Lodge Histories.

Scotland . The work was not , however , actually completed until March 1737 , when the cost is set down at £ 400 , which amount was partly disbursed by a contribution of £ 3 3 s per member , the balance being paid out of tbe ordinary funds of the Lodge , tho indebtedness extending

over somo years . Tho Master of tho time—J 3 ro . George Frazor , already roferrod to—had solo charge of tho work , and appears to have had tho payment of tho various accounts . In 1768 tho hall was repaired , at a cost of

£ 300 , aud iu 1784 further repairs were oxecuted , at considerable expense . In 1838 still further alterations were made in the Lodge property , and proper title deeds were prepared and recorded , those previously drawn up having been mislaid or otherwise lost .

The roll of members , containing some thousands of name ? , is carefully preserved , and selections from it are given from time to time in the History before us . It appears the office of Substitute Master was not instituted until 1788 , while the first appointment of' Deacon appears to havo taken place in 1816 .

Tho Canongate Kilwinning Lodge is described as one as famous for her vicissitudes of fortune as for the brilliant and celebrated men whom she calls her sons . In neither

of those characters has she a rival ; for while her lot has been to suffer greater misfortunes than any other Lodge , her roll of members is one that no kindred society can equal . The greatest men of the past and present centuries have belonged to her ; and while Burns , and Hogg the

Ettrick Shephord , were her Laureates , St . Clair of Rosslyn , Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo , Dr . James Boswell of Auchinleck , and Henry Erskine were among her Officers ,

while a Pnnce of the Russian Empire was brought to Masonic light within her halls . At the beginning of last century the Lodge numbered amongst its members the foremost noblemen of Scotland who were devoted to the

Stuart cause . The unsuccessful rising in 1715 sent those who had escaped death on the battle-field into exile ; and during the confusion attendant on those times the whole

early records of the Lodge were lost , or destroyed , and no trace of them can now be found . At length the survivors , a small but trusty band , met about the beginning of 1735 , and resumed the meetings , as we have already recorded .

The earliest minute in preservation is dated 13 th February 1735 , and records that tbe Lodge having mot , according to adjournment , appointed certain brethren to " prepare regulations & by Laws to be laid before the Rt . Worshipful the Master & Wardens against

Thursday , the 27 th instant . " At this period it seems the Lodge consisted of ten active members , seven of whom were Master Masons . Meetings were held monthly , and

absentees from Lodge had to pay , in addition to a Is monthly subscription , a fine of Is . The initiation fee was £ 1 8 s 6 d , and extra fees were charged for passing and raising .

The minute of 31 st March 1735 gives the earliest record , in tbe books of a Scottish Lodge , of the admission of Master Masons under the Modern Masonic Constitution , three brethren being admitted on that day " Master Masons . " The third degree is for the first time referred to

in the Minutes of Mother Kilwinning Lodge in 1736 , and in those of Canongate Kilwinning from Leith ( now St . David ' s , Edinburgh ) , on 2 nd March 1738 , while in the Lodge of Edinbnrgh , Mary ' s Chapel , the earliest record appears on 1 st November 1738 .

The fines for non-attendance appear to have been rigorously enforced , an excuse offered for a Brother Westcombe about this time being deemed insufficient .

Perhaps this Brother was not in favour , and was on that account treated with extra severity ; at any rate he was shortly afterwards expelled the Lodge for " scandalous behaviour , " on the unanimous vote of the members .

A quarterly meeting took place on 29 th September 1735 , the Minutes of which furnish the earliest information of the election of a Grand Master for Scotland , several brethren being theu appointed as "a Committee for framing proposals to be lay'd before the several Lodges in order to

the chusing a Grand Master for Scotland . " This subject was considered for some months , and the outcome of it was that William St . Clair of Rosslyn was initiated , at an " occasional" meeting held 18 th May 1736 . It appears

this gentleman was admitted without the customary ballot , but that provious to his being passed , on the 2 nd June , he was regularly voted ior , and admitted a member of the Lodge . Varions meetings of the Committee were then held , and

Lodge Histories.

on the 4 th August a Secretary was appointed , in order to make out a scheme for bringing about a Grand Master in Scotland . This matter appears to havo been regarded as an important one at the time , and after consulting the

brethren of threo of tho other Lodges in and about Edinburgh , a special meeting was held on tbe 11 th October , and another on the 15 th , at which regulations were framed for

the election of Grand Master , to which subject we shall return in our next paper on this interesting Lod ge ' s history . ( To bo continued . )

All About The Goat.

ALL ABOUT THE GOAT .

SOMEHOW or other the profane havo always fancied that Freomasons were a species of goatherds , and that every initiate must pass through tbo ordeal of " riding the goat . " We do not now propose to either affirm or dony this

goat story , but will look up the goat ' s historic record a little , and endeavour to learn what his good and bad points are , and inquire into the ground of his association with Freemasonry in the popular apprehension .

First let us observe what there is that is estimable about the goat . There have been heathen gods that , according to myth , ology , were goats , or half goats . Pan , from the hips down had the form of a goat , and his face had a goatish look ,

two horns sprouting from bis forehead , and a very goatish looking beard covering his chin . So the fauns satyrs , and sylvains were all half man and half goat . Faunus , the mythical first King of Italy , was of this physical character . A goat named Amalthea was said to

have suckled Zeus or Jupiter , who broke off one of his horns and gave it to the daughters of Melisscus , endowing it with the power to become filled with whatever tho possessor wished . This was the origin of the cornucopia , or horn of plenty .

Alluding to the heathen god Pan , a recent writer says : — In his evolutionary process Pan became later on a demon , and in the early era of Christianity gave way to Satan , who inherited his whole outward appearance—horns , beard , and cloven foot . In the Middle Ages , at the orgies of the witches whioh were held in the dead

of night , he played a very important role . Daring the ceremonies of initiation into the Satanic rites the witches were believed to rido on goats , uttering the most frightful blasphemies . The praotice was transferred by the vulgar and illiterate to the mysteries of

Freemasonry , and it waa a common saying among the English people that the Masons mot in their Lodges to raise the devil . Thus the " riding of tho goat" passed from the witches to the Freemasons , and although the original belief which gave rise to the expression has died out , the phraseology still continues .

In Egypt the goat was one of the sacred animals . According to Ovid , when the giants invaded heaven tho gods fled to Egypt and concealed themselves in various animals , and the Egyptians thenceforth worshipped theso animals , out of respect for their having been the habitations

of gods . Mendez , in Egypt , was the high seat of so-called goatworship . In Mendez , when a he-goat died , the whole Meudezian nome went into mourning . The goat waa sacred to Khem , the creator , and it represented the priapic

or generating power . Both Strabo and Diodorus mention this . In Mendez even goatherds were respected , notwithstanding the common Egyptian prejudice against shepherds .

Vejovis , the Etruscan ideal of " Jupiter , was always represented with a goat . He was the thnnderer , and whoever he struck with his bolts was made so deaf that he could not hear thunder .

Aphrodite , or Venus , is sometimes represented sitting on a ram . All of theso associations ( except the later one , with Satan ) are to the . goat ' s credit , and therefore , as Freemasons ,

we need not be ashamed of the popular association of tho goat with the ceremonies of our mysteries . The goat ' s beard has often been regarded as typ ical of wisdom . Lucian says : —

" If beards long and bushy true wisdom denote , Then Plato must bow to a hairy he-goat . " It is related of a certain Spanish ambassador at the court

of Rome , who was a very young man , that the Pope aaked him with great displeasure , if his master could not fin" , n all his dominions some fitter person for so venerable » n office . The young man replied : " If my master had known