THE BUILDER May, 1925

The Grand Lodge of Scotland, and Its History to 1813

By W. BRO. F.J.W. CROWE, F. R. Hist. Soc.

P.A.G.D.C. ENGLAND; P.S.G.W. IOWA; P.M. QUATUOR CORONATI LODGE, No.
2076; HON. MEM. "MARY'S CHAPEL," No. 1, EDINBURGH; ST. ANDREW'S
CHAPTER, No. 69, GLASGOW; ETC., ETC.; England

SCOTLAND stands unrivalled in its possession of the oldest known
records of our Craft, as well as in the antiquity of still-existing
lodges. There may have been co-existent lodges in England and
Ireland. There certainly were in the seventeenth century, but, with
one or two exceptions, notably the Lodge of Antiquity in London,
they ceased to exist before the premier Grand Lodge of the world
was formed in London, in 1717. The oldest preserved lodge minute in
the world is in the first minute book of the "Lodge of Edinburgh,
No. 1 (Mary's Chapel) ," and runs thus:

"Ultimo July 1599

"The qlk day George Patoun maissoun grenttit & confessit that he
had offendit agane the dekin & mrs for placeing of ane cowane to
wirk at ane chymnay heid for tua dayis and ane half day, for the
qlk offenss he submittit him self in the dekin & mrs guds willis
for qt vnlaw they pless to lay to his charge, and thay having
respect to the said Georges humill submissioun & of his estait they
remittit him the said offenss Providing alwayis that gif ather he
[or] ony vther brother comitt the lyke offenss heirefter that the
law sall strvke vpoun thame indiscreta wtout exceptioun of
personis. This wes done in prcs of Paull Maissoun dekin, Thoas Weir
warden, Thoas Watt, Johne Broun, Henrie Tailzefeir, the said George
Patoun, & Adam Walkar.

"Ita est Adamus Gibsone norius.

"Paull Maissoun dekin."

[The Warden's Mark is also appended.]

In the same year 1599, and dated Dec. 28, a Code was written and
placed in the charterchest of Eglington Castle, which throws
further light on the antiquity of Scottish Masonry. The Code is
concerned with the choice of wardens of lodges, and other matters
of business routine, and is too long to quote in full here, but the
third "Item" is of special interest:

"Item, it is thocht neidfull and expedient be my lord warden
generall, that Edinburgh salbe in all tyme cuming, as of befoir the
first and principal lodge in Scotland; and that Kilwynning be the
secund ludge, as of befoir is notourlie manifest in our awld
antient writtis; and that Stirueling salbe the thrid ludge conforme
to the auld privileges thairof."


Here then we have three lodges, which were very old in 1599,
Edinburgh having still its minutes from that year, and Mother
Kilwinning from Dec. 20, 1642, whilst a fourth lodge, "St. John's,
Melrose," has them from 1674. In some curious way a firm belief had
got abroad, and indeed is still held locally, that Mother
Kilwinning is the oldest Scottish lodge, but the foregoing extract
clearly proves the seniority of Edinburgh; and had it been known in
1815 the No. 0 of Kilwinning and the No. 1 of Edinburgh would have
been reversed. The MS. quoted from was, however, only discovered in
1861.

The Grand Lodge of Scotland also possesses two other MSS. of 1600
and circa 1628 respectively, known as the "St. Clair Charters." The
first is signed by William Schaw, and the second was granted by the
"Free Masons and Hammermen of Scotland" to Sir William St. Clair of
Rosslyn, giving him jurisdiction over the Craftsmen. The first is
also signed by the representatives of the lodges at Edinburgh, S.
Andros, Hadingtoun, Achiesones Heavin and Dumfermling; and the
latter by those of the lodges at Edinburgh, Dundie, Glasgow,
Stirlinge and Dumfermlinge. Here then are eight lodges of the early
seventeenth century named, in addition to Kilwinning and Melrose.
Other lodges are Canongate Kilwinning, an offshoot of Mother
Kilwinning, in 1677; Aberdeen, No. 1 tris, before 1670; Scoon and
Perth, No. 3, before 1657; Glasgow St. John, No. 3 bis, before
1620; Canongate and Leith, 1688; Old Kilwinning St. John,
Inverness, 1678; Hamilton Kilwinning, 1695; and Dunblane St. John,
before 1695. No country in the world can show such a list of
existing lodges. They were of course independent, and nobody seems
to have assumed any general authority until Mother Kilwinning,
which had been dormant from 1697, but resuscitated in 1704, began
to issue warrants or charters; and between 1729 and 1803 it granted
26 in Scotland, two in America, one in Ireland and one in the West
Indies.

