112 On The Level
Masonic Magazine for St. John Fisherrow No.112 Issue No.12 November 2020
From the Editor Hello Brethren, and welcome to another edition of “On the Level� No. 11, November 2020
As the cold and darkened nights of November arrives it also brings us into a time where we reflect and remember our family members and the Brethren of yesterday, who left to serve our Country. We must remember the men and women from every part of the British Empire and its Allies, who gave selflessly by themselves in countless campaigns and conflicts at places the names of which are carved into the soul of this nation, Gallipoli, Somme, Ypres, Dunkirk, Iraq, Afghanistan, Northern Ireland and many many more.
We will remember those who fought on the field of battle, in the air and on the sea. Those who nursed and those who supported, those who served in fields and factories, those who sailed and fished the seas in tempest deep, and those with coal dust in their lungs who kept the home fires burning. Brethren, the souls of the righteous are in the hands of God.
The Right Worshipful Master Hello Brethren and welcome to November 2020’s edition of “On the Level”. I sincerely hope that every brother not only here in 112, but throughout our fraternal globe, are all safe and well.
It’s very strange that as the months are passing by without any meetings or social events, wouldn’t it be great if we could turn the clock back to 2019 just in time to start a new 2020. Hopefully Lodge meetings will return sometime soon in 2021 under the guidance of our Grand Master Mason and Grand Lodge.
Sadly we learnt of the death of one of our older members, Bro. Charlie Williams, who was a well known Musselburgh family man. Bro. Charlie passed to the Grand Lodge Above on Wednesday 30th September at the age of 89 years old. Bro. Charlie was initiated on 17th January 1968, Passed on 3rd April 1968, Raised on 30th November 1968 and Marked on 7th May 1969. He leaves 2 sons and 2 daughters – daughter Christine is married to Bro. Campbell Carey. Our sympathies and condolences are extended to his family.
Brethren as it’s nearly Christmas time again, we can look forward to spending time with our loved ones, enjoying the festivities within the safety and warmth of our own homes, one of the few times in the year where everyone makes an attempt to be together with loved ones and relatives, exchanging gifts and stories, and I on behalf of the brethren of 112, I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.
It is also a time that can bring a touch of sadness as we look back over the year, and years, whilst raising a glass or two to family and friends who are no longer with us. Perhaps what the Christmas and New Year period bring to us most, even if we don’t realise it, are the three theological virtues, namely Faith, Hope, and Charity which allow mankind to share in Brotherly Love. These virtues also strongly enforce the moral virtues of a freemason and perhaps, especially at this time of year we can use these virtues to put away any petty differences. 3
The Musselburgh Co. 1/7th Black Watch
Quintinshill Disaster 22 May 1915
Above is a photograph of some of the young men from Musselburgh. It was taken the day before the accident. At 6.45 on the morning of 22 May 1915, a troop train carrying soldiers of the 1/7th Battalion Royal Scots crashed into a stationary local passenger train near Quintinshill Junction on the Glasgow to Carlisle railway line, near Gretna in Dumfriesshire. The initial collision was caused by mistakes made by the railway signalmen. The northbound local train had been stopped in the path of the southbound troop train, which was carrying the battalion from Larbert to Liverpool. The Royal Scots were due to embark for Gallipoli. Minutes after the collision a northbound express train ploughed into the wreckage was undoubtedly one of the town’s darkest days when 36 Musselburgh men of the 7th Battalion Royal Scots died in Britain’s worst railway disaster. The horrific crash at Quintinshill claimed a total of 226 lives and injured countless others.
Corporal 834 Alexander George Somerville
Alexander George Somerville was born in 1891, the son of Robert, a Musselburgh cab driver, and his wife Catherine. Alexander had been working as a brewer's clerk since at least 1911, and had lived at 37 High Street with his parents. During peacetime he joined the 1/7th Battalion Scots, like many other young men in and around the town. By the time of the crash Somerville was a corporal. General mobilisation on 30 July 1914 was followed by a declaration of war on 4 August, to which Somerville reacted by immediately writing his will, in which he left everything to his mother. He left the document at home, and after his death on 22 May 1915 it was officially recorded at Edinburgh Commissary Office. His estate amounted to a life insurance policy for £106 and a friendly society sum of £10.
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Musselburgh Home Guard 1943
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Did Ye Ken...
