Barbados
Visit.
James L. Jack , P.M.
During
the summer I had the opportunity while on holiday to visit a Scottish Lodge in
Bridgetown, Barbados. Lodge Scotia No. 340 was Chartered on 5th. February 1844
and is one of the oldest Scottish Lodges in the West Indies. The Lodge meets in
the Masonic Temple in Spry Street, which is also the home of the five other
Scottish Lodges in the District as well as Lodges from the English Constitution,
including the Albion Lodge No. 196 the oldest Lodge
At
the meeting of Lodge Scotia which I attended Bro. Mike Williams, W.J.W. gave an
excellent presentation of the first degree tracing board. At the previous
meeting the Lodge had Initiated a Candidate and it was their custom to instruct
the E.A. in the various lessons of the E.A. tracing board before the E.A.
received his F.C. degree.
The
R.W.M. Bro. Basil Sandiford and Brethren of the Lodge made me very welcome and
at the close charged me to extend fraternal greetings to the R.W.M. and Brethren
of Lodge St. Bryde.
I am indebted to Bro. Michael Ridley, P.M. who collated a wealth of interesting papers on Freemasonry in Barbados and presented them to me on my visit. These will feature in future issues of The Right Angle.
The
Temple was originally built in 1732 as Harrison Free School a three story
building. It was badly damaged in the great hurricane of 1780 which destroyed
most of Bridgetown. The property was repaired a cost of £550 which was a huge
sum in 1780. The school fell into disrepair and was sold to the Masonic Body in
1871. It has been used since that date by the Lodges of both Constitutions and
other Masonic Orders in Barbados.
The
Temple consists of the first floor which has a large room used for the Lodge
Harmony and dining room. The Temple is on the top floor and is richly decorated
with pillars and a painted ceiling representing the heavens. Another feature is
the embroidered banners and painted Past Masters Rolls of various Lodges which
adorn the walls.
The
Temple also supports a collection of interesting old photos of Brethren in the
regalia of several Masonic bodies. The Temple stands in Spry St., in between St.
Michaels Cathedral
and a new corporate banking building is one of the oldest buildings on the
island. The Masonic Body which owns the Temple (all the various Lodges and
Orders) has recently sold the building to the Bank next door.
The
bank intend completely renovating the building and turning the top floor into a
museum and to use the ground floor for corporate dining. The bank are in turn
financing half the cost of the new Temple which is presently being built on the
edge of town at a total cost of $2.4 million dollars ! But perhaps most
interesting was the Lodge Scotia tracing boards which are known as The Triptych.
The
Triptych of Lodge Scotia No. 340 as they are referred as are an unusual set of
three tracing boards. Bro. N. Atwell, D.G. Sec. and P.M. of Lodge Albion No. 196
presented a paper on the explanation of the boards. He had difficulty in
identifying their origin and had them photographed and sent to the Grand Lodge
of England for an expert opinion. The Grand Lodge identified them as being
American in origin and of an unusual design, the date was put at before 1824 as
there is a similar tracing board contained in the "The True Masonic Chart
or Hieroglyphic Monitor" by Bro. Jeremy Cross in that year.
The
Triptych is divided into three parts the first, second & third degree
tracing boards. The sections can be slotted together to create a large fresco
awash with Masonic symbolism. This was the first time that I had seen a
tracing board of the style and it was a very unusual design. The Lodge also had
on display a set of three original Harris Tracing Boards dated around 1860 and
very similar to the boards that we use in Lodge St. Bryde.
Photos.
The Photos in the centre section show the exterior of the Lodge. The main
Temple, the Tracing Boards and the banners of Lodge Scotia No. 340 and the
District of Barbados banner.