Brief History of The Royal Order

Authentic documentary proof in the archives of the Grand Lodge of the Order in Edinburgh, gives rise to the popular assertion that the Royal Order of Scotland is senior to every other masonic system, with the exception of the Craft. There is written and printed evidence that a number of Lodges of the Order were active in London as early as 1741.

A zealous Mason by the name of William Mitchell, then living in the Low Countries, applied to the authorities in London in 1750 for a Charter to hold a Lodge of the Order at the Hague, and while this Charter was granted it is doubtful if the Lodge ever worked. The Charter was however signed by the then Provincial Grand Master as “in the ninth year of his office”.

About 1752 or 1753 Brother Mitchell moved to Edinburgh, taking with him the Charter issued to him as Provincial Grand Master at the Hague, and by virtue of this document he set up a Lodge of the Royal Order in Edinburgh. In due course this body was to elevate itself to the rank of Grand Lodge of the Royal Order of Scotland in July 1767.

A period transpired in the early 1800s when the Order nearly became extinct for few meetings were held, but in 1839 efforts at resuscitation were successful and by1843 Grand Lodge was granting Warrants for the Erection and Consecration of Provincial Grand Lodges.

From the earliest written records of meetings, the Order claimed that the King of Scots was the Hereditary Grand Master and a seat in the East is always kept vacant for him at every meeting of each Provincial Grand Lodge and at all meetings of Grand Lodge. An ermined Robe hangs over the back of the chair and a Crown rests on the seat.

The Grand Lodge at Edinburgh today controls some 75 Provincial Grand Lodges situated in many different parts of the world. Additional Provinces are constantly being Erected as the Order is very popular.

The Royal Order of Scotland contains two degrees, namely:-

1. The Heredom of Kilwinning:

Provincial Grand Chapter 2. Knighthood of the Rosy Cross:

Provincial Grand Lodge Heredom of Kilwinning: According to tradition this degree originated during the reign of David I in the twelfth century and is noticeably Christian in character, depicting Freemasonry in a purely Christian aspect. Most of the ritual is couched in quaint old doggerel verse and is worked in catechetical form, as in the Craft lectures, but embracing elements and references found in many other degrees.

Choice of a characteristic, typical of some moral attribute or virtue, or appertaining to the Candidate's profession, is one of the peculiarities of the Order. Armed with his particular characteristic, the Candidate is sent forth in search of the lost word.

Knight of the Rosy Cross: This degree of Knighthood is said to have been instituted by King Robert the Bruce immediately after the battle of Bannockburn in 1314, to commemorate the valour of a band of Knights and Masons who had signally aided him in the great victory.

He revived the older Degree and incorporated the two under the title of the Royal Order of Scotland and traditionally he established the chief seat of the Order at Kilwinning.

This Degree traces its course from the Old to the New Testament and finally culminates with the secret doctrine inculcated in the Life and Death of our Saviour.

Understandably, membership of this elite Order is highly prized, admission to the Order being by invitation only.

Bro. Sir Archibald Alison, Bart., became Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Glasgow in 1847, and held the position until his death in 1867. He was called to the Scottish Bar in 1814, and became Advocate Depute eight years later. He was a prolific writer, on both law and history, and toured Europe after the Napoleonic Wars in quest of material for his famous “History of Europe”, which ran into fourteen volumes while becoming Rector of Marishal College, Aberdeen in 1845 and Lord Rector, Glasgow University, 1852. He was Sheriff of Lanarkshire and created 1stBaronet by Lord Derby in 1852.

Bro. Alison was a past master of St. Mark’s Lodge No. 102 in Denniston.

The Most Sacred Number

Pretty much anywhere you look in the Bible you find seven. The number seven is mentioned over 700 times in Scripture. The Book of Revelation alone contains dozens of sevens – churches, bowls, lamps, seals, and the list goes on. In ancient Israel, the number seven was thought to be a symbol of divine perfection. As opposed to other numbers which derive their power from human endeavours, seven comes from God.

The Sevenfold Spirit of the Lord What evidence is there for God’s identity being related to the number seven? If we look at the famous “branch of Jesse” prophecy in Isaiah chapter 11, we find that the Holy Spirit will come to rest upon the Messiah in seven distinct facets:

This time in England, the original Grand Lodge now functioned as two— very crudely: the Moderns (the original brethren) and the Ancients (Irish & some Scottish masons who had come to London but were not accepted). The following rules belonged to the Moderns:

(a) deacons were only appointed in October 1760 (b) Installation of the master tended to follow a pattern—the lodge then attendance at church with a full sermon. So much so that it could often take the whole day. (c) All members wore aprons, gloves and white stockings (d) All early minutes were brief (this carried on for a while and even 242 minutes before 1850 were often one paragraph). It was clear the brethren were not interested in listening to minutes—has that changed . . . ? (e) The tyler was thought unnecessary until 1779; prior to that the office of tyler often meant hand delivering the lodge summons to the brethren. (f) Two degrees were not conferred on one evening until 1780 although individual lodges often did ‘their own thing’ (g) Special warrants had to be obtained for special meetings.

Due to the difficulties with transport, mail, etc in the 1750s, there are many instances of lodges with different practices. However, it is quite interesting seeing different working.

Kaiser Friederich III was the son of Wilhelm I. Initially destined to only become King of Prussia he also became Crown Prince of German after his father became the first Kaiser (Emperor) of Germany. He would become Emperor after his father died on 9th March 1888. At this time he was already suffering from laryngeal cancer. He died only 99 days into his reign. His just over three month reign would earn him the nickname 99-days Emperor. After his death his son, Wilhelm, became Emperor Wilhelm II. 1888 is known in Germany as “Dreikaiserjahr” (Year of the three Emperors).

Friederich was introduced into Freemasonry in 1853 and would become Grand Master of the Grand Landlodge of the Freemasons of Germany in 1861. He would step back from this position in 1874, amid intellectual differences. During his time in office he worked hard to unite all German Lodges and to introduce reforms, such as removing certain symbols and rituals from the Order of the Knights Templar that were outdated.

The Kaiser