112 On The Level Masonic Magazine for St. John Fisherrow No.112
Issue No.11
September 2020
Issue 11, September 2020 For this magazine to prosper, your involvement as well as interest is necessary. 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. Just recently I was asked if there was any copies of the Lodge history book, but the last one to be printed was for the Bi-Centenary celebrations in 1968. However that being said, I have my dads copy and will use the magazine to tell the history of our lodge.
If you have any old billets, photos or toast cards which you would like to share then please do, I’m more than happy to scan your items and return them to you. Over the past few months I have received some interesting articles which I will insert into the magazine and would like to thank the brethren for these, and to those who have also taken the time to contribute and allow me the use their material in the magazine.
www.stjohn112.co.uk / facebook 112Magazine can also be found on our website
Famous Quotes:~ One of the most impressive and touching things in human history
is that certain ideal interests have been set apart as especially venerated among all peoples. Guilds have arisen to cultivate the interests embodied in art, science, philosophy, fraternity, and religion; to conserve the precious, hard-won inheritances of humanity; to train men in their service; to bring their power to bear upon the common life of mortals, and send through that common life the light and glory of the Ideal–as the sun shoots its transfiguring rays through a great dull cloud, evoking beauty from the brown earth. Such is Masonry, which unites all these high interests and brings to their service a vast, world-wide fraternity of free and devout men, built upon a foundation of spiritual faith and moral idealism, whose mission it is to make men friends, to refine and exalt their lives, to deepen their faith and purify their dream, to turn them from the semblance of life to homage for truth, beauty, righteousness, and character. More than an institution, more than a tradition, more than a society, Masonry is one of the forms of the Divine Life upon earth. No one may ever hope to define a spirit so gracious, an order so benign, an influence so prophetic of the present and future up- building of the race.
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Joseph Fort Newton
The Right Worshipful Master Hello Brethren,
With the exception of the golf, our summer recess has come and gone without any masonic activity taking place, I and the brethren of 112 hope that you and your families have managed to stay and well throughout this pandemic. We have also been made aware of a digital conference of the Heads of Masonic Orders in Scotland which was held earlier in August. From that meeting it was jointly agreed to continue with the prohibition of ALL Masonic meetings in Scotland until January 2021 at the very earliest. The situation will be closely monitored and will be reviewed in early January 2021.
After the 3rd time of trying to book a holiday, Evelyn, the kids and I finally got away for a break in the sun to Turkey, away from the strains of trying to work around this virus. As we were heading to our hotel we heard of the explosion in Beirut and as this edition of the magazine goes out, our thoughts and prayers go to our Brethren, their families and the people of Beirut after the horrific catastrophe which has befell upon them.
Over the past few weeks our Junior Deacon Brother Derek Mather became a bit stir crazy during the lookdown and decided to opened up “Derek’s Diner” round the back of the Lodge which has been a great success with many brethren and their families and visitors too, enjoyed the sunshine and laughter over teas and coffees and even some home-made baking. I as Master and on behalf of the brethren thank Bro. Derek for this great initiative which has been a god send to some of our senior members.
As I mentioned the golf earlier, our Junior Deacon Derek Mather and myself played in hastly arranged match v Mary’s Chapel No.1 for the coveted Stag Trophy and won the match 5&4. We also had 2 teams representing the Lodge at the Prostate Scotland Golf Day played at the Kings Acre Golf Club where another successful day despite the weather. I thank you all for taking the time to represent 112.
Brethren please stay safe and well until we meet again.
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Brother Brian Ritchie R.W.M.
~ Our Lodge Our History ~ Billet 1951
P.M.s Joe Salkeld, Gilbert Meikle, Archie Lister and Ward Bannerman
Bros. Peter Hill, Albert Shaw Jimmy Johnstone Winners of the Bowers Trophy in 1979 Bros. Jock Bolton and Jim ‘Chaulky White behind the old bar next door.
Bros. Tom Edgar and Graeme Nicol at the Sheraton Hotel during the Lodge of Edinburgh No.1’s 500th celebrations in 1999.
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Symbolism
The Rough & Perfect Ashlar
Two features of Freemasonry are particularly prominent, its teachings of morality by means of symbolism, and the antiquity of its symbols.
The Rough Ashlar and the Perfect Ashlar are not just two pieces of stone but a clear representation of what we’ve and what we hope to be. They symbolize Man's moral and spiritual life. Ashlars are representation of the very beautiful symbol. The rough and perfect ashlars bear the same relation to each other as ignorance does to knowledge, death to life, and light to darkness.