FORMATION OF GRAND LODGE

Meanwhile England had formed the first Grand Lodge of the world in
1717, and Ireland had followed suit in 1729, so the Scottish
brethren began to consider whether it would not be wise to follow
their example. The earliest record of their procedure is found in
the minutes of the Lodge of Canongate Kilwinning, dated Sept. 29,
1735, when a committee was appointed to "frame proposals to be laid
before the several Lodges in order to the chusing of a Grand Master
for Scotland." By a curious coincidence they followed the example
of England, in that the four lodges in or about the capital city
took the lead, namely, the "Lodge of Edinburgh," "Kilwinning Scots
Arms," "Canongate Kilwinning," and "Little Kilwinning." The first
minute of their meetings is not found until the following year,
though doubtless they had not been idle all this time. It is as
follows:

"Att Maries Chapell the 25th day of November 1737. Thomas Mylne,
Master; Samwell Neilson, warden..The which day the brethren took to
their serious consideration a printed circular letter with printed
coppies of proposalls and regulations sent to them by the Masters
and Wardens of this and the other three Lodges in and about Edr.,
viz., Kilwinning Scots Armes, Canongate Kilwinning, and Leith
Kilwinning (with whom the present Master and Warden of this Lodge
had been formerly appointed to concurr), signifieing their
intention, for the promoting of Masonry in generall, to make choise
of a Grand Master with two Grand Wardens over all the regular Mason
Lodges in Scotland, and inviting the brethren of this Lodge to
concurr with them in so good and great designe-- which papers being
publickly read and considered by the brethren of this Lodge then
present they unanimously agreed thereto, and nominated and
appointed Thomas Mylne, mason burges of Edr., their present
Worshipfull Master, Samwell Neilson, mason, their present Senior
Warden, and Charles Mack, mason their, to be their Junior Warden,
to represent the Lodge of Maries Chapell att the said Grand
Ellection upon Tewsday the thretty day of November instant. And
appointed them to vote or ballot for the Right Honourable the Earle
of Home, their honourable and worshipfull brother, to be Grand
Master in Scotland for the ensuing year; and to vote or ballot for
such other worshipfull brethren for Deputy Master, Grand Wardens,
Treasurer, and other office bearers as they should judge most
deserving of these honble. offices; and appointed the Clerk to make
out their commission accordingly. THO. MYLNE. SAML. NEILSON. RO.
ALISON."

The resolution as to the Grand Master was, however, not carried out
for the following reason: From the time of the granting of the
previously mentioned "St. Clair Charters" the head of that family
had claimed to hold the hereditary office of Grand Master of the
Masons of Scotland; that is to say, of the Operative Masons. On May
18, 1736, William St. Clair, of that ilk, was initiated in the
Canongate Kilwinning Lodge, passed on June 2, and raised on Nov.
22. On Nov. 24, of his own accord, he offered the brethren in
writing his renunciation, for himself and his heirs forever, of his
"right, claim and pretence" to the Hereditary Grand Mastership of
the Masons of Scotland.

The meeting to decide the Grand Mastership was held on Nov. 30, and
the brethren were so pleased with his zeal and disinterestedness
that they elected him first Grand Master in spite of the previous
resolution. It must be confessed that his claim to rule Speculative
Masonry was imaginary, but there is no reason to doubt his entire
good faith, and he justified his appointment. Invitations were sent
to over one hundred Scottish lodges to attend and take part in this
first General Assembly, but only thirty-three attended; and to
avoid jealousy they were placed on the roll in the order in which
they happened to enter the hall. The lodges thus placed were:

Marys Chappell, 
Kilwinning, 
Canongate Kilwinning, 
Kilwinning Scots Arms 
Kilwinning Leith 
Kilwinning Glasgow, 
Coupar of Fyfe, 
Linlithgow 
Dumfermling, 
Dundee 
Dalkeith, 
Aitcheson's Haven, 
Selkirg,
Strathaven
Hamilton,
Dunse,
Kirkcaldie,
Journeymen Massones of Edinburgh
Kirkintillock
Biggar,
Sanquhar,
Peebles
Glasgow St. Mungo's,
Greenock
Fallkirk,
Aberdeen,
Innverness,
Mariaburgh
Lessmahaggow,
Canongate and Leith and Leith, 
Saint Brides at Douglas, and Canongate,
Lanark,
Monross.

