112 On The Level Masonic Magazine for St. John Fisherrow No.112
Issue No.4
March 2019
Editor’s Comments Welcome to another Issue of the magazine and I hope that you find something of interest. The photograph on the front cover is the Grand Temple within the Grand Lodge of Ireland. Brother Derek Mather J.D. and I along with several brethren from the Portobello Lodge 226 and Rosslyn St. Clair 606 visited. Any brethren visiting Dublin should visit as the Grand Lodge Building is stunning, just take plenty dosh!!!!!
Got something you want to say about your Lodge, or just Freemasonry in general ~ Why not submit an article to “On The Level”and see it printed here? (The Editor reserves the right to refuse to publish any article deemed by himself to be offensive).
THE MASONIC PRESS Time was when the principles and ideals of Freemasonry were spread by word of mouth, but the great progress and growth of the craft has required more than this. Masonic literary gems have contributed much to the expansion and advancement Freemasonry has enjoyed for over five or more centuries.
Few organisations have withstood the test of time as has Freemasonry, steeped as it is in the ancient legends of the operative craft whose traditions and fundamentals we have had the good fortune to inherit.
Freemasonry can well count among its members great leaders in science, art, industry, church and state. All have contributed to the sum total of Masonic culture and knowledge, but without the medium of the Masonic press, the teachings and philosophies of our learned Brethren would have remained unknown, save to a few of their choice associates.
The Masonic press, beyond all doubt, provides a wonderful means by which the wealth of cultural material may be broadcast and absorbed by Freemasons seeking more light in our great fraternity. 2
The Right Worshipful Master Hello Brethren and welcome to this edition of the 112 magazine. Since the last edition in January we have had a very busy period within and outwith the Lodge.
In January in front of a very packed Temple we celebrated Bros. Bobby Ross and Jim Nicol receiving their 60th years diplomas from the Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master Brother Tom Smith. Also in attendance was a fine deputation of around 30 members of Provincial Grand Lodge.
As Master I have had the privilege and pleasure of attending several Installations and Regular meetings with office bearers and brethren witnessing some excellent ritual work.
In February we had the Installation of the Office Bearers of Provincial Grand Lodge of Midlothian and I would like to congratulate Bros. Tom Edgar D.M. and Derek Mather J.D. on taking up their rolls as our representatives, and on behalf of all the brethren at 112 we wish them well as Provincial Grand Stewards.
We also held our Annual Ladie’s Night, and I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the caterers for an excellent meal and service, Hollie Burns our entertainer, and to the brethren and their guests again for making the Ladie’s night another great success.
Looking forward into March we have been invited to Alnwick to work a 3rd or M.M. degree on Saturday 30th March. It’s around an 90 minute journey. Any brethren wishing to accompany the degree team please speak to any office bearer and transport will be arranged. 3
Bro. Brian Ritchie RWM
Freemasonry Around The World The Grand Lodge of Ireland
Brethren, along with several brethren from The Portobello Lodge No.226, and Rosslyn St. Clair No. 606, Brother Derek Mather J.D. and I had the pleasure and the privilege to accompany them on a weekend trip to attend 2 Installations within the beautiful building of the Grand Lodge of Ireland.
We were also very lucky to be given a tour of the building which consists of 5 stunning temples each with their own history and for any brother looking to visit Dublin, a visit to Grand Lodge is a must.
Freemasonry In Ireland dates back to 1688 from a manuscript written in Trinity College, Dublin, displaying a knowledge of Freemasonry which can leave no doubt as to the existence, at that time, working Lodges.
Freemason’s Hall, 17 Molesworth Street, dates back from 1869 and was custom built. The Metropolitan Area of Dublin contains 37 Masonic Lodges which are managed by a board under the Grand Lodge of Ireland.
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Above: The Royal Arch Temple.
Left: Knight Templar Temple.
Below Left: Temple of the Council of Knight Masons
Below: 1 of 3 Gold Angel Candle Holders
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Wednesday 16th January saw the Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master and an excellent Provincial Deputation present Brothers Bobby Ross D.S.M. and Jim Nicol D.S.M. with their 60th year diplomas. Pictured above with the Right Worshipful Master Bro. Brian Ritchie cutting their cake. Photo taken by Bro. Stuart McDonald, I.G. 112
On Wednesday 6th March, the R.W.M. Brother Brian Ritchie, bestowed Honorary Membership upon R.W.M. Brother Tom O’Neill of Lodge Liberton 1201. An excellent deputation from 1201 was also received to witness the ocassion. Bro. Tom O’Neill, being diagnosed from Prostrate Cancer has raised thousands of pounds for Prostrate Scotland. Photo courtesy of Bro. Terry Kirkwood J.W. 112
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Masonic Dictionary ACCEPTEd
The Latin accipere, receive, was from ad, meaning "to," and capere, meaning "take," therefore to take, to receive. The passive apprenticeship and initiation, but after the participle of this was acceptus. In Operative Masonry members were admitted through course of time, and when the Craft had begun to decay, gentlemen who had no intention of doing builders' work but were interested in the Craft for social, or perhaps for antiquarian reasons, were “accepted" into membership; to distinguish these gentlemen Masons from the Operatives in the membership they were called the "Accepted." After 1717, when the whole Craft was revolutionized into a Fraternity, all members became non-Operatives, hence our use of the word in such phrases as "Free and Accepted Masons."
