Mother Kilwinning No 0

Lodge Kilwinning No 0

In recent issues of The Right Angle we have looked at the history of some

of the oldest Scottish Lodges, The Lodge of Aberdeen No.1(3), Old Inverness Kilwinning St. John`s Lodge No. 6 and The Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary`s Chapel) No.1 to name but a few. As we continue on our Masonic Education Programme, this month we feature arguably the most famous of all our Lodges, Lodge Mother Kilwinning No. 0.

The origin of the Lodge is uncertain, although it most probably began with the building of the Monastery at Kilwinning. Whatever its beginnings, by 1598 it had become one of three Lodges mentioned in the Schaw Statutes of that year. These Statutes, and a further set issued in 1599, were promulgated by William Schaw, Master of the King`s Masons and were compiled for the better administration of operative building in Scotland.

The order of seniority assigned in these Statutes to the three Lodges at Edinburgh, Kilwinning and Stirling has aroused considerable controversy. Had the existence of these Statutes been known in 1736 (when the Grand Lodge of Scotland was formed) it is just possible that Mother Kilwinning would not have withdrawn, in 1743, from the Grand Lodge of Scotland at whose birth she was represented.

It was not until some years after 1736 that the Grand Lodge of Scotland assigned

any seniority to the Lodges on the Roll. Such seniority was based upon records which could be produced as evidence of antiquity. Here Mother Kilwinning was at a disadvantage, for her written minutes did not commence until 1641 and the existence of the Schaw Statutes with their evidence of her existence in 1598 were unknown. As a consequence, the Lodge was placed second on the Roll of Grand Lodge - a position which the Lodge resented and declined to accept. The Lodge based its claim for precedence upon the fact that earlier records than 1641

had been consumed by a fire which had destroyed the family seat of the Earls of Eglinton wherein they were stored.

Finding Grand Lodge unpersuaded as to her claim to the prior position on the Roll, Mother Kilwinning withdrew her allegiance and resumed her independence and powers of granting Charters. It is open to doubt whether in joining Grand Lodge, she had ever surrendered her chartering powers, though one might reasonably assume that, by the fact of adhering to Grand Lodge, she had done so. That Mother Kilwinning had exercised the power of granting Charters before 1736

is not in doubt. Lodge Canongate Kilwinning was chartered by Mother Kilwinning in 1677 and St. John`s Lodge at Inverness within a few years thereafter at the least. The Lodge at Duns, in Berwickshire, also appears to have been issued with a Kilwinning Charter before 1736.

Between 1743 and 1807, when she rejoined Grand Lodge, Mother Kilwinning continued to function as a Sovereign Grand Lodge, completely ignoring and being ignored by, the Grand Lodge of Scotland. During this period in her history she issued approximately seventy Charters, both within Scotland and overseas.

Unfortunately Mother Kilwinning was not blessed with very competent secretaries, for the record of the issue of her Charters is incomplete. One must remember, too, that the situation of the Lodge, in a small village in Ayrshire, can hardly have been conducive to the easy conduct of the business of a Grand Lodge. Travelling was

difficult and the postal services, if they existed, cannot have been other than erratic.

The independence of Mother Kilwinning, at least during the early years of the period 1743 to 1807, does not seem to have brought with it any unfraternal feelings to Grand Lodge or her subordinate Lodges. At least one Grand Master Mason was a member of Mother Kilwinning and Grand Lodge placed no ban on her members visiting Daughter Lodges of Mother Kilwinning, that was to come later.

Mention has been made above that Mother Kilwinning issued Charters outwith as well as within Scotland. One of these charters was issued on 8th. October 1779 to the "High Knight Templar of Ireland Kilwinning" Lodge, meeting in Dublin. The existence of this Charter has done much to support the erroneous idea that Lodge Mother Kilwinning worked Masonic degrees other than the three degrees of St. John`s Masonry.

