112 On The Level
Masonic Magazine for St. John Fisherrow No.112
Issue No.13
January 2021
From the Editor
Happy New Year to all our readers
Brethren we hope that you have had a wonderful time over the Festive Season and wish you all a very prosperous 2021.
For this magazine to prosper, your involvement as well as interest is necessary. This is for you not only for learning but also to share. We are all students of the “Craft� and should share and learn with each other in Brotherly Love and Friendship. We are taught to spread the cement of Brotherly Love and affection binding us to each other just the same as cement to stone to create one common mass. So let Brotherly Love and Friendship unite not only the brethren of 112 but our wonderful fraternity as an edifice of knowledge and understanding. Let us learn from each other by sharing our interests to enrich our masonic experience.
www.stjohn112.co.uk / facebook 112 Magazine can also be found on issuu.com
A beautiful decanter presented to the Lodge by Hadrian Lodge No. 1970, South Shields on 21st April 2012 Bro. Douglas Hoy P.M.
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The Right Worshipful Master Hello brethren, may I first of all hope that you and all your family are all still safe and well. On a much more happier note may I on behalf of the Past Masters, Wardens and brethren of 112 wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly a year since our last meeting. As we move into 2021, there is hope the vaccine, that has been developed, will work against this virus and allow us all to get back to some sort of normal life. This will hopefully allow us to return to Lodge Meetings, which I personally look forward to. Again we can only go with the advice of the Government and Grand Lodge. Many of us have seen the fantastic effort that the brethren from every area in Scotland have stepped up to contribute and support local and national charities.
On our own home front and during the past few months some of our senior brethren have managed to escape the boredom of being prisoners in their own homes by coming along to the lodge for a cup of tea or coffee and the variety of biscuits each brother brings to the coffee shop. Our Junior Deacon, Brother Derek Mather has opened up “Derek’s Diner” a couple of hours during the day for the brethren to come along and at a socially distance seating arrangements enjoyed a chat and catch up. This has proved very successful and I on behalf of all at 112 would like to thank Brother Derek for his great initiative and kind gesture. Brother Derek recently celebrated his own milestone when he celebrated his 70th Birthday. Throughout the day at the “Diner” several brethren and their wives popped in for some teas coffee and cake to celebrate and wish him a happy birthday. Derek, from the bottom of my heart and on behalf the grateful brethren who have enjoyed “the Diner” THANK YOU.
Although there have been no meetings as such our Bro. Secretary and Treasurer have still been working away in the background keeping the brethren up to date with correspondence received from both Provincial and Grand Lodge. Our Depute Master and editor of the magazine has continued to produce the magazine which I’m sure has been a welcome distraction to many. May I again on behalf of everyone here at 112 thank Bro’s Andrew Raeburn PM, Secretary, Douglas Hoy PM, Treasurer, and Brother Tom Edgar DM, editor, for all your commendable efforts.
Brethren we can all look forward to the day that we can sit together whether at the “Diner” or back in regalia, telling our tales and wows during the pandemic but until then and with the G.A.O.T.U. watching over us please stay safe and well within the comforts of your home.
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Brother Brian Ritchie R.W.M.
~ Our Lodge Our History ~
Bros Ian Taylor & Jackie Little
Bros. Jim Nicol & David Donaldson Tom Chrystal R.W.M. 1973-74
1977 Ladies Night Peter Hill, Tom Edgar, Margaret Edgar, Jock Turnbull, Jimmy Johnstone, May Johnstone, Syball Turnbull, Phyllis Hill, Agnes
Winners of The Mallach Golf Trophy Bros. David Hunter & Jim Rutherford
R.W.M. Bro. John Thorburn with Bro. Ewan Rutherford DGMM, H.M. 112 250th Celebrations 2018
Happy 70th Birthday DEREK!
Did Ye ken...
The American Revolution took its toll on the Lodges in Philadelphia during the conflict. Lodge No. 2 held no meetings from July 21, 1777, until November 6, 1778, or during the British occupation of Philadelphia, being then called "rebels" and now "patriots" because some were in the army with Washington and others away from the city. The Lodge room was broken open by the British when they entered Philadelphia in September, 1777, and all the jewels, paraphernalia and books were stolen by them. Lodges Nos. 3 and 4, being loyal to King George, not only did meet during all this time, but also initiated many British officers and local loyalists. (Source: Freemasonry in Pennsylvania, 1727-1907)
On Thursday 17th December our Junior Deacon Brother Derek Mather turned a BIG 70. Brother Derek has been running “Derek’s Diner” for the past few months under strict covid guidelines serving teas and coffees to members which has proved a great success.