A ritual was used in the Ancient Mysteries which many Masons believe to be predecessors of the Freemasonry of today, and from which many of our forms and ceremonies may have been either directly or indirectly derived. It contained a dialogue, darkness, light, death and resurrection. In the times in which the Ancient Mysteries flourished, the most important truths of science as well as morality were taught to the qualified and were veiled from the multitude by symbolic teaching.
The Rough Ashlar (rude, natural stone), which masonically, is a symbol of men’s natural state of ignorance and a symbol the profane world.
The Perfect Ashlar is already prepared (hewed, squared, polished and smooth) and as such it’s used in the building. It’s a symbol of the state of perfection attained by means of education. In essence, in Freemasonry, it means that by means of education and the acquirement of knowledge, a man, who begins as the Rough Ashlar (an imperfect stone) improves the state of his spiritual and moral being and becomes like the Perfect Ashlar and makes the final journey to the Grand Lodge Above.
The square and compasses used in China 500 B.C. as emblems of morality, and the tools of Speculative Masonry, found in the foundation of Cleopatra's Needle, are evidences of the age of masonic symbolism. The Masons may have borrowed the symbolism of the original users and adapted it to the present as well as they could with limited knowledge of its original significance, or it may have come down to them through unbroken sources.
He may leave behind a reputation as a wise counsellor, a pillar of strength and stability, a Perfect Ashlar on which younger Masons may test the correctness and value of their own contribution to the Masonic order.
The Sun at it’s Meridian
The sun in the South is represented in Freemasonry by the Junior Warden, for this reason: when the sun has arrived at the zenith, at which time he is in the South, the splendor of his beams entitles him to the appellation which he receives in the instructions as "the beauty and glory of the day." Hence, as the Pillar of Beauty which supports the Lodge is referred to the Junior Wardens that officer is said to represent "the sun in the South at High Twelve," at which hour the Craft are called by him to refreshment, and therefore is he also placed in the South that he may the better observe the time and mark the progress of the shadow over the dial plate as it crosses the meridian line
Famous Quotes:
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"Only those are truly Masons who enter their Temple in reverence, who seek not the ephemeral things of life but the treasures which are eternal, whose sole desire is to know the true mystery of the Craft that they may join as honest workmen those who have gone before as builders of the Universal Temple." Manly P. Hall
“Oor Famous Brethren” Bro. William Singer Lowe P.M.
by Brother Tom Chrystal P.M. No.112
B
rethren, during my recent research into the life of Lt. Col. Buchanan-Dunlop P.M., the name of Bro. Willie Lowe P.M. kept coming up as I read through the Lodge Minute Books.
Bro. Willie was Right Worshipful Master of this, our Mother Lodge, in 1919. Afterwards he became recognised as the Master of the Lodge. In these days, Brethren, the Master Elect did not choose his Installing Master as they do so today. Instead Bro. Willie did all the Installing Honours from the early 1920’s until well into the 1930’s.
He was proud to claim that he was Initiated, Passed, Raised and Marked in six weeks. I wonder what the Questions and Answers were liked in those days? He must have been an excellent scholar to learn all that he had to, all in less than six weeks. But when you consider what he went on to do as the Installing Master of the Lodge, he had to be.
Bro. Willie was one of Scotland’s premier bowlers before World War 2. He excelled at Club, District and International level. As you can imagine, he was also a great asset to 112 while competing on behalf of the Lodge in the Provincial Bowling Competitions. His list of Honours are listed below.
I am proud to wear Bro. Willie’s Pm Jewel which was presented to me personally by the husband of Bro. Willie’s niece, the late Bro. George Maxwell, who was one of the son’s who ran George Maxwell & Sons Coachbuilders here in Musselburgh.
Bro. Willie was a member of the well known Lowe family here in Musselburgh. There was David Lowe and Sons, Market Gardners who worked on the land at Stoneyhill, Monktonhall, Prestonpans and Gladsmuir. David was Provost of Musselburgh. They were famous for developing “Musselburgh Leeks”. Alex Lowe ran a cycle and Motor cycle business were Peterson’s cycle and pram shop was at the Town Hall before it was taken over by McDonald Cycles.
When he gave up that business, he started Lowe’s Wireless & Relay shop in the days when you needed to have an accumulator to power your radio or you rented one of Alex Lowe’s relay receivers. I understand that this system operated on a receiving station which then sent out cable radio signals to connected house in Musselburgh. He also had one of the very first cable television stations. The receiving and transmitting Station was based at Downies which is down at the mouth of the River Esk. There were cables all over Musselburgh which carried television signals to the televisions equipped to receive his television service.
