The Kirkwall Scroll Part 2

Panel 6 is also Royal Arch but one symbol is doubtful and that is the one in the circles immediately over the joined wings of the cherubim. It appears to be the jewel of the J.W. attached to a collar, but why should it be where it is? The only solution I can offer is that it refers to Amos vii., 7 and 8. The symbol in the top right hand corner is clearly intended for the breastplate (not a calculator!), while that in the left probably represents the golden plate on the mitre. If so, the small symbols on it would no doubt be the initial letters of the inscription " Holiness to the Lord," or the Hebrew equivalent. They appear to be in the same type of cypher which is found at the top of the altar. On the face of the altar we have the arms of the Grand Lodge of the Antients first appearing in 1764 suggesting it was painted after this date.

Panel 7 is intended to represent the Mark (?) on the right and Excellent Master on the left. The symbol at the top is the burning bush while below we have the rod and the serpent, and below them a curious-looking symbol which can be identified on careful inspection as the leprous hand, showing one digit sound and the other four withered or skeleton. The third of the three signs recorded in Ex. iv., 1 to 10, viz., the pouring of the water on the ground, has been cut off in the missing part. The T square and the weapon on the left may refer to the conditions under which the returned exiles after the Captivity rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem. The inscription states: I am hath sent me unto you. I am that I am ; I am the Rose of Sharon and the Lilly of the valley. I am that I am or I will bee that I will bee.

Panel 8 is definitely Craft and needs little explanation. At the top there is probably an artist's error in displaying eight stars instead of the usual seven.

Was it even a floorcloth? Firstly, because the length is too great for any but a very large room, and secondly, because the use of these floorcloths had been expressly forbidden by an edict of the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1759 and the scroll is probably of a later date than that.

The lodge minutes for 1785 record: "Bro. William Graeme, visiting brother from Lodge No. 128 Ancient Constitution of England was at his own desire admitted to become a member of this Lodge.’ Seven months later, the minute book records that Bro. Graeme gifted to the lodge a floor cloth which was believed to be the scroll. We know that Graham was a journeyman painter and ‘Mason-mad’, addicted to antique rites; hence he probably added everything he knew. Many images look as if they were drawn by a school pupil which might confirm that it was definitely not drawn by an ‘artist.’