Opening the Lodge
It is absolutely necessary that the Lodge be opened in due and ancient form. Without these ceremonies, the assembly is not a Masonic Lodge. This is true because the Master must be reminded of the dignity and character of himself and of his position. And the other officers must be impressed with the respect and veneration due from their sundry stations. But more important, the Fraternity in Lodge assembly and in work must maintain a reverential awe for Deity, and must look to the Great Light of Freemasonry, the Holy Bible, for guidance and instruction. Thus, in the opening of the Lodge, the Great Architect of the Universe must be worshipped, and His blessings upon the work about to be performed must be supplicated. At the same time, prayer is offered for peace and harmony in the closing of the Lodge.
A morning and afternoon session was organised by Brother John Thorburn IPM with a light buffet of sandwiches and cakes baked by Mrs Helen Hoy and Mrs Irene Williams to celebrate his 70th birthday. A huge thank you to them for taking the time to make the day fantastic.
Derek’s thanked everyone for their cards, gifts and for coming along. His thank you speech was in reference of the film “The Man Who Would Be King” by Kipling but we don’t think his blow up crown quite matched the occasion.
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Man - The Builder
and lofty arch a memory of the forest vista – its altar a fireside of the soul, its spire a prayer in stone. And as he wrought his faith and dream into reality, it was but natural that the tools of the builder should become emblems of the thoughts of the thinker. Not only his tools, but, as we shall see, the very stones with which he worked became sacred symbols – the temple itself a vision of that House of Doctrine, that Home of the Soul, which, though unseen, he is building in the midst of the years.
Man has always been a builder, and nowhere has he shown himself more significantly than in the buildings he has erected. When we stand before them – whether it be a mud hut, the house of a cliff-dweller stuck like the nest of a swallow on the side of a canyon, a Pyramid, a Parthenon, or a Pantheon – we seem to read into his soul. The builder may have gone, perhaps ages before, but here he has left something of himself, his hopes, his fears, his ideas, his dreams. Even in the remote recesses of the Andes, amidst the riot of nature, and where man is now a mere savage, we come upon the remains of vast, vanished civilizations, where art and science and religion reached unknown heights.
Joseph Fort Newton
The Symbolic Lodge
Wherever humanity has lived and wrought, we find the crumbling ruins of towers, temples, and tombs, monuments of its industry and its aspiration. Also, whatever else man may have been – cruel, tyrannous, vindictive – his buildings always have reference to religion. They bespeak a vivid sense of the Unseen and his awareness of his relation to it. Of a truth, the story of the Tower of Babel is more than a myth. Man has ever been trying to build to heaven, embodying his prayer and his dream in brick and stone.
Here, then, are the real foundations of Masonry, both material and moral: in the deep need and aspiration of man, and his creative impulse; in his instinctive Faith, his quest of the Ideal, and his love of the Light. Underneath all his building lay the feeling, prophetic of his last and highest thought, that the earthly house of his life should be in right relation with its heavenly prototype, the world-temple – imitating on earth the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. If he erected a square temple, it was an image of the earth; if he build a pyramid, it was a picture of a beauty shown him in the sky; as, later, his cathedral was modelled after the mountain, and its dim
The practice of “forming a lodge” around the center of the lodge room at a certain point in the first section degree ceremonies is largely a peculiarity of American Masonic ritual. It is a holdover from the days when lodge meetings of speculative Masons were held in rented rooms of taverns rather than in specially built lodge rooms we generally use today. Masons could only be made in a lodge, and a lodge had a number of symbolic items that no tavern room would likely have in addition to requiring a certain number of masons arranged in a certain way.
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So early speculative masons created symbolic representations of lodge buildings and their contents by drawing them on the floor. The necessary officers were arranged around the figure on the floor with the sideline brethren standing around the figure during the degree ceremonies. Over time, the brethren standing around the figure became more involved with the ceremony, including by representing the walls of the lodge figure drawn on the floor. At the same time, the drawn figures became more elaborate and time consuming to produce.
Duties of the Craft
Eventually this led to the practice of drawing the symbols on floor cloths. The lodge rooms we use today are scaled up versions of the symbolic floor drawings, complete with physical representations of the symbolic contents such as pillars and ashlars. Officers’ chairs are also placed where the officers once stood around the symbolic lodge drawings.
Come, and let us seek the straying, Lead him to the Shepherd back; Come, the traveller feet betraying, Hold him from the dangerous track; Come, a Solomon voice reminds usCome, a mystic fetter binds usMasons, here your duties lie, Hark the poor and needy cry! Come and help the worthy poor Starving for the needed bread; From your well-replenished store Let the fellow-man be fed! , Bounties God: to you supplieth, To the poor He oft denieth. Come where sorrow has her dwelling Comfort bring to souls distressed; To the friendless mourner telling Of the Rock that offers rest; What would life be but for heaven! Come, to us the Word is given. Band of Brothers, every nation Hails your bright and orient light! Fervent, zealous, free, your station Calls for deeds of noblest might! Seek-the world is full of sorrow, Act-your life will end tomorrow. By Bro Rob Morris
With this change to meetings in purposely built lodge rooms instead of rented tavern rooms, some of the ritual practices that had grown up around the use of floor diagrams had to change. But old traditions die-hard. In some jurisdictions such as in England, the floor drawings, which became floor cloths, are now retained as pictures called tracing boards. In the United States, we have retained other usages from those days, most notably the formation of a symbolic lodge around the candidate and altar as part of the first section degree work.