THEORY OF THE GOOD LIFE
In 1941, most of Europe had been conquered and occupied by the Germans. Among the larger democracies, only Britain had been able to resist the Nazi aggression and was continuing to fight. While many Americans, including President and Bro. Franklin Roosevelt, wanted the United States to help, there was strong sentiment against entering the war in Europe. Bro. Roosevelt used his annual State of the Union address to urge Congress to approve an ambitious "Lend-Lease" program whereby the U.S. would become the "arsenal of democracy" and provide weapons to help Britain and any other Allies to defend their freedom against the Axis powers. In the speech, Bro. Roosevelt also defined four essential freedoms worth defending: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Congress responded two months later with Lend-Lease legislation, which released vast quantities of war materials to Britain, and later to China and the USSR, and got the U.S. industrial economy on a war footing before the country entered WWII.
A man can never hurt or help natural forces. He can spread his sail, but that does not affect the wind. He can overturn the sod with his plough, but the sod does not scream back at him with pain. He can send his wireless messages through space, but that does not change the structure of the atmosphere. A man does not have much choice in his dealings with nature. If he steps from a roof he immediately falls to the earth, whatever be his opinions of gravity. The sun shines, night darkens, seasons change, rain falls, the ocean moves through its tides, but the will of man has nothing to do with all this. A man's relationship with his fellow men is very different. He can hurt or help them, bless or curse. What he says may change the course of another's fortunes: what he does may be a matter of life and death to another. And all that he does to and with his fellows is largely under the control of his own will, for he can choose to act or not to act, to think or not to think, to speak or not to speak, and he can so choose when he knows that his thoughts, words, or deeds will influence them greatly one way or another. This is also true of a man's own self, and his relationship with himself: he can make his own person the object of his thoughts and acts for good or ill, and, as these thoughts and acts are of his own choosing, he is responsible, and they become a part of his conduct. All the ways in which a man affects himself, and in which men affect each other, for which men are responsible, comprise the materials of morality, of which ethics is the science.
Did Ye Ken.... anither hing!!
In 1941, Bro. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd US President, citing what he called the "Four Freedoms," asked Congress to approve a multimillion-dollar pogrom of aid to the countries fighting the war against Nazi Germany. The President called the proposed lend-lease program vital in promoting the defence of the nation, His speech outlined four goals: (1) Freedom of speech and expression; (2) Freedom of people to worship God in their own way; (3) Freedom from want; and (4) Freedom from fear. All of the points referred to the Freedoms as fundamental "to all peoples anywhere in the world.�
The Pot of Incense
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The Pot of Incense is an emblem of a pure heart which is always an acceptable sacrifice to the Deity. As it glows with fervent heat, so should our hearts continually glow with gratitude, to the great and beneficent Author of the Universe, for the manifold comforts and blessings which we enjoy.
~ Our Lodge, Our History ~
Billet 1964
RWM Bro. Jim Steel with Bro. Jimmy Hill, Tyler 1993
Bro Hugh McQueen
Brothers E.W. & T.W Yeoman ‘68
Special Decanter presented to Lodge
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Brethren of 112 parading back to the Lodge in Bridge during our 150 Anniversary which was in 1918 during the First World War but celebrated in 1920. Sir John A. Hope was the Right Worshipful Master.
Mr Tom Renouf MBE
Brethren, as this is the November issue of the magazine, it’s always the time to remember our fallen. Although Mr Tom Renouf MBE was not a member of 112, he certainly was very prominent man in ‘Oor Toun’.
Thomas Joseph Renouf was born on 28 March 1925 in Fisherrow, Musselburgh, East Lothian, and was educated at Musselburgh Grammar School. Always known as Tom, he was captain of the 1st XV which was undefeated during his captaincy.
Returning to active duty he served in Holland and at the Battle of the Bulge at La Roche, in the Ardennes, where it was so cold the bolts on their rifles froze. After that it was on to the Reichswald, launching an assault in the narrow gap between the Rhine and the Maas. Many soldiers were still teenagers but “killing was our daily bread and it felt as if we had been doing it all our lives,” he said.