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The business was bought over by Granada, the television shop. He also started Lowe’s Garage which was bought over by the SMT of Scottish Motor Traction Limited on the site of what is now Somerfield’s Supermarket.
As a matter of some further interest, Brethren, the Late Bro. George Maxwell lived in Stoneyhill House which is steeped in Scottish history. The early monks lived there as did Oliver Cromwell after he stabled his horses in St. Michael’s Church. He is reputed to have hanged a man at the house. Also, it was here that the first Loretto School boys lived when the school was first established before they moved in to their present location at Pinkie and Millhill.
Stoneyhill House has a secret tunnel which is reputed to exit somewhere near Fisherrow Harbour. Bro. George’s son, Bro. David Maxwell, showed me the entrance to the tunnel some time ago but neither he nor I were brave enough to venture further than the entrance door (any volunteer’s?) “Feardie Tam Chrystal P.M.” Bro. William: Lowe’s Masonic Record Proposer Bro. Charles D. Ross Seconder Bro. J. M. Ross Application read in Open Lodge Enquiry Committee Ballot Initiated Fellow Craft Master Mason Mark Master Mason
5th March 1958 8th April 1958 3rd September 1958 17th December 1958 15th April 1959 4th December 1964 6th May 1965
The Altar
Famous Quotes:~
"No man ever took the oaths and subscribed to the obligations with greater watchfulness and care than I exercised in receiving the various rites of Masonry, and I say with due deliberation and without fear of breaking the faith. I have never encountered a lesson, never witnessed an example, never heard an obligation uttered which could not be openly proclaimed to the world." The words of a Mason who was also a President of the United States, Warren G. Harding.
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Every Lodge is provided with an Altar. Altars differ in size and design. The usual form is that of a cube about three feet in height. On it are placed the three great lights of Freemasonry, which are the V… of the S… L…, the Square and the Compasses. Around it, in the form of a triangle, are the three lesser lights. The Altar should ever hold a sacred place in the affections of Freemasons. Kneeling there in awful solemnity he passes some of the most precious moments of his life, from which he should draw inspiration during all his later days.
Famous Scottish Freemasons
Bro Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig (1861-1928)
Douglas Haig was born on the 19th June 1861 in the family house in Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, son of John Haig, who was the head of the family’s whisky business. His mother, Rachel was from a gentry family fallen into straitened circumstances. And her cousin, Violet Veitch, was mother of the playwright, composer and performer Noël Coward.
Haig's education began in 1869 as a boarder at Mr Bateson's School in Clifton Bank, St Andrews. Later in 1869, he switched to Edinburgh Collegiate School, and then in 1871 to Orwell House, a preparatory school in Warwickshire. He then attended Clifton College, a public school. Both of Haig's parents died by the time he was eighteen.
After a tour of the United States with his brother, Haig studied Political Economy, Ancient History and French Literature at Brasenose College, Oxford, 1880–1883. He devoted much of his time to socialising (he was a member of the infamous Bullingdon Club) and equestrian sports. He was one of the best young horsemen at Oxford and quickly found his way into the University polo team. Whilst an undergraduate he was initiated as a Freemason in Elgin’s Lodge at Leven No. 91 at Leven, Fife, taking only his EA and FC Degrees. In 1920 the Earl of Eglinton encouraged Haig to complete his Masonic progression, and he returned to his lodge to take the third degree, subsequently serving as Worshipful Master of the lodge from 1925 to 1926. He became an officer of the Grand Lodge of Scotland.
He enrolled for officer training at Sandhurst in 1883, and was commissioned into the 7th (Queen’s) Hussars. Haig saw service in India and the Boer War. During his time in South Africa, Lord Kitchener recognised his potential as a leader, and in 1901 he was promoted to CO of the 17th Lancers. On his return to the UK in 1902 he was appointed AdC to His Majesty King Edward VII and by 1904 he’d achieved the distinction of being the youngest Major-General in the British Army, with various high ranking roles in the subsequent years. Haig married the Hon. Dorothy Vivian in 1905 and they had a son and 3 daughters.
Involved in the organisation of the British Expeditionary Force as the Great War loomed, success at Mons and Ypres saw him promoted to Full General and given command of the First Army, before promotion to C-in-C of the BEF. Haig’s role in the Battle of the Somme, still attracts controversy and debate today, as historians cannot agree over his tactics. It is perhaps unfair to single out Haig for any blame, as other generals should also have their part in the Great War examined. Haig was appointed Field Marshal on 1st January 1917 and led the final offensive as the war drew to a successful conclusion.