From 1743 onwards Mother Kilwinning and the Grand Lodge of Scotland seem to have pursued parallel, but independent, paths in fraternal accord. Both issued Charters and the difficulties of travel would doubtless prevent much intervisitation between subordinate Lodgesof the different allegiances. Such a state of affairs could not be expected to continue indefinitely.

The Grand Lodge of Scotland grew rapidly. Mother Kilwinning`s jurisdiction grew but slowly. Toward the end of the eighteenth century Grand Lodge prohibited her members from visiting Kilwinning Lodges and forbade her Lodges from receiving

Kilwinning Masons as visitors. Mother Kilwinning began to receive letters from her Daughter Lodges protesting at this state of affairs, but there was nothing she could do in the matter beyond advising a dignified silence and instructing her Lodges to "keep themselves to themselves" . Not a few of the Kilwinning Lodges came under Grand Lodge from time to time and it soon became clear that Mother Kilwinning`s

day as an independent Sovereign Grand Lodge were numbered.

By 1807 only six of her Lodges, all within Scotland, remained outwith Grand

Lodge.

The first move in re-uniting Mother Kilwinning to Grand Lodge came from the latter body who wrote that "the cause of the separation seemed to be forgotten", and suggested that Mother Kilwinning and her Daughter Lodges might come to Grand Lodge on terms to be agreed. To this suggestion Mother Kilwinning concurred and after some negotiations, the following terms were signed, At Glasgow, 14th. October 1807.

1. That the Mother Lodge, Kilwinning, shall renounce all right of granting Charters, and come in, along with all the Lodges holding under her, to the bosom of the Grand Lodge.

2. That all the Lodges holding of Mother Kilwinning shall be obliged to obtain from Grand Lodge confirmations of their respective Charters, for which a fee of three guineas shall be exigible.

3. That Mother Kilwinning shall be placed at the head of the Roll of the Grand Lodge, under the denomination of Mother Kilwinning; and her Daughter Lodges shall, in the meantime, be placed at the end of the said Roll, and as they shall apply for confirmations; but this express declaration, that as soon as the Roll shall be arranged and corrected, which is in present contemplation, the Lodges holding of Mother Kilwinning shall be entitled to be ranked according to the

dates of their original Charters, and of those granted by the Grand Lodge.

4. That Mother Kilwinning and her Daughter Lodges shall have the same interest in and management of the funds of the Grand Lodge, as the other Lodges now holding of her, Mother Lodge, Kilwinning, contributing annually to the said funds a sum not less than two shillings and six pence for each intrant, and her Daughter Lodges contributing in the same manner as the present Lodges holding of the Grand Lodge.

5. That the Master of the Mother Lodge, Kilwinning, for the time, shall be ipso facto Provincial Grand Master for the Ayrshire District.

With the return of Mother Kilwinning to Grand Lodge it was necessary to re-arrange the Roll of Lodges and Mother Kilwinning was placed at the head, her subordinate Lodges occupying positions in accordance with the dates of their Kilwinning Charters. To this arrangement the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary`s Chapel) raised objection, but the matter was allowed to rest in the interests of fraternal peace.

The terms of the agreement between Mother Kilwinning and Grand Lodge were, in the early years after the re-union, the subject of minor contentions between the two parties. the particular clause which seemed to engender most dispute was that which provided for the Master of Mother Kilwinning being ex officio Provincial Grand Master of Ayrshire. This meant that the Brethren of Ayrshire could not elect their own Provincial Grand Master. Only in the last ten years has an agreement been reached between Grand Lodge and Mother Kilwinning which now allows the Brethren of Ayrshire to elect a Provincial Grand Master.

However to reach such an agreement a further compromise was struck, which allowed Mother Kilwinning to elect annually the Grand Bible Bearer, the formation of The Provincial Grand Lodge of Kilwinning and if other Lodges were Chartered within the Parish of Kilwinning, they would take the number 01,02 etc. on the Roll of Grand Lodge.

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Revised: March 07, 2003 .