Supreme Council for Scotland

Unlike lodges which form to form a Grand Lodge, Supreme Council (SC) works in the opposite way. One brother holding 33 degrees can form a SC without any sovereign chapters in that country. This is exactly how the SC for Scotland was formed! Dr. Charles Morison of Greenfield near Alloa, a master mason of the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary’s Chapel) No.1 in 1797, was to become the first Sovereign Grand Commander in 1846.

At the time, only the Supreme Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland, the Royal Grand Conclave (Knight Templars to become the Great Priory of Scotland), The Royal Order of Scotland and the Grand Council of Rites/Order of Mizraim (now defunct) existed and controlled the degrees in Scotland. Some of the degrees operating under SC today were conferred in Encampments (Preceptories) of Knight Templars.

Much of the original records of the A&ASR has been lost so like many aspects of the Craft, its origins cannot be known with accuracy. It is probably safe to say that the origins are somewhere in France and not Scotland. The Ecossais term was probably influenced by a man from Ayr; Andrew Ramsay’s oration of 1737 was delivered in Paris to an assembly of masons. The French also had many Jacobite sympathisers after 1745 and freemasonry boomed although the French preferred their ‘haute grades (high degrees) to be more knightly rather than workman like and so new degrees were written with a Scottish flavour and having nothing to do wth Scotland. A Rite of Perfection of 25 degrees (Count de Grasse-Tilley was behind this system) existed in France and a patent was given to Stephen Morin in 1761 authorising him to create Inspectors when he travelled in business.

He appointed Henry Francken in Jamaica as an inspector to establish the Rite in America (for more info click here). The A&ASR had travelled from France to the West Indies and to Charleston. Dr. Morison served with the 10th Hussars and it is suspected he joined the SC for Spain while serving in the Peninsular War (1807 – 14) against France. After leaving the army, the SC for France issued Morison a diploma in 1814 in exchange for the Spanish one allowing him to create the SC for Scotland. This is exactly what he did on a visit home to Greenfield in 1846. Proof of this appears in the first minute book of SC as a ‘demand’ by a number of masons wishing to practice Scottish Rite Masonry. The main signatory was the Hon. Augustus Jocelyn 30° (Substitute GM of the GL of Scotland and son of the Earl of Roden) who would become Lt. Gr. Cdr. to Morison.

Dr. Morison died in 1848 and George Murray, the Duke of Atholl and Grand Master Mason, was installed as his successor by Jocelyn. Following Morison’s death, SC had to pay his trustees for four beautifully bound handwritten volumes of the rituals from the first to thirty third degree. Surprisingly, these have never been used and our ritual today in the 18° is different from these ‘Morison’ rituals being clearly French in origin.

Shortly after, a treaty between SC and the other masonic bodies was created whereby the entry requirement was to be a knight of the Royal Order of Scotland and also a Royal Arch Mason. This was strange because there was no requirement to be a Royal Mason to join the Royal Order although that changed between 1872 – 1892, but the criteria of membership of the Royal Arch changed in 1892 and replaced with 5 years in the Craft. Clearly this inferred the 18° had a higher preference to the Royal Order which did not go down well in some quarters. This treaty was dissolved in 1896.

In the 1850s, no Sovereign Chapters or Councils existed and degrees were conferred in Edinburgh where the members of SC lived. During this time, the obligation was still deleivered in French although it was agreed from that time onward, it would be English.

The various degrees in Scotland at this time was confusing to say the least and many came under the control of more than one grand body.

PTO to find information regarding the Rite in Scotland.