Light
A candidate is “brought to light.” “Let there be light” is the motto of the Craft. It is one of the key words of Masonry. It is very ancient, harking back to the Sanskrit Ruc, meaning shine. The Greeks had luk, preserved in many English words, especially such as have leuco in their make-up, as in “leucocyte,” a white blood corpuscle. The Latins had luc or lux in various forms, whence our light, lucid, luminous, illumine, lunar, lightning, etc. The word means bright, clear, shining, and is associated in its use with the sun, moon, fire, etc. By an inevitable association the word came into metaphorical use to mean the coming of truth and knowledge into the mind. ‘When a candidate ceases to be ignorant of Masonry, when through initiation the truths of Masonry have found entrance into his mind, he is said to be “enlightened” in the Masonic sense.
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Famous Scottish Freemasons Sir Alexander Fleming
FRS FRSE FRCS (6 August 1881 – 11 March 1955) was a Scottish biologist, physician, microbiologist, and pharmacologist.
Fleming was born on August 6, 1881, at Lochfield on a farm near Darvel in East Ayrshire. He was born into a Scottish sheep-farming family. Alexander Fleming was the third of the four children of Hugh Fleming (1816 – 1888) from his second marriage to Grace Stirling Morton (1848 – 1928), the daughter of a neighbouring farmer. Hugh Fleming also had four surviving children from his first marriage. He was 59 at the time of his second marriage, and died when Alexander (known as Alec) was seven.
trained nurse, Sarah Marion McElroy of Killala, Ireland. who went by the nickname Sareen. After nine years of marriage, they had a son named Robert Fleming, who went on to become a general practitioner. Sareen died after 34 years of marriage, and her death affected Fleming profoundly.
Fleming went to Louden Moor School and Darvel School, and then for two years to Kilmarnock Academy. He then moved to London, where he attended the Polytechnic. After working in a shipping office for four years, the twenty-year-old Fleming inherited some money from an uncle, John Fleming. His older brother, Tom, was already a physician and suggested to his younger sibling that he follow the same career, and so in 1901, the younger Alexander enrolled at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London. He qualified for the school with distinction in 1906 and had the option of becoming a surgeon.
By chance, however, he had been a member of the rifle club (he had been an active member of the Territorial Army since 1900). The captain of the club, wishing to retain Fleming in the team, suggested that he join the research department at St Mary's, where he became assistant bacteriologist to Sir Almroth Wright, a pioneer in vaccine therapy and immunology. He gained M.B. and then B.Sc. with Gold Medal in 1908, and became a lecturer at St. Mary's until 1914.
On December 23, 1915, Fleming married a
He subsequently buried himself in his work, spending longer hours in his laboratory behind closed doors. A biographer wrote: “As if overnight, Fleming, with red-rimmed eyes and trembling hands, seemed to have become an old man.”
Fleming served throughout World War 1 as a captain in the Army Medical Corps, and was mentioned in dispatches. He and many of his colleagues worked in battlefield hospitals at the Western Front in France. In 1918, he returned to St. Mary's Hospital, which was a teaching hospital. He was elected Professor of Bacteriology in 1928. Fleming became particularly fascinated by the fact that although people suffer bacterial infections from time to time, our natural defences usually prevent infections from taking hold.
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In 1914 World War 1 broke out and Fleming, age 33, joined the army, becoming a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps working in field hospitals in France. There, in a series of brilliant experiments, he established that antiseptic agents used to treat wounds and prevent infection were actually killing more soldiers than the infections were!
The antiseptics, such as carbolic acid, boric acid and hydrogen peroxide, were failing to kill bacteria deep in wounds; worse, they were in fact lowering the soldier’s natural resistance to infection because they were killing white blood cells.
He tested the effect of other fluids from the body, such as blood serum, saliva, and tears, on these bacteria and found that bacteria would not grow where a drop of one of these fluids was placed.
Fleming discovered the common factor in the fluids was an enzyme. He named his newly discovered enzyme lysozyme. The effect of lysozyme was to destroy certain types of microbe, rendering them harmless to people. The presence of lysozyme in our bodies prevents some potentially pathogenic microbes from causing us harm. It gives us natural immunity to a number of diseases. However, lysozyme’s usefulness as a medicine is rather limited, because it has little or no effect on many other microbes that infect humans.