Haig was raised to the Peerage as Earl Haig of Bemersyde in 1919, taking his title from the estate in the Scottish Borders, presented to him by a grateful nation. After leaving the army, he spent most of his remaining years promoting the welfare of those who had served under him, and their families, with perhaps his greatest legacy the Royal British Legion. Douglas Haig died in January 1928, aged 66 and as a mark of respect he was afforded a State Funeral in London, before his body was taken to St Giles Cathedral in his native city of Edinburgh, where it lay in state before burial at Dryburgh Abbey under a simple white military headstone, typical of most of the men who had served and died under him.
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~ Our Lodge Our History ~ Part 1 According to the “History of the Regality of Musselburgh” by James Paterson (1857), The Incorporated Trades in Musselburgh were Wrights and Smith incorporated by the Town Council in 1674, Tailors 1693, Shoemakers, Tanners, and Curriers 1674, Bakers 1692, 1744, Weavers 1702, Fleshers, all of which embraced the objects of Benefit Societies as well as the Regulations of their trading interests. There was also a corporation of “Seamen and Mariners” whose chartres date from 1668. It consisted of persons of various professions, traffickers, with a separate box and funds of their own. The Masons, Carters and others, had societies for the support of their poor.
Of these incorporations few notices occur in the Council Minutes. In 1768 there were two Masonic Lodges in Musselburgh, Lodge Aitchison’s Haven (page 14), and Lodge Musselburgh Kilwinning. They were both known to have been craft guilds embracing the objects of Benefit Societies. A few comments on these two Lodges at this time might be of interest to the Brethren of the present day.
Lodge Musselburgh Kilwinning ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The following is an extract from the History of the Regality of Musselburgh already referred to:“At the Dambrae - a back street - there was lately the Musselburgh Kilwinning Lodge built in 1612, perhaps the most ancient buildings devoted to Masonry in Scotland. Even Mother Kilwinning possesses no such tangible evidence of her once proud position with the Craft”.
This building was demolished and recently the whole area was modernised, but the stone bearing Masonic emblems from the old Lodge building has been set in the wall of one of the new houses just below the street name ‘Kilwinning Place’ and is there for all to see. It is only reasonable to assume that the Lodge must have been in existence for some considerable time to gather the necessary funds to build a Lodge Room of its own.
The Lodge bore the name ‘Kilwinning’ but it has been found impossible to verify that it received its charter from Mother Kilwinning as the records of the Charters issued by the latter do not include Musselburgh Kilwinning, but such record, as is well known incomplete.
The Grand Lodge records show that Musselburgh Kilwinning applied for a Charter in 1761. The records also show that the Lodge had No.103 in 1737, No.80 in 1816, No.76 in 1822 and No.81 in 1826 and became defunct in 1861. Along with the Lodge Holyrood House (St. Luke) No.44, Musselburgh Kilwinning were sponsors for Lodge Portobello No.226 chartered in 1808.
According to Grand Lodge records the Charter of Lodge St. John Fisherrow No.112 was re-issued to Lodge Portobello whose number then was No.293. The following is an exert from the Charter issued to Lodge Portobello in 1801:- “Know ye therefore that the Most Worshipful Grand Master Mason of Scotland and the Grand Lodge therefor having Assigned, Transferred and Make Over the Charter No.142 on the Registry of the Grand Lodge of Scotland which has been for some time dormant to and in favour of the Portobello Lodge, etc”. (Note:- The Charter referred to, is in the possession of No.112).
Musselburgh Kilwinning was also a Benefit Society and on becoming dormant disbursed the sum of Four Hundred Pounds (£400) among its members. It is considered appropriate to insert a short paragraph about the laying of the foundation stone of St. Michaels’s Parish Church at this stage, as Lodge Musselburgh Kilwinning played a prominent part in the ceremony.
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Lodge Golf Outings
Our match against the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary’s Chapel) No.1 was postponed earlier this year due to virus pandemic. However as restrictions were lifted an opportunity arose to play for the Stag at No.1’s Ter-Centenary match day at Duddingston Golf Club on Friday 31st July.
The R.W.M. Bro. Brian Ritchie and J.D. Bro. Derek Mather took up the challenge and successfully retained the Stag Trophy beating P.M. Paul Rutherford and Bro. Bill Smith 5&4.
