In
previous issues of The Right Angle we have looked at a brief history of
some of the oldest Lodges in Scotland, being ever careful never to
credit a Lodge the "oldest in Scotland".
Some
Lodges can trace their history back in a series of minutes, indeed The Lodge of
Edinburgh celebrated earlier this year it`s 400th. year of unbroken minutes.
Other
Lodges refer to minutes or Charters which have been lost or
destroyed
in the passage of time, some even claim that their Lodge
in
a direct descendant of the Lodge of Operatives which built the
local
Abbey or Cathedral. The Grand Lodge of Scotland in it`s year
book
uses typical diplomacy by dating Lodges from or before a certain
date.
The Lodge of Glasgow St. John, No. 3 bis. is referred to as
being
before 1628, but the Lodge claim an even older history.
The
Lodge of Glasgow St. John No. 3 bis, is possibly the
oldest
institution in the City of Glasgow with an unbroken line of
succession.
If we accept the dictum that the date of the founding
of
a church or abbey is a factor in determining antiquity, then, the
antiquity
of Glasgow is beyond all doubt. Wrote Bro. Ian M. MacDonald.
The
antiquity , the completeness and the fine state of her records,
give
to Glasgow the first place in the history of the Scottish Bishoprics.
It
is worthy of note that the ancient possessions of the Church of
St.
Kentigern consisted, not of tithes, but of broad lands and numerous
mansions
scattered over the South of Scotland. The Celtic Bishop or
Abbot,
as one of the principal landowners, would have a large number
of
workmen under his control. These workmen to be "The Fraternity
Appointed"
by the Charter of William the Lion in 1181, for the reconstruction of Glasgow
Cathedral after its destruction by fire.
Tradition
informs us that the Fraternity (of stone masons) being
the
only persons competent to undertake the work, William the Lion not
only
granted the Charter, but commanded his servants
to
grant them every assistance and protection. This Charter is recorded
in
The Venerable Register of Bishoprie and copy appears in Hamilton
of
Wishart`s Records of the Sheriffdoms of Lanark and Renfrew, 1710.
Traditionally
a claim has been made for the Charter of Malcolm, King
of
Scots, in 1057, and Cleland in his Annals of Glasgow, 1816, relates
that
a "musty document" had been found in the Charter Box of St. John`s
Freeman
Lodge, which, having been translated, showed that the Lodge
was
entitled to precedence next to Grand Lodge. Cleland gives a translation
of
the Charter, which, with the exception of the change of "David,
my
Brother", to "David my Son", is the same as that found in the
Lodge
Bye-Laws.
Controversy followed, but the Lodge took no active part
in
the controversy, and the dispute was really confined to the critics
of
the Charter and they could not agree amongst themselves. The question
of
the authenticity of the Malcolm Charter has been the subject of much acrimonious
and futile disputation. Professor Cosmo Innes said: "Well, there is that
beautiful Charter granted by William the
Lion to the Fraternity engaged at the building of Joselyn`s Cathedral, which is
as genuine as can be." The Lodge of Glasgow St. John, 3bis, still takes no
active part in disputation about its traditional foundation.
The
Lodge of Glasgow St. John, was so closely bound with
the
Incorporation of Masons that, not only was the Deacon also the
Master
of the Lodge, but one set of Minutes Books covered the transactions
of
both the Incorporation and the Lodge. It is worthy of note, as
a
factor redounding to the credit of our Glasgow Craftsmem that, not
only
were they builders of the Cathedral, but were also its preservers.
At
the Reformation (1559), the Duke of Chatelherault and a number
of
the Nobility marched to Glasgow to have the images of the Cathedral
destroyed.
When the "rascal multitude" were about to attack the Cathedral
itself,
the Craftsmen stood forward in a body and prevented it from
being
damaged. By their prompt action the Craftsmen saved Glasgow
Cathedral
from the fate which befell so many sacred fabrics in Scotland.
The
close association of Incorporation and Lodge existed till 1824,
though,
in 1729, an attempt was made to introduce "theoretic masons",
and
when this was outvoted, some members left and formed a new Lodge
named
"St. Mungo". The loyal members of St. John Operative Lodge stayed
on
and insisted that only entered apprentices to the mason trade were
eligible
for membership of the Lodge. In 1824, however, the members
of
the Lodge decided that, as they were using funds strictly belonging
to
the Incorporation, it would be better to regularise the Lodge,
as
till then, the meetings had been, in the main, purely trade meetings.
On
24th. December 1824 the first separate Minute Book of the Lodge
records
the election of Bro. James Scott to be "Grand Master", along
with
Two Wardens, but with no mention of any other office bearers.
From
this date the Masonic standards were raised, and on 25th. March
1825
Articles and Regulations were produced ;
"Where as the Freemen
Operative
Masons in Glasgow have, along with the Incorporation of
Masons
of the said City, been constituted by Royal Charter, and immemorial custom and
useage, into a Lodge of Freemasons, under the name and style
of The Glasgow Freemen Operative St. John`s Lodge, for a period of nearly 800
years, although no provision has been made for the defraying of the expense of
supporting the Lodge or the relief of the members thereof independently of the
funds strictly belonging to the said
Incorporation.