bEEHIvE
Among the ancients, the beehive was a symbol of an obedient people and an emblem of systematized industry. Hence, Freemasonry has adopted the beehive as a symbol on industry -- a virtue stressed in ritual and by . It recommends the practice of that virtue to all created beings, from the highest seraph in heaven to the lowest reptile in the dust. It teaches us that we came into the world rational and human beings, so should we ever be industrious ones; never sitting down contented while our fellow creatures around us are in want, if it is in our power to relieve them without inconvenience to ourselves. What one may not be able to accomplish alone may be easily performed when all work together at one task.
CAblE TOw
A cable tow is a rope or line for drawing or leading. A compound word of Masonic coinage combining cable (a rope) and tow (a rope for pulling). Symbolically, it represents the covenant by which all Masons are bound; the tie by which the candidate is bound to his brethren; the length of a Mason's cable tow is the scope of his ability to go to the relief of a brother in need. 7
Famous Freemasons John Paul Jones John Paul Jones is probably the best known Naval figure of the Revolutionary War. He was born John Paul (The Jones was added later in America) in Kirkcudbright Scotland on July 6, 1747. His father, also named John Paul, was a gardener and his mother was Jean MacDuff. There were seven children in his family, John was number five. His oldest brother William Paul migrated to Fredericksburg, Virginia and was an important point of contact on this side of the Atlantic.
John went to sea at the age of twelve after finishing school, and made his first trip to Fredericksburg before he was thirteen years old. In 1768 he was assigned to a British Merchant ship named “John� and during the voyage back to Scotland had to assume command due to the death of the captain and the first mate. His career as a merchant seaman ended in 1773 at age 26, when he inherited his brother's plantation in Virginia. It was stipulated that in order to inherit the plantation he must assume the name of "Jones" which he did and was thereafter John Paul Jones.
It was during this time period that he made application to St. Bernard Lodge 3122 at Kirkcudbright, Scotland and was initiated on November 27, 1770. Masonry played a big part in Jones' life from then on. While in Virginia he met many patriots including Washington, Patrick Henry, and most importantly, Ben Franklin who was to play a large role in Jones' career in later life.
In 1775, shortly after the battle of Lexington and Concord, Jones offered his services to the American cause. An organized force was available for fighting on land (The Militia), but no organized force existed to fight at sea. America needed a Navy and turned to John Paul Jones. He was invited by John Hancock and the Naval Committee of the Continental Congress to Lay before the Committee such information and advice as may seem to him useful in assisting the said Committee to discharge its labors. He gave much time and effort in working out plans for a new Navy.
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Jones' name was placed on the first National Navy list as number one on the list of Lieutenants and he was the first of the officers on that list to receive his commission. Historical records show that he received his commission from the hand of John Hancock in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Jones went to Newport, Rhode Island and took command of the ship “Providence” and on June 14, set sail. The records from that voyage show that Jones captured 16 enemy vessels, destroying 8 and sending the rest to America as booty. He returned to port to find that he had been promoted to Captain and the sadder news that his plantation had been burned to the ground by the British. Seventeen seventy seven found Jones in Philadelphia at the Naval board where he argued for a mission to European waters. An interesting note is that on June 14, 1777 Congress passed two separate resolutions.
First, that The flag of the thirteen United States of America be thirteen stripes, alternating red and white; that The Union be thirteen stars in a blue field representing a new constellation. The second resolution passed was that Captain John Paul Jones be appointed to command the ship “Ranger”. Jones was so moved by this that he wrote "That flag and I are twins; born the same hour from the same womb of destiny. We cannot be parted in life or in death. So long as we can float, we shall float together If we must sink, we shall go down as one."
Jones went to Portsmouth, New Hampshire to outfit the ship “Ranger” and sailed her to France arriving on December 2, 1777. He arrived in Brest Roads and sailed through the French Fleet, receiving the first national salute to the American flag by a foreign power. During the ensuing months he made several voyages, victorious in all. In September of 1778 he turned the “Ranger” over to Lt. Simpson and took command of a larger ship, “LeDuras” which he renamed “Le Bon Homme Richard” after his friend and fellow Mason Benjamin Franklin (who wrote Poor Richard's Almanac). was the ship that would make Jones a legend in the American Navy and American history. Sailing from the Road of Groaix on August 14,1779 with three other ships the “Alliance”, the “Pallas” and the “Vengeance” he captured five prized ships in 40 days. On September 23 he met with the British ship Serapis, a 44 gun man‑of‑war. The battle between the two started at 7:00 in the evening and lasted until well after 11:00.