Prostate Scotland Golf Day
The Lodge was represented by 2 teams in this year’s Prostate Scotland Challenge day organised by Bro. Chris Igoe from Newbattle St. Mary No. 1063.
Team one which T’d-off a 8:50am consisted of Bro. Jim Rutherford, Jamie Rutherford, and Jim’s brother-in-law John Stables.
Team 2 which T’d-off at 9.00am was Derek Mather J.D. Stuart MacDonald I.G. and Tom Edgar D.M.
Once A Mason
There is an old saying: "Once a Mason, always a Mason." That means that when anyone has received an initiation in the Masonic order, and by virtue of that becomes a Mason, he cannot resign, for he cannot give up that knowledge and the secrets which he has learned any more than a person who goes to college can give back his learning received at that institution. Therefore, "once a Mason always a Mason," and likewise once a pupil, a lay brother, of a mystery school, always a pupil and a lay brother of that same mystery school. But though that holds good and life after life we come back connected with the same order that we have been affiliated with in previous lives, we may in anyone life so conduct ourselves that it is impossible for us to realize this in our physical brains.
The weather on the day was absolutely atrocious with rain and wind all day. The Lodge again sponsored a hole of £50 and the image above is the pin flag which was flying on the first green. The grand total raised this was £3135.22 with more to follow.
Sublime
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Sublimis, in Latin, referred to something high, lofty, exalted, like a city set on top of a hill, or an eagle’s nest atop some lonely crag. It refers to that which is eminent, of superlative degree, moral grandeur, spiritual exaltation. Inasmuch as the Third Degree is at the top of the system of Ancient Craft Masonry, it is known as “The Sublime Degree
RAYS OF MASONRY
The monogram of the name of Christ, formed by the first two letters of that word, XPISTOZ, in Greek. It is the celebrated sign which the legend says appeared in the sky at noonday to the Emperor Constantine, and which was afterward placed by him upon his standard. Hence it is sometimes called the Cross of Constantine. It was adopted as a symbol by the early Christians, and frequent instances of it are to be found in the catacombs. According to Eusebius, the Labarum was surrounded by the motto EN TOTTQ NIGH, or Conquer of this, which has been Latinized to In hoc signo Minces, the motto assumed by the Masonic Knights Templar. In his Life of Constantine, Eusebius describes the arrangement of the Labarum as on a long gilded spear having a crosspiece supporting a square purple cloth jewelled richly, at end of spear a gold wreath enclosing monogram. The derivation of the word Labansm is uncertain. The Greek word Labaron means a flag.
The power of original thought, God given, but commonly neglected by man save only casually, yet, occasionally as lightning might strike, finds lodgment in a leader with a facility for expression. Singing with sincerityfundamental as eternal- epigrams of thought have flowed from the versatile pen of Dewey H. Wollstein. Challenging indeed are editorials which must needs be read before the morning mail is opened.
Quoted frequently in Masonic publications over the country, his writings have been widely acclaimed. While his background as Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Georgia and as editor of its official publication, "Masonic Messenger", enhances his prestige, underlying these is a profound comprehension and understanding of the basic, the ultimate, the philosophy of life, of truth in its cosmic sense, of Masonry if you choose. Withal, a terseness of composition reveals a fine distillation of thought.
Eavesdropper
Early European peoples used a word in various forms - evese, obasa, opa, etc., -which meant the rim, or edge, of something, like the edge of a field; it came in time to be applied wholly to the gutter which runs along the edge of a roof. (Our "over" comes from this root.) "Dropper" had an origin among the same languages, and meant that which drips, or dribbles, like water dropping from a thawing icicle. Eavesdrop, therefore, was the water which dripped from the eaves. If a man set himself to listen through a window or keyhole to what was going on in a house he had to stand so close that the eavesdropping would fall upon him, for which reason all prying persons, seeking by secret means what they have no business to know, came to be called eavesdroppers.
"The magnificent beauty of Masonry," as he conceives it, draws its superlatives not from catechism, lecture or degree but from the eternal verities which compose it. The Master, teacher, or lecturer who lingers among his words will not fail to catch a new version, nor escape countless sparks of inspiration.