Tom, who died aged 91, in 2015 was awarded the Military Medal in the Battle of the Rhine Crossing in Germany in 1945 and subsequently had a distinguished career as a research scientist and teacher
In March 1945 Renouf, who was serving with the 5th Battalion The Black Watch (5 BW), took part in the forced crossing of the Rhine. During the assault, the leading company was held up by intense and accurate machine gun fire short of the village of Esserden. Renouf, then a lancecorporal in command of a section, realised the vital importance of continuing to push forward and, ignoring the heavy fire, worked his way up to the nearest machine gun post. He hurled a grenade at it, then charged in and killed or captured the gunners.
Then came the battle for Goch, a central stronghold in the Siegfried Line and gateway to the German heartlands, fiercely defended by crack enemy troops. Crossing the square meant running the gauntlet of snipers and he was not amused when a newsreel photographer asked him to make a dash to a doorway, running into sniper fire, while he filmed him. “I politely refused, saying I did not want to be an extinct star.”
He was wounded – when caught in a burst of machine gun fire during an attack on Chateau Mauny, near the Seine – he was with the 5th Black Watch. At the end of an 18-hour journey to hospital he was pronounced incredibly lucky: a bullet had gone straight through him, exiting his body and just missing his spine. A fraction of an inch lower and he would have been paralysed. During his recovery, Renouf, a jazz fan who had played clarinet and piano and performed with several dance bands before the war, formed a jazz group, playing at nearby hospitals. It was brief respite.
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His company came under withering fire from a group of houses close by. Renouf feared that they would take very heavy losses unless quick action was taken and, entirely on his own initiative, he led his section across 70 yards of open, bullet-swept ground to attack these houses. Having forced an entry into the first of the buildings, he killed or took prisoner all the enemy inside and went on to clear the rest of the area of resistance. The citation for the award to him of an Immediate MM paid tribute to his magnificent dash and inspired bravery.
With the war drawing to a close he was granted leave and headed home. It was his 20th birthday. A month later, on the way to back to Germany, he passed the recently liberated Belsen concentration camp. The sight and smell of the place, still inhabited by wretched crowds of abandoned prisoners who had “clearly been through hell”, was shocking, he said.
He took a leading part in the design of the memorials to the Highland Division.
Together with his close friend, Alan Herriot, and help from the Army, they commissioned and transported monuments, including full sized bronze statues, and dedicated these to fallen comrades.
In 2014, he was awarded the Legion d'Honneur by the President of the French Republic. Later that year, he made his last pilgrimage when, together with a small number of veterans, he went to Gennep, Holland, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the town’s liberation by the 51st Highland Division.
Victory in Europe was declared a week later and the Black Watch’s focus moved to identify ex SS men and war criminals on the run. Whilst manning a checkpoint near Bremerhaven they took various prisoners and, on checking the guardroom, Tom noticed one in particular seemed odd. A small man, dressed as a postman but sporting an eye patch, amulet round his neck and fancy watch, he was identified as a sergeant with the secret field police. After meekly handing over his valuables to a guard he was taken for questioning. It was then he demanded to speak to the camp commandant, a former Edinburgh policeman, and declared “Ich bin Herr Heinrich Himmler.” The SS and Gestapo leader, the world’s most wanted man, died soon afterwards, biting on a cyanide pill.
Tom Renouf’s portrait was painted as part of The Last of the Tide, an exhibition commissioned by Prince Charles, and was exhibited in London in 2015. he was awarded an MBE. His memoirs were published in 2011 under the title Black Watch. He married, in 1962, Kathleen Webster, who survives him with their son.
Tom Renouf, born March 28 1925, died 27 June 2016.
A True Musselburgh Hero
Tom later swapped the guard 300 cigarettes for Himmler’s watch which he kept as a souvenir of his encounter with “this vile man”.
He was promoted to lieutenant in June 1945 and was demobilised the following year. After working on building sites and with the Electricity Board, he went up to Edinburgh University where he gained a PhD in sub-atomic particle theory. He then spent eight years at the Royal Military College of Science, Shrivenham, before returning to Scotland to take up an appointment as a research scientist at Edinburgh University. He finished his academic life as a teacher of Physics at St. Margaret’s School for Girls. Tom was an accomplished pianist and also played the clarinet and guitar. He enjoyed singing as well as playing popular songs from his childhood.
Keystone
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The stone placed in the center of an arch which preserves the others in their places, and secures firmness and stability to the arch. As it was formerly the custom of Operative Masons to place a peculiar mark on each stone of a building to designate the workman by whom it had been adjusted, so the Keystone was most likely to receive the most prominent mark, that of the Superintendent of the structure. Such is related to have occurred to that Keystone which plays so important a part in the legend of the Royal Arch Degree.