The fighting was heavy from the beginning with both ships sustaining serious damage. At one point during the fight, after a cannonball had taken away the Richard's flagstaff, Captain Pearson of the Serapis leaned over his rail and cried "Do I understand that you have struck? Jones' reply was "No, I have just begun to fight!" It was this incident that earned Jones everlasting fame in the annals of Naval History. Finally Jones brought his ship close in and lashed both ships together Jones led a boarding party onto the deck of the British ship and engaged in a furious hand to hand fight.
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Captain Pearson seeing the heavy casualties, struck his flag and surrendered to Jones. The casualty figures showed that the Americans had sustained 67 dead and 106 wounded and the British had 87 dead and 134 wounded. (Thirteen died later in the night.) Another casualty was the Richard. Her back broken, and taking on water, she sank in the early morning hours still flying the flag of the United States. Jones and his crew having transferred to the Serapis made what repairs they could and sailed into the Dutch harbour of Texel on October 3, 1779. It was during the year 1780 that John Paul Jones was invited to join the Lodge of Nine Muses in France. Franklin had been the Master of this Lodge for two years and they welcomed the new American hero with open arms.
The noted sculptor Houden also started on Jones bust having already made the busts of Washington, Franklin and Voltaire who had joined the Lodge at the age of 80. This was a Lodge that numbered philosophers, liberals, and several leaders of the still to be fought French Revolution, among its members.
He left France bound for the United States on December 18, 1780 aboard the ship Ariel and landed in Philadelphia in February of 1781. In May of 1781 he gave up command of the Ariel and with it his active service in the Continental Navy. He was appointed as Special U.S. Agent to France in 1783. Here he was instrumental in collecting prize money that had not been paid to American Seamen during the war. In 1787 he received the only gold medal given by congress to a Navy hero of the Revolutionary War. In 1788 he accepted an appointment from Empress Catherine of Russia as a Rear Admiral in the Russian Navy.
He commanded a Naval force on the Black Sea fighting the Turks and was instrumental in winning several engagements for the Russian fleet. It is said that Empress Catherine, herself antimasonic, found that Jones was a proud member of the Craft and for this reason discharged him with full pay. He returned to France and shortly before his death retired from her service. The trip to Russia may have been the undoing of Jones for it surely hastened his death. In the last days of his life Jones lived quietly receiving many visitors. He was ill and suffered from a heart condition. On July 18, 1792, Jones breathed his last. He died from dropsy, pneumonia, and a heart condition in Paris France, at the young age of 45. He was buried with full Masonic honors in a lead coffin, in a cemetery in Paris.
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Some 113 years later, under orders from the President of the United States, Brother Theodore Roosevelt, the body of John Paul Jones was recovered from the cemetery and made a long slow trip across the Atlantic to be placed in a crypt at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Paul Jones lived a short but very full life. Reading about his life is almost like reading fiction, his lowly birth, his almost meteoric rise in the American Navy, and his attainment of the rank of Rear Admiral in the Russian Navy. His love of the Masonic Craft was second only to his love of Liberty and the United States. He lived his life according to the Masonic principles that he studied. John Paul Jones, Mason, Diplomat, Seaman, a man who was admired by his friends and his enemies. “No
Bad for a Scotsman”
NOTE FROM THE TREASURER
Forget the hasty, unkind word: Forget the slander you have heard; Forget the quarrel and the cause; Forget the whole affair, because; Forgetting is the only way. Forget the storm of yesterday; Forget the knocker and the squeak; Forget the bad day of the week, Forget you’re not a millionaire; Forget the grey streaks in your hair; Forget to even get the blues, But don’t forget to pay your dues.
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Ladies Night 2019
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Ladies Night 2019
NO SECRECy
It has always seemed inconsistent and poor economy
to shroud the Masonic Order with a veil of secrecy. If the people of the world could only be made to understand the high ideals by which Masons are bound together it would be a great blessing to humanity. The influence of millions of men, banded together, sworn to right living, to liberty, to square dealings with each other and with the rest of the world, would and should be a great motivating force for right against wrong – for the elimination of oppressors of all sorts and kinds. There is no secrecy in our ideals for love of country and right living. We should employ all the betterment of mankind, for the strength of our Order, for the country and our homes. bROTHERly lOvE
Freemasons are bound together not by ties of blood, but by bonds of
mutual interest, mutual helpfulness and mutual affection. That broad charity and common justice which impel us to be good men and true in the community is, in our association, developed into that Brotherly Love which inspires us to spend and be spent for those who are joined with us.
