82
NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 s. vi. AUG. 3, 1912.
in this Lodge, had discharged its duties with the
greatest zeal and fidelity. The Toast met with
a very warm reception, and B r Ebsworth made a
feeling and suitable reply."
A. M. MACKAY, Past Master 36.
Mr. Mackay, in addition to the above note, has kindly called our attention to the historical sketch of the Lodge of Sir Walter Scott which appeared in The Freemason for the 24th of February last. From this we give the following extracts :
" Previous to the formation of the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1736, Masonic Lodges were formed apparently without permission, and were granted charters from Lodges already existing. An instance of this occurred on the 24th of June, 1736, when three Brethren made application to their Mother Lodge, the celebrated Canongate Kil- winning, No. 2 (chartered by Mother Kilwinning in 1677), to form a Lodge at Leith, and in response to this application the members of the Canongate Kilwinning Lodge went to Leith and there con- secrated and ordained a new Lodge under the title of Leith Kilwinning. This Lodge, now extinct, originally held No. 5 on the roll of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and from it there arose two years later the Canongate Kilwinning from Leith Lodge, now St. David, the latter name being adopted in August, 1756.
" Bro. Archibald Smart was installed first Master on 2nd March, 1738, and from that date the Lodge commenced its labours. The charter was not granted until later, and bears the date 7th February, 1739. The colour of the clothing at the start was scarlet. It was altered to blue in 1757, and then to dark green (velvet) and gold in 1800, at which it now remains.
" The first Regulations and Bye-laws of this old Lodge were approved of in June, 1738, and consist of ten articles in which there is a pleasant flavour of antiquity. No one was to be ad- mitted unless he were unanimously chosen. Only such as ' ye Right Worshipful ' thought proper could be raised to the sublime Degree of Master Mason, and Brethren accused of swearing in the Lodge, proved on the testimony of two Brethren, had to pay sixpence, besides receiving a rebuke from the chair. The Officer of the Lodge was to be present, ' precisely at the striking of ye hour appointed by the Master, and shall there sett up an half-hour glass, and when the said glass is run, then the roll shall be called, and the absents shall then pay three shillings Scots, and in case there shall be another half-hour glass run. then, and in that case, every absent Brother shall pay sixpence.' New Bye-laws were ap- proved of and printed in 1757. These consist of thirty-eight articles, and are believed to be the earliest preserved printed code in Scotland. A copy was kindly presented to the Lodge by the eminent Masonic historian, Bro. William James Hughan, the only other known copy being in the Signet Library, Edinburgh. The first mention of a Benevolent Fund occurs in 1754, when on the 13th February the Master proposed ' that the whole profit arising from the Punch, after defray- ing the expenses of the materials, coal, candle, bread and cheese, be sett apart by itself as a fund for the relief of the indigent Brethren belonging to this Lodge, and that a book be kept for that
purpose.' Of several distinguished membeiv-
who became Grand Master Masons of Scotland, thc-
following may be mentioned :
"James, Master of Forbes, afterwards sixteenth Baron Forbes ; David, sixth Earl of Leven and Melville ; Sir James Stirling, Bart., Lord Provost of Edinburgh; and Charles William, Earl of Dalkeith, afterwards fourth Duke of Buccleuch. Lord Forbes became Master twenty-four years after he had occupied the Throne of Grand Lodge, and Lord Leven and Melville was Master during his term of office as Grand Master Mason.
" On the 19th of March, 1819, Thomas Bruce^ seventh Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, was initiated. It was through this Earl that the British Museum was enriched by the collection of sculptures known as the Elgin' Marbles. Many more distinguished members who graced the Lodge Roll and passed through the chair may be noted : William Baillie, first Lord Polkemmet, William Campbell of Fairfield, James Gibson,, afterwards Sir James Gibson Craig of Ric- carton, Sir John Dick of Prestonfield, Sir- Patrick Walker of Coates, Usher of the White- Rod of Scotland, Lord Robert Kerr, John Donald- son Boswall of Wardie, Capt. R.N., John Brown Douglas, W.S., the Hon. Henry Walpole, and the Rev. John Glasse, D.D., Past Grand Chaplain-
" Of poets Lodge St. David can boast of a charming variety, amongst others, James Callen- der, First Junior Warden of the Lodge, a copy of whose collection of Masonic Songs, published in 1758, was presented to Grand Lodge in 1851 z Erasmus Darwin, physician and physiologist as- well as poet, the grandfather of Charles Darwin,, the naturalist ; Gavin Wilson, the poetical shoe- maker, who published in 1788 a collection of Masonic Songs in which the praises of the Lodge and its members form a prominent part; Sir
Walter Scott and the Rev. Henry Scott
Riddell. As the office of Poet Laureate was- unknown until about 1830, Bro. Henry Scott Riddell was the only one of those referred to- who held that position. He was installed Bard of Lodge St. John, Hawick, in 1866, and held that office until his death, and that Lodge met at Teviotdale on the 24th September, 1898, for the purpose of unveiling a memorial tablet in the cottage where the poet lived and died.
" Walter Scott, father of the great novelist,, was initiated in the Lodge on 4th January, 1754. He was an enthusiastic Craftsman, and as Senior Warden was one of three in the ballot for Master, but was not elected. He occasionally presided in the absence of the Master, and signed the minutes so late as 1785. His portrait is drawn- for us by his son in the character of Saunders- Fairford in ' Redgauntlet.' His illustrious son r Sir Walter, was initiated, passed, and raised at an emergency meeting held on 2nd March, 1801 ....
" Owing to want of attendance books at that period it is not known whether Sir Walter was a regular attender. At his request an emergency meeting was held on 23rd March, 1802, for the purpose of initiating a gentleman from England, called Dewhurst Bilsborrow of Dalbyhouse. On the 4th June, 1816, Sir Walter, who was then Sheriff Depute of Selkirkshire, laid the foundation- stone of the Freemasons' Hall at Selkirk, and on bhat occasion he was elected an honorary member of Lodge St. John, Selkirk. The Brethren then spent the evening in harmony, Brother Scott