THE UNEVEN BATTLE
Famous Quotes:
We deplore the inequalities of life, and especially do we dwell on the disadvantages that honesty suffers at the hands of dishonesty, and truth at the hands of falsehood.
Freemasonry has tenets peculiar to itself. They serve as testimonials of character and qualifications, which are only conferred after due course of instruction and examination. These are of no small value; they speak a universal language, and act as a passport to the attentions and support of the initiated in all parts of the world. They cannot be lost as long as memory retains its power. Let the possessor of them be expatriated, shipwrecked or imprisoned, let him be stripped of everything he has got in the world, still those credentials remain, and are available for use as circumstances require. The good effects they have produced are established by the most incontestable facts of history. They have stayed the uplifted hand of the destroyer; they have softened the asperities of the tyrant; they have mitigated the horrors of captivity; they have subdued the rancour of malevolence; and broken down the barriers of political animosity and sectarian alienation. On the field of battle, in the solitudes of the uncultivated forest, or in the busy haunts of the crowded city, they have made men of the most hostile feelings, the most distant regions, and diversified conditions, rush to the aid of each other, and feel a special joy and satisfaction that they have been able to afford relief to a Brother Mason.
If the avowed enemies of Masonry expound a system of propaganda which foundation is falsehood, by what means can Masonry carry the struggle to a successful end? "Hitlerism" arrogantly disclosed its fiendish disregard for Truth, and boasted of its plan to make falsehood become "Accepted Truth" through constant repetition.
Is not here the answer to our question, more clearly written into the pages of history than the strongest words?
There was the temporary victory of evil and of falsehood. There is always the temporary victory of evil. It thus feeds the vanity of villainy and instills an intoxicated confidence which results in destruction.
Masonry must fight the evils of our day just as it has fought through the centuries. Our only weapon is the Mason trained in the art of Masonry who lives, who speaks, who writes the Truth.
The final victory will be through a force unknown to despots, the moral force of the individual, his great faith, his sacrificial deeds, his unwaning hope.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
Did Ye Ken...
The inventor of the famous Sharps breech loading rifle, (known as the "Sharpshooter") used in the Civil War was Brother Christian Sharps. He was a member of Meridian Sun Lodge # 158, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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Of that Equilibrium between Good and Evil, and Light and Darkness in the world, which assures us that all is the work of the Infinite Wisdom and of an Infinite Love; and that there is no rebellious Demon of Evil, or Principle of Darkness co-existent and in eternal controversy with God, or the Principle of Light and of Good: by attaining to the knowledge of which equilibrium we can, through Faith, see that the existence of Evil, Sin, Suffering, and Sorrow in the world, is consistent with the Infinite Goodness as well as with the Infinite Wisdom of the Almighty.
Feast of St. John the Evangelist
Some believe that John, around 95 A.D. was exiled to the island of Patmos. There it is believed that he wrote Revelations. This is a matter for debate though. Many scholars believe that John of Patmos was not John the Evangelist. Beyond the Gospel of John, there are many works that are attributed to John the Evangelist, most, including the Gospel of John are still debated whether John the Evangelist actually wrote them. There are some scholars that believe that the Gospel of John was not written by anyone named John. This debate has raged since 200 A.D.
The Feast of St. John the Evangelist is celebrated annually on 27 December and marks the mid-winter.
St. John the Evangelist, along with St. John the Baptist are the two St. John's referred to in Masonic ritual.
John the Evangelist, also referred to as John the Theologian and the Apostle John, lived from approximately 15 A.D. to 100 A.D. In the Bible, the Gospel of John refers to an unnamed "disciple whom Jesus loved." It is believed that the Apostle John wrote the gospel because, in part, the author refers to James and Peter and is not claiming to be either of these two disciples. The writer of this gospel also is writing the Gospel in the light of the Synoptic Gospels which are the gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke. This leads to the conclusion that it must be the Apostle John. The term Evangelist comes from a Greek word which means "writer of the gospel", it is also in reference to the Latin word evangelism.
For Freemasonry, the Feast of St. John the Evangelist was utilized by many of the early Grand Lodges in England and Scotland as well as individual lodges. The Lodge of Edinburgh was associated with the aisle of St. John the Evangelist in St. Giles Cathedral as far back as the 15th century.