After the election of William St. Clair as Grand Master, Captain
John Young of the Kilwinning Scots Arms was elected Depute Grand
Master; Sir William Baillie of Lamington, Canongate Kilwinning,
Senior Grand Warden; Sir Alexander Hope of Kerse, Scots Arms,
Junior Grand Warden; Dr. John Moncrief, of Kilwinning Leith, Grand
Treasurer; John Macdougall of the Exchequer, Scots Arms, Grand
Secretary; and Robert Alison, Writer, of Mary's Chapel, Grand
Clerk.

SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS

It would have seemed likely that once the Grand Lodge was so
successfully inaugurated the remaining lodges would almost
certainly have come into the fold with few exceptions, as had been
the case in England. Such, however, was not the case with the
sturdy Scottish brethren. Many lodges remained independent, and
various disputes arose from time to time. Amongst other happenings,
Mother Kilwinning Lodge seceded in 1774, because it was placed
second to Edinburgh on the roll of lodges. It had never entirely
given up its practice of granting charters for new lodges, though
by what authority of inherent right did not appear, and on resuming
independence it still more widely exercised the use, and Grand
Lodge made no serious protest.

Matters continued thus until 1807, when a concordat was arrived at.
Kilwinning agreed to renounce all rights to grant charters, and to
come into the Grand Lodge with all its daughter lodges, the latter
receiving charters of confirmation, and being placed on the roll
according to their respective dates of origin. Kilwinning was to be
placed at the head of the roll as "Mother Kilwinning" without a
number, and so the strife was healed. At this time the Schaw
Statutes of 1599 had not, we must remember, yet been discovered.

The lodge of "St. John's Melrose" also remained independent until
as recently as 1891, and granted at least three charters to
daughter lodges. Its earliest minute is dated 1674, and it is now
on the roll as No. 1 bis.

A more serious difficulty arose in 1808, when, owing to political
disputes having been introduced most improperly into Masonry,
certain office bearers and members of Mary's Chapel, Canongate, St.
Andrew's, and St. David's Lodges were expelled from Masonry by
Grand Lodge. The seceders, numbering about 400, organized
themselves into a body termed "The Associated Lodges seceding from
the present Grand Lodge of Scotland," and they appointed the Master
of Mary's Chapel as Grand Master. Masonic influence failed to heal
the breach, and the matter was brought before the civil courts,
which decided in favor of the "Associated Lodges." Having gained
their victory, they did nol;, however, abuse it; and finally, in
1813, they expressed their regrets and requested to be received
again by Grand Lodge. This was happily effected, and from that time
to the present the history of the Grand Lodge of Scotland records
nothing but peace, progress and prosperity, worthy of its unique
history and traditions.

PECULIARITIES AS TO CLOTHING, ETC.

In conclusion, I may draw attention to two peculiarities of the
usage of the Grand Lodge of Scotland. First, as to clothing. The
color of Grand and Provincial Grand Lodge clothing is thistle
green, doubtless from the color of the mantle and ribbon of the
national great order of knighthood, "The Thistle," and sashes are
worn as well as collars in those bodies, and in daughter lodges.
Then each lodge has its own color for apron, collar and sash- blue,
red, green, yellow, tartan, or any combination of these at
pleasure, a peculiarity shared only, as far as I know, with the
Grand Orient of the Netherlands. This latter is the more curious as
its Masonry originated from England, which has never varied from
blue except for stewards.

The other peculiarity I refer to is the appointment of "Proxy
Masters and Wardens" to attend Grand and Provincial Grand Lodges,
who attend for the actual officers, so that every lodge may be
fully represented. This seems a very common-sense arrangement.