Fleming demonstrated that antiseptic agents were only useful in treating superficial wounds, but were harmful when applied to deep wounds. Almroth Wright believed that a saline solution – salt water – should be used to clean deep wounds, because this did not interfere with the body’s own defences and in fact attracted white cells. Fleming proved this result in the field. Wright and Fleming published their results, but most army doctors refused to change their ways, resulting in many preventable deaths.
Fleming had discovered a natural antibiotic that did not kill white blood cells. If only he could find a more powerful antibiotic, then medicine could be transformed. Today, lysozyme is used as a food and wine preservative. It is naturally present in large concentrations in egg-whites, offering protection to chicks against infection. It is also used in medicines, particularly in Asia, where it is used in treatments for head colds, athlete’s foot, and throat infections.
In 1919 Fleming returned to research at St Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London. His wartime experience had firmly established his view that antibacterial agents should be used only if they worked with the body’s natural defences rather than against them; in particular, agents must not harm white blood cells. His first discovery of such an agent came in 1922, when he was 41 years old.
Fleming had taken secretions from inside the nose of a patient suffering from a head cold. He cultured the secretions to grow any bacteria that happened to be present. In the secretions, he discovered a new bacterium he called Micrococcus lysodeikticus, now called M luteus.
A few days later, Fleming was examining these bacteria. He himself was now suffering from a head cold, and a drop of mucus fell from his nose on to the bacteria. The bacteria in the area where the drop fell were almost instantly destroyed. Always on the lookout for natural bacteria killers, this observation excited Fleming enormously.
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On Monday, September 3, he returned to his laboratory and saw a pile of Petri dishes he had left on his bench. The dishes contained colonies of Staphylococcus bacteria. While he was away, one of his assistants had left a window open and the dishes had become contaminated by different microbes. Annoyed, Fleming looked through the dishes and found something remarkable had taken place in one of them. A fungus was growing and the bacterial colonies around it had been killed. Farther from the fungus, the bacteria looked normal. Excited by his observation, Fleming showed the dish to an assistant, who remarked on how similar this seemed to Fleming’s famous discovery of lysozyme.
Hoping he had discovered a better natural antibiotic than lysozyme, Fleming now devoted himself to growing more of the fungus. He identified that it belonged to the Penicillium genus and that it produced a bacteria-killing liquid. On March 7, 1929 he formally named the antibiotic penicillin.
The records show he was S.W. in 1922 and 1923 and on 11th Nov. 1924 was Installed as R.W.M.
He was also a member of Scottish Rifles Lodge No. 2310.(Joined 16th March 1911). He later joined Misericordia Lodge No. 3286 London.(Joined 23rd. Oct. 1925). And served as J.W. 1932, S.W. 1933 and 1934. And was Installed R.W.M. 1935. He became Grand Senior Deacon in 1942 and Past Junior Grand Warden in 1948. He also became a Royal Arch Freemason and joined Aesculpius Chapter No. 2410 on 27th July1923. He held the Offices of 3rd Principle in 1937, 2nd Principle in 1938, 1st Principle in 1939.
Fleming published his results, showing that penicillin killed many different species of bacteria, including those responsible for scarlet fever, pneumonia, meningitis, and diphtheria. Furthermore, penicillin was nontoxic and it did not attack white blood cells. Unfortunately, the scientific world was largely underwhelmed, ignoring his discovery.
In 1945 Alexander Fleming shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology with Florey and Chain. The award was made: “for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases.” In his Nobel Prize winning speech in 1945, Fleming warned of a danger which today is becoming ever more pressing:
He was also a Recipient of the Distinguished Service Citation of the Grand Lodge of New York.
Fleming was congratulated by the W.M. in April 1943 on his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society. The minutes which were written by Fleming do not record that he had also been awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine jointly with Professor H.W. Florey and Dr. E.B. Chain. In December 1943 an emergency meeting was held jointly at Freemason’s Hall with Misericordia Lodge No. 3286 and Old Epsomian Lodge No. 3561. This was to hear the second half of his lecture on “The History of English Freemasonry” by R.M. Handfield-Jones. There is an annotation to the minutes of the meeting held on 11th November 1947 which reads ‘there is a serious omission in these minutes, as I should know, because it was I who informed the Lodge of Fleming’s elevation to the rank of Past Grand Warden an honour which has never befallen Sancta Maria before.
In 1945 he toured America, where chemical companies offered him a personal gift of $100,000 / £ 80,997.85 as a mark of respect and gratitude for his work. Typically of Fleming, he did not accept the gift for himself: he donated it to the research laboratories at St Mary’s Hospital Medical School. Fleming married Dr. Amalia KoutsouriVourekas, a Greek colleague at St. Mary's, on 9 April 1953; but with his death in March 1955 she was widowed less than two years later. Amalia Fleming died in 1986. The same year a hospital was founded at Athens and named after her (currently known as Sismanogleio-Amalia Fleming General Hospital). Bro. Alexander Fleming the Freemason
Bro. Fleming was a member of Sancta Maria Lodge No. 2682. Initiated:- 8th June 1909, Passed:- 9th Nov. 1909 and Raised:- 11th Jan 1910.