The Grand Lodge of All England, which was a masonic body located primarily in the city of York, as well as it's predecessor the Ancient Society of Freemasons in the City of York, elected it's President and, starting in 1725, its Grand Master on the Feast of St. John the Evangelist. The Ancient Grand Lodge of England also elected it's Grand Master on that day. When the Ancients and the Moderns merged in 1813 to become the United Grand Lodge of England it occurred on the Feast of St. John the Evangelist.
In most Christian traditions, the Apostle John is John the Evangelist. John the Evangelist as a historical figure was one of the "pillars" of the Jerusalem Church after Jesus' death. He is believed to be the only one of the Apostles to survive until old age. The other apostles all having been put to death for their faith.
Volume of the Sacred Law
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The proper Masonic name for the book on the altar even if it is the King James Version of the Bible. Just as Freemasonry uses the name Great Architect so as to be inclusive to the faiths of all its members, so too should it use the name Volume of the Sacred Law to be inclusive of all books of faith of its members. The candidate is obligated on the book of HIS faith.
Our Lodge ~ Our History ~ Part 2
St. Michael’s Parish Church ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On 16th September 1803, the Masonic Fraternity were strongly represented at the laying of the Foundation Stone of the present Church which was carried out in a Masonic, Military and Religious ceremony. In the Official programme of the day’s proceedings it is styled ‘The New Church of St. Michael’s, Inveresk.”
Bro. Charles Stewart, Right Worshipful Master of Lodge Musselburgh Kilwinning was authorised by the Grand Lodge of Scotland to perform the ceremony of laying the Foundation Stone and was granted the use of The Grand Lodge Jewels for the occasion. This was a single honour for Bro. Stewart and Lodge Musselburgh Kilwinning as this duty was usually carried out by the Grand Master Mason himself.
Among the distinguished guests present were:His Grace Henry Duke of Buccleuch, Patron Francis Charteris Wemys, Earl of Wemys The Hon. William Elphinstone of Carberry, Sir John Hope of Craighall, James Wauchope of Edmindstone, Miss Christian Dalrymple of Hailes, Robert Findlay, Esq, of Wallyford, The Rev, Dr. Alexander Carlyle D.D. (in his 56th year of his ministry).
“Obviously as invasion was expected at this time from our ‘inveterated enemies’ as the military were emcamped on the links under the command of General Sir James St. Clair Erskine, who had attended the ceremony. After the ceremony at the Church had been completed, a Divine Service was conducted in the Burgess Chapel, Newbigging by Dr. Carlyle “In a manner suitable for such a solemn occasion. Among the many Lodges represented, was Lodge St. John Fisherrow No.112, whose number at that time was No.142. According to Dr. Carlyle St. Michaels of Inveresk, the Parish Church is of great antiquity but of uncertain date. The present Church was built in 1805.” The following is a copy of a hand written report on the Laying of the Corner Stone at St. Michael’s Church, inversed by the Grand Lodge of Scotland.
Friday the 16th Day of September 1803, the day appointed for laying the Corner Stone of the New Church of St. Michael’s inversed, the Lodge Convened in the Town Hall of Musselburgh at Twelve o’Clock - The Grand Officers being clothed in the proper Jewels, clothing and Insignia of Office attended by the Brethren and Deputations from various Lodges in Edinburgh etc.. also Clothed in their proper clothing and Insignia of Office.
The Brethren so Convened, the Procession began and proceeded to the Lodge, which having opened, they then proceeded to where the Corner Stone was to be laid, in the following order:-
1st The Magistrates - Alex Clark and George Young, Esquires, attended by the Town Council, preceded by the Insignia of Office and a Band of Music. 2nd The Engineers Messrs Paton and White - and Architect Bro. Robert Nesbit, Jnr.
3rd The Grand Tyler, Brother Brooks carrying a Drawn Sword. 4th The Grand Steward, Brother Robert Moir with his Rod.
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5th The Golden Compass, Square, Plumb, Level.
6th The Golden Mallet, carried by Brother James Hay, Operative.
7th The Cornucopia filled with oats, carried by Brother Thos Scot, Operative. A Silver Cup filled with Wine, carried by Brother George Stewart, Operative. A Silver Cup filled with Oil.
