Allan Ramsay & Prince Charlie

formed the first Grand Lodge in 1717, in order to convince the authorities of their loyalty to the Crown. No other substantial reason has been established for the creation of the new Grand Lodge. When the Hanoverian George I came to the throne in 1707, he regarded all Tories, who had opposed the replacement of the Stuart dynasty, as Jacobites and he and his advisors continued to regard Freemasonry as a suspicious organisation. The formation of the Grand Lodge in London was aimed to produce an acceptable face of Freemasonry to the Hanoverian authorities. In 1721 the Duke of Montagu was chosen as Grand Master. From then until the present day, the Grand Master has always been of Noble or Royal birth. In this way the newly formed Grand Lodge of England was able to convince the Hanoverians of their loyalty, and that they were not a covert Jacobite organisation. The defeat of the “Young Pretender”, Bonnie Prince Charlie, the grandson of James II, at Culloden in April, 1746 finally brought to an end the active pretensions of the Jacobites in the U.K., although in France things were moving in the opposite direction. Under the influence of the exiled Jacobites, so called “Scottish” degrees were being devised, which later formed part of The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, now prevalent throughout the free world.

Adapted from an article by Bro Bill Hibbard PGW–the full article can be found here.

Allan Ramsay, Enlightenment Artist

Bro. Allan Ramsay’s inclinations were far from those he later professed as a fervent Hanoverian, and loyal German-speaking court painter to King George III. In fact, Ramsay had been presented to Charles and the Jacobite court in Rome in 1737. He had also joined a Jacobite masonic lodge there. Probably, like so many Scots at the time, he was prepared to hedge his bets - and of course was happy to take portrait commissions from whomever would pay. Surviving portraits painted by Ramsay in Edinburgh during the ’45 show both government and rebel sitters (the latter including Lord and Lady Ogilvy [Private Collection].)

Nonetheless, Ramsay cannot have had much time to complete the commission, for Charles’ army entered England on 8th November. The hurried circumstances perhaps explain the picture’s small size, which is unusual for Ramsay. But the size of the canvas and Charles’ presentation within it also provide further clues as to the picture’s intended purpose. Here, Charles is wearing only the sash and star of the order of the Garter, the preeminent English royal order of chivalry, and not the Scottish equivalent, the Thistle. Normally, in accordance with a decree issued by his father James III, Charles would have been depicted wearing both. Nor is Charles wearing any tartan, which, we are told, he wore in Scotland during the ’45. In other words, Charles is consciously presenting himself as English, perhaps to assuage his intended new subjects that he was not leading a Scottish invasion, despite the presence of thousands of Highlanders in his army.