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It is typical of Flemings’ modesty that he did not record the fact on the minutes. But I feel I am justified at this late date in adding this, signed R.M. Handfield-Jones’.
On March 11, 1955, Alexander Fleming suddenly died of coronary thrombosis at home. He had been suffering from what he perceived to be gastric upset for some weeks. When his wife called their family physician regarding the onset of nausea on March 11, he reassured them that a house visit was not necessary. However, within minutes, he succumbed to the coronary event. “He died as he wished; quietly, without a gradual decline in physical or mental capacity, and even without inconveniencing his physician”.
A national hero he duly became. So much so that after his death at his home in Chelsea in 1955, his ashes were interred close to Nelson and Wellington in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral. Flags flew at half- mast and the cathedral bulged with academic and medical grandees, ambassadors, representatives of societies, staff and students from the hospital, as well as personal friends. A memorial plaque was unveiled in the crypt the following year and Fleming’s original lab where penicillin was discovered is preserved in the museum to him at St Mary’s. Bro. Chris Igoe JD 1063
In the Beginning??
We have encountered diversity of interpretation of the word 'freemason' in England. In Scotland it first appears in its modern significance in 1725 when the Lodge of Edinburgh is described as 'the Society of Free Masons'. The words 'frie mesones' used in the same lodge a century earlier clearly relate to the Freedom of a Burgh - the right to practise the Craft. In 1483 we have in Aberdeen 'Masonreys of the leige', here meaning the body of workmen who used the room or lodge. Much has been claimed on behalf of the Guild organization in England, but we have shown how tenuous was the thread of continuity.
North of the Border, the disruption of war meant poverty and the Mason Guilds were forced to amalgamate with the organisations of other Crafts.
The general medieval organisation ran on similar lines to the English, though direct labour tended to give place to the contract system. The term “Master Mason” is constantly met with., sometimes describing the chief technical official, sometimes a grade of employee - a master tradesman working on a job with his own servants. The duties are nowhere clearly defined and examples of the second form are found at Holyrood House in 1735-36 where two master masons are engaged on the same job, one at 18 schillings a week and one at 16 schillings (Scots).
Then, it is not easy to sub-divide the Scottish building craft; indeed no less an authority than Douglas Knoop divides them into three groups and admits some overlapping. These were quarriers who hewed and roughly prepared the stone, cowans, or builders of drystone walls, a craft not yet extinct in the north of England (or, alternatively and more commonly, masons without the Word) and masons, there being no distinction in Scotland between hewers and layers. We have seen that in England there was little or no sign of organization among the masons before the latter part of the fourteenth century, also that the Guilds tended to develop on oligarchic lines.
In Scotland the excluded humbler brethren did not supinely accept their lost status but built up their own organization which grew in power as the Merchant Gilds declined, despite attempts to 'supress' leagues and bands of craftsmen. A statute of 1424 placed each craft under a Deacon (for the sake of simplicity we are omitting many delightfully medieval Scots ways of spelling and expression). Two years later the Deacon's powers were restricted to a testing of the craftsman's proficiency while the fixing of wages was vested in the council of the local burgh. Within half a century the Masons and Wrights of Edinburgh were strong enough to obtain from the Burgh a Charter of Incorporation of the Freemen-Masons and Wrights of Edinburgh, the 'Seal of Cause' of 1475. Trade Regulations were drawn up.
Acacia
destroyed. Its body may be murdered, its disappearance may be effected, the rubbish of the Temple and a temporary grave may conceal it for a time, but where is interred that which is mortal, there grows an evergreen or ever living sprig of acacia - acacia none the less that it may be a spiritual sprig, a plant not of the earth, but earthly.
To Freemasons, the symbolic significance of the Acacia has a double aspect, as the tree is the symbol Both of Innocence and of Immortality of the Soul. Its character as a symbol of Innocence is dependent upon the two-fold meaning of the Greek word for Acacia as that word signifies both the Acacia and the moral quality of innocence or purity of life.
An Attentive Ear
The three precious jewels of a F.C, which are the attentive ear, the instructive tongue and the faithful breast and are thus explained.
Symbolically, the sprig of acacia is said to be emblematical of “our faith in the immortality of the soul,” and this on account of the fact that the acacia happens to be an evergreen, meaning that its leaves are suffered to fall neither in summer nor in winter. But, perhaps there is still yet something more to this humble yet potent symbol.
The attentive ear receives the sound from the instructive tongue and the secrets of Ancient Freemasonry are safely lodged within the repository of the faithful breast.
The Freemason should ever lend an attentive ear to his superiors, whose duty it is to instruct him in the paths of virtue and science; but more especially should he be ready to listen to the calls and cries of a worthy brother in distress. Day by day the attentive ear may hear lessons of wisdom from the mouth of Mother Nature, and the Freemason who devotes himself to a patient study of the science will find that the Craft is eloquent for those who have ears to hear.