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Courtesy of Gerald Sclater
LET THERE BE LIGHT
A candidate enters the Masonic lodge room in thick darkness. There is no light within him, and there is none about him. His progress from station to station is a quest of illumination; he passes from degree to degree seeking more light: when at last the scales fall from his eyes, and the illumination comes, the whole lodge greets the event with a battery of exclamation. The sun, the moon and the stars move through the symbolism of the three degrees in the same manner that they pass through the houses of the sky. References to daybreak and dusk, to midnight and to the meridian day, are omnipresent throughout the ritual. Learned men debate with each other concerning the origins of this element in our symbolism, many believing it has descended to us from the Light Religions of the ancient world. Be that as it may, all Masons understand that light is nothing other than the symbol of truth and knowledge, and the prevalence of that symbolism is an indication of the importance to be attached to truth and knowledge in any study of the greater teachings of the Fraternity.
The Beehive
The Beehive is an emblem of Industry, and, as such, severely reproves idleness, which is the parent of immorality and ruin. As a result of industry the Freemason enjoys the necessities and even the luxuries of life, and by diligence in labour of whatever honest kind merits the respect and esteem of men, and proves to all the world that he is not a useless drone in the busy hive of nature, but rather is constant in his high endeavours to live up to the purpose for which he was created by an All-wise and All-powerful God. 12
THE MASONIC CONCEPTION OF EDUCATION
There were no schools when Freemasonry came into existence. Mediaeval Europe had much learning but no great public institutions for the diffusing of it. There were a few seminaries where men might receive an "education" for the priesthood, and there were, here and there, a few monasteries, nunneries, brotherhoods, lay organisations, and what not, which dispensed to a handful of young people the rudiments of knowledge. Of schools as they now exist, and have existed for two or three hundred years, there were none. Nor was there in any community a daily press, or weekly periodicals, or a library, or cheap books, or a learned society, or a correspondence school.
But there was such a thing as education, often of a high type, and sometimes of a degree never afterwards excelled, for the Mediaevalists gave us the greatest architecture that has ever been known, and some of the greatest pictures, and much wonderful sculpture, not to mention the flowering out of the religious spirit: these gifts could not come from an ignorant and debased people, such as the mediaevalists are by many often supposed to have been. To erect a St. Mark's, or a St. Peter's, to build such a city as Venice, or to paint such pictures as those of Tintoretto, or to conceive the ideal and spirit of the Franciscan movement required a trained intelligence, a directed and fruitful genius.
Did Yi Ken....
Deputy Ollinger, eating lunch in the nearby Wortley Hotel, heard the shots. He knew what was happening. He realized he had left his new rifle in the courthouse and muttered to the people around him that he was about to die. Billy shot Ollinger from a second-story window with Ollinger’s own rifle as he approached the courthouse. Billy stunned the territory by killing both of his guards and escaping on a stolen horse, riding off to live another day. That was the day William McCarty, alias William H. Bonney, alias “Billy the Kid,” became a household name and perhaps, America’s greatest Wild West legend.
The Lincoln County Courthouse where Billy the Kid (alias William H. Bonney) was on the second floor of the courthouse had a hidden room that was a Masonic Lodge.
Billy the Kid was transported back to Lincoln and held in the Lincoln County Courthouse, under guard by two of Garrett’s deputies, James Bell and Robert Ollinger. He was held on the top floor, which had no jail cells. He was handcuffed and shackled and held at gunpoint waiting for the sentence to be carried out.
Geometry
Billy, being very clever and stealthy, had made several escapes from jail in the past. He had a reputation for making a getaway without being caught. Billy had a secret: he had large wrists and small hands, and was able to easily slip in and out of handcuffs without ever being noticed.
On this day, Billy was alone on the second floor of the courthouse. Bell was downstairs and Ollinger was across the street. He slipped his cuffs and took out a gun that had been secretly hidden for him on his last trip to the outhouse. He quietly waited for Deputy Bell to come up the stairs. As he heard him come around the corner, he politely apologized to Bell for what he was about to do, then promptly shot him dead.
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It is unfortunate that for most men schoolroom drudgery has robbed this beautiful word of its poetry. The Greek geo (in compounds) was earth, land; metron was measure. The original geometer was a land measurer, a surveyor, but his methods became broadened and applied to many other kinds of problems, so that at last his craft became a portion of the art of mathematics. Geometry, that branch of mathematics which deals with figures in space, is associated in every Mason’s mind with the immortal Euclid, who figures 50 prominently in all the ancient Masonic manuscripts. It achieved its great place in Freemasonry because of its constant and prime importance in the builders’ art. Symbolically speaking geometry (to it the Letter G originally referred), consists of all those fixed principles and laws of morality and of thought to which a right character and a true mind adjust themselves.