8th A Large Chrystal Vase, containing Medals, Coins, etc, and an Edinburgh Almanac for 1801. One do for 1803 in which last is written the names of the Officers of the volunteers of Musselburgh - and Edinburgh Newspaper of the 13th September 1803 and also a Large Brass Plate on which is engraved the following inscription. St. Michael’s Inveresk, of Great Antiquity
The foundation Stone of this Rebuilt Church was laid in the 16th day of September in the year of our Lord 1803 and in the 43rd Year of the Reign of Our Most Pious and Gracious Sovereign George the Third, and in the presence of the Right Worshipful Master Charles Stewart, Master of the Fraternity of Freemasons of the Kilwinning Lodge in Musselburgh. In the Year of Masonry 1803.
Right Worshipful Master Charles Stewart, Grand Master (Late Magistrate) Alexander Vernor, Depute Master, John Taylor, Senior Warden, Martin Begg, Junior Warden, David Gullane, Treasurer, John Kemp, Secretary, Robert Moir, Grand Steward.
His Grace Henry Duke of Buccleuch - Patron, Francis Charteris Wemys, Earl of Wemys, The Hon. William Elphinstone of Carberry, Sir John Hope of Craighall, James Wauchope of Edmindstone, Miss Christian Dalrymple of Hailes, Robert Findlay, Esq, of Wallyford, The Rev, Dr. Alexander Carlyle D.D.in his 56th year of his ministry Alexander Clark and George Young, Baillies, Martin Begg, Treasurer, Musselburgh, Messrs Paton and White, Builders, Robert Nesbit, Architect.
And to defend our Happy Country against an Invasion at this time threatened by our Inveterate Enemies that are now Encamped on the Links under the Command of General Sir James St. Clair Erskine, Bart.
North British Militia Edinburghshire - Col. His Grace Henry, Duke of Buccleugh, Dumfriesshire - Col. Right Honourable The Earl of Dalkeith, Forfarshire - Col. The Honourable Archibald Douglas, Renfrewshire - Col. Right Honourable The Earl of Glasgow. 9th Grand Secretary, Brother Kemp, Grand Clerk, Brother Stewart, Jnr.
10th Grand Treasurer, Brother Gullane, Grand Chaplain, Brother Carlyle.
11th Senior Grand Warden, Brother Taylor, Junior Grand Warden, Brother Begg.
12th Holy Bible Open on a Velvet Cushion carried by Brother Nesbit Snr, the oldest Operative Brother.
13th Grand Master, Charles Stewart, Snr - on his Right Hand The Duke of Buccleugh - on his Left General Sir James St. Clair Erskine Bart, as his Depute and Grand Master. 14th Brethren of Lodge Musselburgh Kilwinning.
15th Deputations from the different Lodges according to seniority.
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16th Any Incorporate body Invited by the Magistrates to join the Procession.
When the procession arrived at the spot, the Magistrates went to the West of the Corner Stone, The Grand Master and His Officers to the East, where a table was placed with the Jewels and other Emblems of the Craft. The Substitute Grand Master then ordered the Stone to be slung and let down gradually making three regular stops before it came to its bed, while this was doing the Music played the Anthem.
The Substitute Grand Master then placed the Crystal Vase containing Coins, Medals, Inscriptions, etc, etc, in its proper place. The Grand Master, preceded by the Officers, the Jewels, etc, borne before them was conducted by the Late Grand Master, Depute and Substitute Grand Master to the site of the Stone, the Depute and Substitute relieving the Grand Master with the assistance of their two Operative Brethren turned the Stone and laid it on its Foundation - the Stone being laid.
The Grand Master with the Substitute on His Right Hand place themselves in the East of the Stone, The Grand Wardens standing on the West - The Square, Plumb, Level and Mallet were successively delivered to the Substitute and by him To the Grand Master, who applied the Square to that part of the Stone which is Square, the Plumb to several edges, and laid the Level above it in different positions and lastly gave the Stone three strokes of the Mallet saying:
“ May the Great Architect of the Universe enable us successfully to carry on and finish the work of which we have now laid the Corner Stone, and every other undertaking which may tend to the advantage of this place. May He be a Guard and Protection to it, and may it be long preserved from peril to decay” On which the Brethren gave three cheers and the Bands played the Anthem. The Cornucopia with the Wine and Oil were then delivered by the Grand Wardens to the Substitute Grand Master who handed them to the Grand Master, when he according to an Ancient Custom upon such occasions poured the Corn, Wine and Oil successively upon the Stone, saying: “ May the bountiful hand of Heaven ever supply this Country with abundance of Corn, Wine and Oil and all the necessary and comforts of Life”. The Brethren gave three cheers.