Albert Pike said that the acacia is “the same tree which grew up around the body of Osiris. It was sacred among the Arabs, who made of it the idol Al-Uzza, which Mohammed destroyed. It is abundant as a bush in the Desert of Thur: and of it the “crown of thorns” was composed, which was set on the forehead of Jesus of Nazareth. It is a fit type of immortality on account of its tenacity of life; for it has been known, when planted as a doorpost, to take root again and shoot out budding boughs over the threshold.”
For at least two hundred years and probably much longer the sprig of acacia has held Freemasonry’s premier teaching. The grave is not the end. Bodies die and decay, but something “which bears the nearest affinity to that which pervades all nature and which never, never, dies,” rises from the grave to become one of that vast throng which has preceded us. Error can slay, as can evil and selfish greed, but not permanently. That which is true and fair and fine cannot be
Penalty
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It is significant that our “penal” derives from the Latin for pain, paena, the root of our penance, penalty, penitence, penitentiary, punish, primitive, pine, and a circle of similar English words. It has the meaning of pain inflicted for the purpose of correction, discipline, or protecting society, never the infliction of pain for its own sake. Our own penalties are symbolical in form, their language being derived from early English forms of punishment for heresy and treason.
Our Lodge ~ Our History ~ Part 3 The Charter of the Lodge is dated 15th March 1768 and is signed by:-
The Grand Master Mason, Andrew Allison, S.G. Master; Alex Elphinstone,S.G. Warden; Henry Bethune J.G. Warden; Alex McDougal, Grand Secretary.
The above Charter of Erection is recorded in ye Grand Lodge Book upon ye 127, 128 and 129 pages by Archibald Megget, Grand Clerk. 22nd March 1768 Received fees, James Hunter, Grand Treasurer. The Grand Master Mason at this time was The Right Honourable George Ramsay Eight Earl of Dalhousie.
The petitioners who presented the petition for the Charter and the office for which they were proposed are as follows: Robert Blair Master; William Braidwood Warden; James Alexander Warden; William Jones Deputy Master; William Smart Treasurer; Charles McDonald Steward; Thomas Robertson Steward; William Douglas Secretary; David Broadwood Officer.
The Lodge is designated in the Charter (by the stile and title of St. John’s Lodge at Fisherrow). At first it was given No.142 in 1816 No.110 in 1822 No.109 and in 1826 No.112. The Grand Lodge records do not give the Mother Lodges of the Petitioners and although a great deal of research has been done to try and get the information, the effort has been unsuccessful.
Following the Charter there is an entry in Grand Lodge records on 13th November as follows:“The Dues of entry of the undermentioned eight Brothers being One pound sterling was paid to the Grand Treasurer upon his receipt. D.B. Clerk.” Thomas Cowan, Flesher; John Penman, Wright; John Cathes, Shoemaker; William Guild, Merchant; Robert Anderson, toolmaker; Robert Miller, Weaver; Primrose Hamilton, Barber; David Thomson, Toolmaker; Thomas Cowan, Flesher; would appear to be the first entry in the Lodge. Next mention of the Lodge is in 1803, when it was represented at the Laying of the Foundation Stone of St. Michael’s Parish Church. The Lodge was inactive about 1808 as can be seen from the Excerpt from the Charter issued in that year to Lodge Portobello already referred to.
One of the earliest available records in the Lodge is a Register giving the names of the members of the Benefit Society which, according to the statement therin contained started in 1813. A Brother had to be a member of a Benefit Society to become a member of the Lodge, but the system of Book-Keeping was such that all entry money and other monies earned were entered into the income of the Society. A Brother did not pay any test fees as we know them today, but there are entries in the income showing payments for raising and papering. A Brother who was a member of the Society paid 2/- per quarter plus fines of 3d and 6d (there is no information why such fines were levied). For these payments a member could draw sickness and funeral benefit and also qualify for a Superannuation Scheme.
A complete copy of the statement from this Register, plus a list of all the Society members in order of entry and the year of death, expulsion or leaving has been made for the Lodge Archives.
Many of the names are local and are to be found in the town today. It is considered that such a record might be useful to any of the brethren trying to trace their ancestors.
The next available record is an account book of the Benefit Society starting in the year 1825. It would seem that, although this is the Benefit Society account book, it covers all relative income and expenditure by the Lodge, e.g. it shows that Grand Lodge Certificates were paid from 1825 - 1861. It has been ascertained from these accounts that the Lodge must have held meetings in the Hammermans Hall as there are entries for payment of rent to the Hammermans Society - these payments continued during 1830 when the Lodge were building their new hall in Bridge Street.