THE BOOK OF THE LODGE OF AITCHISON'S HAVEN,1598-1764 By THE LATE BROTHER R. E. WALLACE-JAMES, P. M. Lodge St John Kilwinning, No. 57, 1911 (From 1852, when the Lodge became dormant, the Minute Book was in the possession of the descendants of one of the last members of the Lodge. It was put up for sale by auction in July 1980 and purchased by Grand Lodge.)
" and contains a "catalogue of the names of the fellows of Craft that ar presently in the Zeir of God 1598. "
The five earliest Minutes ante-date the famous Minute of "Ultimo Julij 1599' of the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary's Chapel), No. l. Like its famous compeer, the chronological sequence of the Minutes leaves much to be desired, the same page in many instances containing Minutes widely separated in date for instance, following the Minute of 2nd January 1600, on the same page, appear Minutes of 27th December l669 and 27th December 1670. No doubt the clerk at that time, finding a blank half page, economically utilised the space by writing these Minutes there, and took credit to himself for so doing.
Aitchison's Haven would be searched for in vain in any modern map, and even locally the name is all but unknown. It lay to the east of Musselburgh between Levenhall and the little harbour of Morrison's Haven in the County of Midlothian. It had its origin from a Charter of King James V dated 1526 and in all probability the Lodge would date from about that time. By this Charter the Monks of Newbattle were authorised to form a harbour within the lands then belonging to them, for the purpose of shipping the coal won, even at that early period, from the extensive coalfields of the Barony of Prestongrange. The harbour was first called the Millhaven and it is referred to under this name in the earlier Minutes. The name was afterwards changed to that of Aitchison's Haven. Of the actual foundation of the Lodge, however, we have no trace in the Minute Book.
The Minute Book consists of some seventyfive written pages, bound (though the pages are now loose) in sheepskin, and measures about 15 by 5ž inches. The edges of the leaves are more or less tattered, as might naturally be expected, and though in one or two places a few words are illegible the writing is in good condition and, from its archaic appearance, there can be no doubt of the genuineness of the manuscript being, as it purports to be, the Minute Book of the old Lodge of Aitchison's Haven. The volume is designated as "The Buik of the Actis and Ordinans of the Nobile Maisteris and fellows of Craft of the Ludg of Aitchison's heavine,
The very first Minute is particularly interesting from the fact that it contains the names of three signatories to the first of the St Clair Charters, who signed as representing the Lodge of Aitchison's Haven namely: George Aitoun, John Fender and Thomas Petticruif. Brother D. Murray Lyon in his transcript of the St Clair Charter, or rather we should perhaps say in copying the earlier transcript as found in Laurie's History of Freemasonry, gives the name of one of the signatories as "Jo Fwsetter". This is clearly a mistake for "John Fender" as may be seen by a reference to the Charter itself as well as to the fact being corroborated by the Minute above referred to. The Minutes of the Lodge show that this John Fender was at that date the Warden of the Lodge.
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Like all other old Scottish Trade Incorporations the Lodge was at first ruled and governed by a Warden and a Deacon with a Clerk to attend to the clerical work, an office
for which it was sometimes a little difficult to find an occupant. Later the relative position of the two principal office-bearers was reversed, the senior office-bearer being the Deacon with the Warden as second in command. It is not until the year 1825, in a subsequent Minute Book, that we first find the senior officebearer designated as "Master". By the fourth decade of the eighteenth century we have Managers, Key-keepers and other office-bearers, including the Keeper of the Mort-cloth, added to the executive of the Lodge. In the early days of the seventeenth century it was unusual in many country places to bury the dead in coffins, and the corpse on its way to the grave was covered with a pall (of black velvet or other material) which belonged usually to the Kirk Session of the Parish, though many Societies possessed their own. The cloth was hired out for the use of the parishioners or members of the societies and this was a source of considerable income to the owners of it, the hire varying according to whether the deceased was a member of the craft or a stranger.
There seems to have been nothing irregular in such a method of entering members and from other sources we know that it was a very general custom throughout Scotland at that time.
Continually we have instances in the Minutes of brethren adhibiting their Mason's Marks or of such marks being engrossed, while we are told that the brother had "payit his cess for his buking" or "hes payit his Buiking silver" or "payit for his mark". The earliest recorded mark appears under the date 28th Dec. 1603. These marks were chosen by, or assigned to, the members of the Company when they were entered apprentices and did not constitute, as we now know it, a separate degree. At this early date there is no trace of anything but one degree, for although there are repeated references in the Minutes to prentices, fellows of Craft and maisteris, all these grades of operative workmen were present not only when members were entered, but also when prentices were admitted as fellows of craft. The terms "fellow craft" and "maister" were simply distinctions in an operative sense implying that the apprentice had served the requisite time and had thus completed his Indenture. It did not refer to any degree in a speculative meaning of the term as we now use it.