And whereas it has been deemed necessary and expedient
that
certain regulations should be made, not only for the government
of
said Lodge, but for the purpose of raising means independently
of
the funds strictly belonging to the Incorporation, in order to
defray
the expense of supporting the Lodge, and relieving distressed
members
thereof, the following Rules and Regulations are being submitted
to
a General Meeting of the members, have been agreed to for these
purposes."
The Ancient Brethren were certainly very thorough in drawing
up
these Articles, and deserve great credit, when one remembers they
were
"working men", most of whom had probably left school at twelve or
thirteen years of age. It is interesting to note the continual
use
of "Grand Master", and also that the funds might be used for the
relief
of distressed Brethren of other Lodges.
In
1829 the Lodge, still independent, but taking precedence immediately
after
Grand Lodge, assisted at the laying of the foundation stone
of
Hutchesontown Bridge. The fraternal love shown by the Lodge to
the
Provincial Grand Lodge and The Grand Lodge was sometimes overcast
by,
shall we say, purely domestic differences, the rights and wrongs
of
which can only be judged by the wording of the Minute Book.
In
1833
Deacon Taylor of the Incorporation of Masons, along with the
Master
of The Freemen Operative St. John`s Lodge laid the foundation
stone
of Jamaica Bridge. On 30th. August of that year a divine service
was
arranged by Grand Lodge, but the Master of St. John`s protested
against
not having premier place, and it was suggested and decided
to
attend the church, and after the service, to march through the
City
as a separate body. After consideration the Lord Provost and
Grand
Secretary agreed to The Lodge of St. John having their proper
place.
Harmony was thus restored, although at that time St. John was
still
independent and not under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge
of
Scotland.
Regular meetings were held for Degree working till 1849,
when,
in May of that year , the first suggestion of "Cordial Union
with
the Grand Lodge of Scotland" was made, and it was agreed to present
a
petition to Grand Lodge.
The
Charter was not granted immediately, so on 17th. August 1849,
we
find William York installed as Grand Master of Glasgow Freemen
Operative
St. John Lodge. Negotiations continued, with many arguments
about
precedence, but on 26th. June 1850 a draft of a Charter from
Grand
Lodge of Scotland was considered and approved, subject to the
Lodge
being considered First Lodge of Glasgow, Lanarkshire Dumbarton
and
Renfreshire East and agreed to accept the number 3/2 or 3bis,
it
being understood that the Lodges in the East of Scotland would
seldom
appear to claim precedence. All this was done in the Secretary`s
Office,
the Hall being under repair.
The first Regular Meeting, under
Charter
from Grand Lodge, was held in the Hall in Buchanan St., when
the
election of Office Bearers took place and the titles of Grand
Master,
Grand Steward and Taylor were used.
On
4th May 1850 the first open collection for funds of the Lodge was
made
and realised the then enormous sum of £70. There followed a Divine
Service
in Glasgow Cathedral, an annual privilege which exists at
the
present time, and is highly prized by the Brethren of St. John,
3
bis.
The running of the Lodge was not always smooth and the year
1858
was somewhat stormy. In February the Lodge of Aberdeen, No. 34
claimed
the number 3/2 but Grand Lodge turned this down. May of that
year
brought a protest from the Provincial Grand Master against the
"Chair
Degree" (Mark) and a deputation was appointed to meet him.
The
Master of St. John reported to the Lodge and was instructed by
the
Lodge to stand by our long standing custom. A Petition and Complaint
was
then served by Provincial Grand Lodge, and Grand Lodge ordered
that
a reply be sent within fourteen days. A "Memorial " was sent
to
Provincial Grand Lodge, and thereafter an extract from the Minutes
of
Grand Lodge was received, " That The Grand Lodge of Scotland having
on
1st. February 1858 adopted resolutions that it had been proved
to
the satisfaction of Grand Lodge that certain Lodges have worked
Mark
Masonry since their foundation, and previous to the existence
of
Grand Lodge, and have continued to do so till the present time,
and
that any interference with the rights and privileges of Lodges
so
situated was an invasion of the privileges of these Lodges which
the
Grand Lodge were bound to protect to protect, and having taken
into
consideration the complaint of The Provincial Grand Lodge of
Glasgow
resolve that the Lodge of St. John, Glasgow were in order
in
continuing to practice a Degree to which their ancient privileges
entitled
them, and to dismiss accordingly the complaint of Provincial
Grand
Lodge".
We
also find that the Lodge took its place at the laying of foundation
stones
at The Abbey Craig, Stirling, Town Hall, Hamilton, and Grammar
School,
Paisley.
In 1864 a large deputation attended the funeral of
the
Grand Master, The Duke of Atholl.
In
1864 the death occurred of Bro. George Young who had been Secretary
of
the Lodge for forty nine years. The Lodge of Glasgow St. John,
3
bis, has used many titles before settling down to the present one.
The
Lodge of Glasgow, The Glasgow Freemen Operative St. John`s Lodge,
The
Lodge of Glasgow Saints John, The Lodge of Glasgow 3/2, and finally
The
Lodge of Glasgow St. John, No.3 bis. The first two titles refer
to
the purely operative Lodge within the Incorporation of Masons.
The
"plurality"
of Saints dealt with the period when the Lodge celebrated,
in
June of each year, the Festival of St. John, The Baptist and in
December
the Festival of St. John, The Evangelist, the latter coinciding
with
Installation Night. The remaining titles were granted by The
Grand
Lodge of Scotland.
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