, 1801:

Resolved. That in future the Stewards substitute beer for brandy
and spirits for the refreshments in the Lodge.

And in the same month, on the other side of the Atlantic, Royal
York Lodge, London,

Resolved that the usual glass of brandy after supper be
discontinued.

Altamont Lodge, Peterborough, N. H., May 7, 1816:

Voted to exclude the use of Ardent Spirit in this Lodge, and
substitute therefor crackers and cheese and cider.

DECLINE OF TUE CUSTOM

The dawn of the nineteenth century saw the drinking custom on the
wane, and we begin to find the minutes of lodges recording its
discontinuance. In 1816 the Grand Lodge of New York enacted "That
the use of distilled spirits in lodge rooms, or any adjoining room,
is expressly forbidden." May 30, 1825, Altemont Lodge,
Peterborough, N. H.,

"Voted that no account for spiritous liquors shall be allowed or
paid for out of the funds of the Lodge after this date."

The Grand Lodge of Connecticut recommended the disuse of ardent
spirits at its meeting in May, 1822, and the Grand Lodge of
Vermont, Oct. 11, 1826, by a vote of 80 to 28, ruled

"That no ardent spirits or public dinner shall hereafter be
furnished this Grand Lodge at any of its communications."

And on Oct. 9, 1827, the Grand Lodge recommended to all subordinate
lodges to

"Dispense with the use of ardent spirits on all public occasions."

In 1842 the Grand Master of Ohio, who was a member of Lancaster
Lodge, introduced a series of resolutions in that lodge which were
unanimously adopted wherein the Masonic virtue of temperance was
construed to mean total abstinence, and the members of the lodge
drew up and subscribed to a form pledge to neither touch, taste,
nor handle any ardent spirits, and

Resolved that hereafter no person shall be initiated into the
mysteries of Masonry in the Lodge, or be received into fellowship
with the same, who shall not previous thereto express his
willingness to subscribe to this pledge.

AMUSING INCIDENTS

Here is where a brother having lost money in providing refreshments
on the particular evening, June 26, 1740, in the Lodge of
Edinburgh, Scotland, was given a chance to recoup his losses, as
appears from the minutes of that date:

And in regaird Brother Patrick Grant hath been att a considerable
trouble and expence in providing liquors and other necessaries for
this meeting, of which a very small part hath been disposed of, by
reason of the small company that have attended the same, it was
therefore likewise unanimously resolved upon that he have the
benefits of furnishing liquors and other necessaries to their next
quarterly meeting, preferable to any other persons whatsoever.

In Barrat and Sachse's "Freemasonry in Pennsylvania," quoting the
minutes of a lodge Dec. 24, 1770, we are left to conjecture that
the brethren had a special purpose in attending the meeting of the
Grand Lodge, but were not given the opportunity of accomplishing
their object, for it reads:

Drank 3 bowls Toddy in about 3 hours which we waited on the Grand
Lodge, paid our Reckoning and went home.

And from the same source, under date of Aug. 17, 1771, we find the
following amusing decision:

The Determination of this Body that Bro. Glenn and Bro. Topham
should shake hands and drink to each other and forget all former
Animosity.

Our predecessors were charitable in the higher sense also, and when
an unfortunate brother fell through drink, they did not give him
up, rather they tried to raise him up. As an illustration we quote
the records of Union Band Lodge, No. 35, Saintfield, Ireland:

Saintfield, 4th Dec. 1777.

I . . . do hereby as a Mason promise before this Lodge that I will
abstain from all intoxicating drinks for 12 months, with the
exception of refreshments in Lodge.

Signed W. J. M.

This unfortunate brother pleaded to be allowed one bottle of porter
a day, but it was denied him. They might as well have allowed him,
yet they forgave him again.

If anyone fondly imagines that the following suggestion was a
recent invention the records of Union Lodge, Nantucket, Mass., over
a century ago, prove to the contrary, for we find, Nov. 2, 1795, a
committee was appointed to confer with brother . .

respecting his misconduct in abusing himself with making use two
(sic) freely of strong Drink.

At the communication of Dec. 14, the brother denied that he was
intoxicated, but was "taken with cramp & could prove it."

Dr. William G. Hill, a member of Hiram Lodge, Raleigh, N. C., and
at the time (1842) its Junior Warden, took a very active part in
having the use of refreshments in a liquid form discontinued at the
meetings of the Grand Lodge, it being the custom to have a banquet
at the close of each session, when it is said the members had a
"merry time." The Stewards provided the refreshments, and when the
report of a committee on the subject came up for consideration, he
used this emphatic language:

Why, Most Worshipful Grand Master, the Stewards in their
extravagant expenditures furnish enough refreshment to keep
themselves drunk the entire session, enough to make the whole Grand
Lodge drunk on the night of the banquet and then have enough left
to keep Hiram Lodge drunk the balance of the year.