The Grand Master then addressed the Duke of Buccleuch as follows: “My Lord Duke - Deeply sensible of the Honour Your Grace has been pleased to put upon the Brethren and me by attending us to this Honourable Duty this day, in witnessing the laying the Corner Stone for Rebuilding this Church, be pleased to accept of Our sincere thanks. My Lord Duke, allow me to say, Your Grace’s unceasing attention for the welfare of the Country merits every soul’s best wishes thats within it. My Lord Duke, allow me to say, You are the King’s friend and the bulwark of Scotland - May Heaven preserve you and your family for the good of this Country, and hand down a Branch of your Noble Blood with the same spirit till latest of time, and retain the same Love of this Country is my soul’s wish”. His Grace made an excellent and handsome Reply to this Address.
The Grand Master then addressed Baillie Clark and Baillie Young, the Magistrates, as follows: “Messrs Clark and Young, in the name of the Brethren and in my own name, I return you my sincere thanks for the honor you have done on this day - you have long swayed the Sceptre of Justice, may you long sway it with the same firmness and justice as you have hitherto done and may the Town flourish in your time and may no enemy to its rights live therin”. To this address Baillie Young and Clark made a neat and appropriated reply.
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The Grand Master then addressed the Rev. Dr. Carlyle (Grand Chaplain) as follows: “ Rev. and learned Dr. Carlyle, may you live happy to see this Church finished and have the Health of Body and Strength of Mind, and may you still employ your great talents to unite your Flock to Fear God, and Love your King, Country and Constitution as you have hitherto done, and may you bring your Flock round you as a Hen gathered her chickens is my wish�. Dr. Carlyle made a suitable reply.
The ceremony concluded, the Brethren giving three times three cheers. The Procession returned in the same manner to the chapel in Newbigging, where Divine Service was performed by the Rev. Dr. Carlyle in a manner suitable to so solemn an occasion: after which the Procession proceeded to the Town Hall where the Lodge was closed by The Right Worshipful Grand Master in ample and due form.
White Leather Apron
The apron of white leather, made of lamb skin, is a distinguishing badge worn by every member of the Masonic Order, and without which no brother can be admitted within the portals of a Lodge, nor allowed to take part in any Masonic procession of solemnity.
The Apprentice is invested with it on his reception into the Order, and it is worn by those who have attained the higher degrees, and by all those who fill the most dignified offices. An apron is worn by operative masons to preserve their garments from stain; and thus, in Speculative Masonry, the apron reminds us that we must keep ourselves from moral defilement; or in the figurative language of the Holy Scripture, must keep our garments white and keep ourselves unspotted from the world. White is a colour which has always been considered as emblematic of purity and joy.
The apron is made of lamb skin because the lamb has in all ages been recognized as the emblem of innocence, and was therefore chosen by God Himself to be offered to Him in sacrifice, as a type of great propitiatory sacrifice, the Lamb of God - the Lamb without blemish and without spot, that taketh away the sin of the world. The Mason's apron is, 15
therefore, not only a symbol ever reminding him of the duty of maintaining to the utmost possible degree Purity of heart and Purity of life, and of ever seeking greater perfection in both, but also of propitiation for sin, and the pardon ready to be granted to every one who seeks it in the way appointed. It thus inspires him to work with hope, and that hope further encourages him to further endeavors after those which will make him a good man and a good Mason, exercising an influence for good amongst all around him - in the Lodge, in his own family, and it all the relations of life.
Firstly as the newly admitted Apprentice enjoined, in the charge addressed to him after his investiture with the apron, that he is never to put on that badge if at variance with any brother who may be in the Lodge. This rule not only secures that the Lodge shall not be disturbed by unseemly strife, but tends to keep brethren from quarreling, and to make them anxious for reconciliation when differences do arise, thus promoting that brotherly love which is the great duty of Freemasons continually to cherish and display.
The Mason's lambskin apron always tells him that his mind should be filled with good thoughts and his heart with good feelings, with sentiments of piety and benevolence. It is an honourable Badge, which many of the greatest men have been delighted to wear, and it ought to be the earnest desire of every Mason that he should never disgrace it, but on the contrary may every day become more worthy of it.