The meetings of the Lodge were held at various places in the neighbourhood Musselburgh, Fisherrow, Inveresk Kirk, Prestonpans and Dalkeith - as well as at the home base, Aitchison's Haven. For many years the meeting place was Prestonpans or Musselburgh. As a rule there was only one meeting in each year, upon St John's Day, 27th December, but we have several Minutes of incidental meetings. Some of these were meetings of "a pairt of the companie" or of the Committee and at many of them we find that members were admitted to the craft. When, however, members were admitted at such meetings we usually find that at a subsequent regular meeting these brethren were "re-entered and passed" - for instance, under date 27th Decr: 1734 "Re-entered one Adam Ritchardson entered at Dalkeith June the 24th day 1734."
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At the opening of the minutes we find that the fee payable by an intrant was twenty shillings and, in addition, he had to supply gloves to every master present. In the case of the entry of a freeman's son the fee was modified to ten shillings, though the gloves were in such a case also demanded. Of course it must be kept in mind that the money was Scots, that is only one twelfth of its sterling equivalent, consequently twenty shillings equalled only one shilling and eight pence, but here again we must take into account the relative purchasing power of these sums then and now before we can make any satisfactory comparison. As to the material and price of the gloves the
Minutes leave us entirely in the dark and we have only contemporary records available if we would proceed with our investigations in this line. We learn, however, from the Minutes of the Lodge of Melrose, that in 1695 the price of gloves presented by prentices there was to be four shillings, while fellow crafts had to give gloves of the value of five shillings per pair.
From the Minutes we find that apprentices on being admitted chose two brethren as tutors or instructors - "tendars" or "intenders" as we find them repeatedly called. In the earlier pages there are many instances of the terms of service of apprentices being recorded, with the names of their masters and their cautioners: For instance: " xxvii day of Decr: 1612 Ye quhilk day befoir ye said Ludg Johne Aytoun soun to Wm. Aytoun and hes bund him self to his said father ye space of vii zeiris and ane zeir swa [illegible] and [illegible] to serve his mother [illegible] te said space gif god take his father. "
Again under 3rd Jan. 1614, "befor ye said Ludge Ninian Munguinerie son to Ninian Mungumerie hes bund himself to [illegible] ye space of nyne zeiris and shall serve his father and mother undoring ye said space."
And under the same date as the last, "The quhilk day befoir ye said Ludg Johne Petticruif soun to Hendrie Petticruif and hes bund himself to his said father ye space of aucht zeiris and shall his mother during his prentischip gif his father sall inlek."
We do not say that its members were drawn exclusively from the operative class, though undoubtedly it was the case with the large majority, but we have instances of others. For example in 1672 " Alexr: Seaton brother germane to the Right Honorabill Earll of Winton entered prenteis & fellow of Craft."
BROTHER R. E. WALLACE-JAMES, P. M. No: 57
In Hebrew M. Maimonides calls it the two-lettered name, and derives it from the Tetragrammaton, of which he says it is an abbreviation. Others have denied this, and assert that Jah is a name independent of Jehovah, but expressing the same idea of the Divine Essence. It is uniformly translated in the authorized version of the Bible by the word Lord, being thus considered as Synonymous with Jehovah, except in Psalm lxviii, 4, where the original word is preserved: "Extol Him that rideth upon the heavens by His name Jah," upon which the Targum comment is "Extol Him who sitteth on the throne of glory in the ninth heaven; Yah is His name." It seems, also to have been well known to the Gentile nations as the triliteral resume of God; for, although biliteral among the Hebrews, it assumed among the Greeks the triliteral form, as IAO Macrobius, in his Saturnalia, says that this was the sacred name of the Supreme Deity; and the Clarian Oracle being asked which of the gods was Jao, replied, "The initiated are bound to conceal the mysterious secrets. Learn thou that IAQ is the Great God Supreme who ruleth over all".
From these entries we learn that the term of the apprenticeship varies, and also the fact that in the event of the decease of the master to whom he was bound his widow, or in the cases above quoted the apprentice's mother, was to have right to his services until the termination of the indenture. From this it is clearly evident that the Lodge at this time whatever it may Source: Mackey's Encyclopedia of have become later, was of a strictly operative Freemasonry character. 16