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The Town Clerk of Musselburgh passed on the information that recently the Town Council had purchased a lot of old property on he South side of North High Street as a site for the new Brunton Hall. The Lodge appears to have been quite prosperous in 1830 and had a healthy bank balance. No doubt this was due to the fact that they were only paying a small rent for the premises in which they held their meetings and were not burdened with the overhead expenses of a landlord. Nevertheless they decided to have a home of their own and the following notice appeared in the Scotsman Newspaper of 8th March 1830:-
The Fisherrow St. John Lodge is to walk in procession to lay the Foundation Stone of their Hall in Bridge Street, on Friday 26th instant when they respectfully solicit the assistance of their Sister Lodges on this occasion. Those wishing to dine with the Brethren will be pleased to give their names to Mr Wilson, Commercial Inn, Musselburgh, or to the R.W.M. of the Lodge between now and the 24th instant. Dinner tickets 3/-d each. J.Gray, Secretary
The Brethren to assemble in the Aitchison’s Haven Lodge, East End of Musselburgh at one o’clock, pm. The Lodge had entered into an agreement with Thomas Brown a Surgeon in Musselburgh to purchase the Feu in Bridge Street for £145 and an annual feu duty of 2/-d. They were given permission to erect a tenement of two storeys on the Feu. The Lodge did not pay the sum of £145 until the year 1845 (this payment will appear in the accounts which follow) but obviously they had paid the Feu duty and interest on the capital sum until this date.
On payment of the sum of £145 the Trustees of the said Thomas Brown (now deceased) granted a Feu Disposition in favour of Henry Kemp, Merchant in Musselburgh, the present Master, John MacGilvray, Teacher, in Fisherrow, Treasurer, and William Brooks Junior, Spirit Dealer, Secretary, dated 16th and 21st July, 1845. A warrant of Registration is engrossed on this deed as follows:- “On 24th July 1861 Register on behalf of Henry Kemp, Merchant formerly of Musselburgh, now in New York, as sole surviving Trustee for behalf of Saint John Lodge Society, Fisherrow, Musselburgh, Thomas Lees, Writer, Musselburgh, Agent of the said Henry Kemp.
On 18th September 1861 the property was disposed to Hugh Gray by the Trustees of Saint John Lodge Society. Bro. Hugh Gray died in April 1890 and the said deed was registered in name of his Trustees on 13th October 1890. In the minute of 19th September 1888, it was agreed that a debt due by the Lodge to Brother Hugh Gray, and for, which he holds a Bond over the property of the Lodge be paid; yet in the later minutes we find Brother Gray receiving rent from the Lodge - in these minutes he is described as proprietor. The property was sold to Brother Gray on 1st September 1861 for £430. The property was purchased from Brother Gray’s Trustees on 27th November 1929 by Musselburgh Town Council and converted into a Dental Clinic, the money for same having been bequeathed to the Town Council for this purpose by the “Brown Bequest”.
The Town Council sold the property to the Christian Brethren in 1960 and they in turn sold it to the present owners - another religious body - in June 1967. The Commercial Inn, at one time known as the French Ambassador House has been recently reconditioned. The stables behind were used by the Race Horse owners in the days when they had to bring their horses to Musselburgh Station by rail and walk them down the High Street to what was familiarly known at the time as Hilston’s stables. A photograph of the Commercial Inn is reproduced in a Book called Picturesque Musselburgh and its Golf Links. At the last race Meeting it would seem that the stables are still being used on Race days.
Some of the entries in the accounts are rather interesting. In 1826 the Entrance Fee is given as £1.19.6d which includes Grand Lodge dues of 5/6d. In the year 1830 and 1831 there are several entries in the income showing loans from various Brethren presumably to meet the cost and expenses in connection with the new Hall.
The Expenditure as already mentioned shows items for rent paid to the Hammermans Society. There is an item “Paid Mr Ritchie for bust of St. John” but there is no amount shown.
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This is quite interesting for curiously enough the Christian Brethren left the Hammermans Hall some years ago and went to the Hall in Bridge Street which the Lodge built in 1830. Recently they removed to a Hall of their own and the new occupants of the Hall handed over a bust of St. John to the Lodge - no doubt the same bust purchased from Mr Ritchie.
In 1836 - Paid for “Grand Lodge Laws”, 2/-d, this was presumably the first edition of Grand Lodge Laws. In the same year there is an entry Paid James Turner for 150 diplomas £5.3.0. The Lodge at one time issued their own diplomas but eventually Grand Lodge took this over and they are all now issued from Edinburgh. In this connection there should be two Diplomas issued by the Lodge in the Archives viz: - One into name of James Easton Snr, dated 27th December 1812 presented to the Lodge in 1923 by one James Easton, Tannor, Beaverbank, Edinburgh, and the other in the name of James Mason dated 1814 and signed by the Master Andrew Elly, Senior Warden James Milne and Junior Warden Peter Henderson.