Linked together in fraternal sympathy we may help each other in the active exercise of the virtue of charity, which promotes the good of all men.
To that general sense of justice which compels the recognition of the equality of all men and the preservation of all rights Brotherly Love adds the peculiar influence that makes us willing to yield more than is just to our Brother, to minister to him in his needs, to comfort him in his sorrows, to succor his weakness and cheer him in his despondency, and join with him in his song of triumph.
May the bonds which unite us in this Brotherly Love grow stronger and stronger until every discord is banished and a unity of hearts is formed which no opposing power can break. 13
wHAT MAKES yOU A MASON?
An obligation no more makes a man a Mason than does subscribing to the creed of a particular church make one a true follower of the doctrines inculcated by that church. One may attend church every day and be conversant with every ceremony, and be no Christian, or attend the temple and repeat every prayer, and be no Jew. Similarly, a man may be present whenever his lodge convenes, know the work perfectly and be only a lodge Mason. Like some frequenters of churches and temples, whose religion never strays beyond the confines of the religious edifice, his Masonry may be and is confined to lip service and ritual work. Such men are never Masons, and no amount of obligations can make them Masons. Men whose hearts do not realize, and whose minds cannot comprehend the real usefulness of Masonry; Men who cannot apply the teachings of the Craft to their lives and to practice of their daily existence, and feel their Masonry within the precincts of the lodge, add nothing to the cause that Masonry represents.
A Mason is not necessarily a member of a lodge. In a broad sense, he is any person who daily tries to live the Masonic life, and to serve intelligently the needs of the Great Architect.
brotherly love is not a tangible commodity. We cannot touch it or weigh it, smell it or taste it. Yet it is a reality; it can be creative, it can be fostered, it can be made a dynamic power. The Master who has it in his Lodge and his brethren will find that Lodge and brethren give it back to him. The Master too worried over the cares of his office to express friendliness need never wonder why his Lodge seems too cold to his effort.
To Spread The Cement of Brotherly Love and Affection, That Cement Which Unites Us Into One Sacred Band Or Society Of Brothers, Among Whom No Contention Should Ever Exist, But That Noble Emulation Of Who Can Best Work Or Best Agree ... SMIB
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Brethren, We have recently purchased some Lodge badges which can be added to your cases. The cost of these are £15. Anyone wishing to place an order please contact our Treasurer, Bro. Douglas Hoy P.M. D.S.M., who will be only too glad to take your cash.
Whilst one of the greatest virtues of Freemasonry is its timelessness and stability in an ever changing world, we must not let that affinity for the ‘old ways’ impede us from creating an experience that is relevant and appealing today. FREEdOM OF THOUGHT Some day, when the cloud of prejudice has been dispelled by the searchlight of Truth, the world will honour Masonry for its heroic service to freedom of thought and of faith. No part of its mainstay has been more noble, no principles of its teaching has been more precious than its agelong and unwavering demand for the right and duty of every soul to seek that light by which no man ever injured and that truth makes him free.
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OFFICE bEARERS FOR 2018-19
Right worshipful Master.....................................................bro. brian Ritchie
Immediate Past Master......................................bro. John R. Thorburn P.M.
depute Master..........................................................................bro. Tom Edgar Substitute Master....................................bro. Allan E. williams P.M. d.S.M.
Senior warden..................................................................bro. Robert McNeill Junior warden................................................................bro. Terry Kirkwood
Secretary.............................................bro. Andrew M. Raeburn P.M. d.S.M.
Treasurer................................................bro. douglas w.M. Hoy P.M. d.S.M. Almoner....................................................................................................vacant
Chaplain....................................................................bro. Gilbert Meikle P.M.
Senior deacon......................................................................bro. Harry bryson Junior deacon.....................................................................bro. derek Mather
Master of Ceremonies............................................................bro. david Innes
Ast. Secretary...........................................................................................vacant
Ast. Treasurer...........................................................................................vacant
2nd Master of Ceremonies..........................................bro. James Rutherford
Jeweller.................................................................................bro. Kenneth Ross
bible bearer.......................................................................bro. brian Marwick
Architect......................................................................................bro. John Tod Sword bearer.....................................................bro. Richard Hadden (bEM)
director of Music......................................................bro. Robert Ross d.S.M.
Organist..........................................................................bro. Robert law P.M.
Marshall..................................................................................bro. Stewart lee
Standard bearer.......................................................................bro. Kris Edgar
Inner Guard...................................................................bro. Stuart Mcdonald President of Stewards...........................................bro. George Fraser d.S.M.
Tyler....................................................................................bro. Robert Ritchie