In 1844 - Paid Lodge Aitchison’s Haven for seven Aprons 10/-d. In 1845 Paid to the Trustees of the late Thomas Brown for Feu - £145 and in 1852 there appears an entry for £73.10.0.d for legal expenses no doubt incurred in the protracted litigation when the Lodge were endeavouring to evict the tenant from the house of which they were owners. Many entries appear for “Snuff and Toddy” for Deputations. The accounts were audited for the first time in 1845 by Brothers Peter Miller and Hugh Mark.
The Final Account of 1861 shows a balance of £4.6.8d and £3 for Lodge Furniture, a rather precarious position. On 7th January 1848, correspondence was received from Grand Lodge intimating that a new edition of the Laws would be published shortly after the Quarterly Communication in February and it was proposed to mention in the appendix the colour of the clothing opted by each Lodge holding of the Grand Lodge of Scotland. Reply sent to this letter as follows:- “Fisherrow Saint John’s No.112, Silk Velvet Crimson Sashes trimmed with Light Blue Ribbon, the bibs of the Aprons corresponding with colour of Sashes”.
On 15th January 1848 a further communication was received regarding the Election of Office-Bearers to which reply was sent saying that the Election of Office-Bearers took place on St. Andrew’s Day but that they were not allowed to take office until St. John’s Day.
The Centenary of Grand Lodge was celebrated in 1836 and only Aitchison’s Haven represented Musselburgh.
A Special Committee was appointed by Grand Lodge to go into the question - ‘How far Benefit Societies in connection with Lodges are conducive or otherwise to the prosperity of Masonry in Scotland’ and on 6th May 1844 they made their report to Grand Lodge. After the report had been considered and approved, Grand Lodge made certain resolutions regarding the working of Benefit Societies in connection with Lodges and also made a recommendation to the effect that the funds of the Lodge should be kept separately and distinct from those of the Benefit Society.
As we have already seen the three Lodges in Musselburgh had Benefit Societies connected with them all and it may be that such resolutions as were made by Grand Lodge along with the recommendation re Funds may have had some effect on all three Lodges. Be that as it may, we have come to the end of the first hundred years and find that Lodge Aitchison’s Haven and Musselburgh Kilwinning are now defunct and that Lodge St. John Fisherrow is in a very precarious financial position and if not defunct at least inactive, in which condition she remained until 1869.
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The Diamond in The Quarry
In my travels in Freemasonry-- my first step to now, I have met men from all walks of life. Those who came for various reasons, but we all share a common bond of humanity. We are all drawn to the work of Freemasonry for a reason. Some find out why and some know right out of the gate.
For the sake of humility for the Lodge and man, I will refrain from using names. When I was invited to this particular Lodge, I was instantly put to work. The Lodge culture was drastically different than what I was used to. Prospective members, Entered Apprentice, and Fellowcrafts are buzzing away and Master Masons were providing guidance. I had, on one occasion, asked a potential Candidate how long he had been coming to this Lodge and seeking membership. He said, "Five months now. I just earned my signatures and will be voted on next month." I was stunned for a moment.
Previously I came from a Lodge that would give them out on the first or second day. Granted, I had my affiliation application in hand with two endorsements from Brothers I had known for some time. But I knew in my heart; it would be wrong for me to hand it in right away after seeing these candidates for the degrees--working so hard to gain admission. I worked a committee for one year before I was told, "The Brothers are asking when are you going to affiliate?" It was then I knew I had "earned" my place with these craftsmen.
That year I had worked closely with a Brother who had invited me over to the Lodge to learn the roles of the committee. It would be an understatement if I said this Brother helps in the Lodge. He is a vital pulse to the Lodge. And in my opinion, "The Diamond in The Quarry." We are builders and this man builds everything, from events to the men around him.
"Some flex and some lift." This Brother is a powerlifter. No matter how far-fetched my idea or the ideas of others are, he will encourage you to go for it.
But I have learned it cannot be half-hearted. It has to be all in. If you want education, he will ask, "What have you set up? What speakers or topics do you have in place?" If you want events, he will chip away at your thoughts then give you some of his own. Helping you build on your ideas.
It's men like this that challenge you mentally, that the Craft needs. Also, these kinds of men make a Lodge successful. We all have lifters in the Lodge when you fall, they brush you off and instill a sense of pride that makes you keep going. They are the ones who will sit back and watch you succeed and ask for nothing in return. Believe me when I say I've seen this first-hand from this man.
Men like this, build temples. The men around them and ultimately, humanity is made better. Is this not the work of a Craftsman? Shouldn't we strive to build all around us? In this trying time, Masonry--her teachings and the guidance of these "diamonds" are needed, now more than ever. In the words of a great man, I will close with this: "Diamonds lay dormant, they hide from the profane (undeserving), you must dig for them. Bro. Michael Laidlaw Midnight Freemasons
Next issue March 2021