The "Langdale " Masonic Ms.

be made and for to giue him his charge and from yt time to this time manors of Mafons hath been kept in this form as well as men ought to keep it and furthermore at diners Assemblies hath been pnt & ordained certain charges by the best adnice of M ™ and ff el lows .

Euery man yt is A Mafon ought to take right good heed to these charges yt if any man find himfelfc guiltic' in any of thole charges to amend himselfe . Take good heed y t you keep thefe charges rig ht well for A man to forfwear himfelfc upon A booke is A great perrill .

Charges The first charge is yt you fiiall be true man to god and holy Church it yt you ufe neither error nor herifie to your underffanding but according to dil ' crct and wifemens teaching and you fhall be A true liege man to ye King of England w _ ont treson or any other falfhood .

And if you know any trefoil or trcacheric or any other- fault yt yon may amend it pviuiUic if they may or elfe warne the King or the conn fell thorof and also you fhall be true enery man to other yt is to say euery Mafon of the craft of Maf ' onric yt be Mafons allowed you fhall do to them as you would they should do to you

& alfo yt you keep truly the Counfoll of the lodge and all other Counfels yt ought to be kept by the way of Mafonhood and alfo yt no Mafon fhall be no thefe lb far forth as he may know and alfo you fhall bo true to the lord and matter you ferae and truly to his profit & aduantage and alfo you fhall call all mafons your

Brethren or else ffellows and no other fonlo name and also you fhall not take your ffellows wife in uillainy nor defire ungodly his daughter nor his Ionian fc nor put him to no difhonour and alfo yt you pay truly for your meat and drinke wher you go to board wher by the feience may not be flandered thereby Thefe be the charges in general 1

y t bclongeth to euery true . Mafon to keep both Matters and ffellows . Hirst y t no Mai ' ter fhall take upon him any lords or other mans worke but if he know himfelfe able and sufficient of knowledge to performe ther work So yt ye Science have no ( "lander nor disworfhip but yt yc lord may be well ferved , and alio yt no Mafini take no worke but but in refon yt the Lord may be truly

ferud and well with his own and the Matter to line honeftl y and pay his ffellows truly ther pay as the manor is and alfo yt no matter nor ffellow suplant on another of ther worke yts to fay if ho haue taken worke and ftand for mai ' ter of the worke you fhall not put him out but if he bo unable of knowledge to do the lords worke and alio yt no mailer or ffellow

take no prentice bnt during 7 years once , and the prentice to be free born and whole of his limbs as a perfect man ought to bo and alfo yt non be made A fremafon not without the content of his ffellows it they at least G or 7 and yt shall bo made mafon be able in all manner of degrees as is aforfd y t is to say freborn and of good

kindred & no bondman and yt he bane his wright limbs & also yt no mafon take no prentice but if he have sufficient imploy for 3 ffellows or 2 at the least & also yt no mafon ( nor ) ffellow pnt no lords work to tacke yt usd to go to Jorney it also yt euery Ma , ' ; giue pay to his ffellows as they do deterue fo yt he be not de

ceiued by no falfe workmen , and alio yt non ( 'lander another behind his backe to make loole his good name or his worldly goods and also yt no ffellow within y t lodge mifanl ' wer on another ungodly or rcprochfully without just caul ' e , & y t every mafon reucrence his eldct and put him to' worfhip , & alto you fhall do no uillany

in the place wher you go to board nor uf ' c Lcachcric nor no bad thing whereby the feience may be flandered alfo no ffellow fhall go into the town in the night time where A lodge of ffellows is unlets he have a realbnable caul ' e and a ffellow with him yt he may bear him witnefs yt he was in honest company anil place and alfo yt euery M . ' & ffellow yt hath trespassed again

Ye craft shall stand at ye award of his ffellows and they to make them accord if they may but if they cannot y" they may if they pleal ' c go to common law and alfo yt no mafon nor ffellow make no mould nor square nor rule to any rough layer nor get no fueb layer within ye lodge no moulded (" tone alfo yt every mafon and ffellow shall conic to the afiemhlio if it be within lil ' tic miles about him if ho

( haue reasonable ) warning and if he haue trespassed against ye ( craft ther ) to abide ye award of ye Mas'' ™ and ffellows ther ( assembled ) and alfo yt every Mason cheril'h and rcleue ( strange ffe ) IIows when they come Abroad in ye Con try it ( sett them on ) worke yt is to say if he bane Moled Stone ( in place and ) if they can worke if not to ( refresh ) e them with ( money to bring ) them to ye next lodge of Mafons alfo that ( every malbn ) fhall trul y fcrue the Lord for his pay & trnel y

The "Langdale " Masonic Ms.

( scrue his adnan ) tage and on cry Mas . ' to make an end of his ( worke be it ta ) ske or jorney if ho haue his conuenicnt ( pay ) ooooo The next and last line is barely readable but appears hi have been the beginning of a form of obligation , such as :

( These charges ) euery true Mafon ( shall keep soo help yon God and Holy dome and by the Contents of that Book to the uttermost of your power Amen . ) The only part legible in the manuscript is " every true Muibu "

and even that reading is doubtful . If my version be accepted it would follow that the last sheet was only a quarter one as it only measures 3 '' in length the other five measuring exactly 1 ' 3 ''

each . All , however , is missing after the above three words and there is nothing to prove that the sheet was onl y say 4 . V' long except that if it had been longer the " oath " wonld have been perfect and not worn out by the "handling" when the roll was exhibited .

The manuscript as a whole appears to have been held at both ends during the Ccrenioivy , these being badly frayed and worn , while the body is well preserved .

Bro . Hughan is of opinion that this roll dates between 1670 and 1 GS 0 , in my opinion it was written before 1 C 50 , probably between 1620 and 1650 . The great experience of Bro . Hughan alone leads mc to adopt his date .

The roll was discovered accidentally , during a series of researches anont the original—or Copy—of the Alnwick MSS . ( Newcastle College Reproduction , No . 2 , now ready ) , it has , however , no connection therewith , and certainly is not that document .

It was " collected " about the middle of last century , by a local collector named Langdale , and over since kept in memory of him , together with many curios , by his descendants , who protect it under a glass shade . The writing " good " repeatedly appearing at

the end in bold handwriting is on the backing which protects the last piece , and consists of part of an old copy book bearing the endorsement "Mary Watson ' s Book Septom , " and is evidently much more recent than the text , with which it has no connection . In order to save trouble to the owner , all communications respecting this copy should be addressed to"LANGDALE , "

c / o The LIBRARIAN , Newcastle College S . R . LA ., Central Masonic Hall , Newcastle-upon-Tyne , As the points of general interest have been ampl y dealt with in

the two previous Newcastle College Reproductions , as well as in many publications readily accessible , by Bros . Hughan , Gould , Begcniann , the " Lodge Quatuor Coronati" Reproductions and others , no good purpose can be served by going once more over the beaten track .

Words in brackets in the reprint are suggested readings to fill up lacunae in the original . As regards the spelling , the scribe , evidently a "North Country Man , " often spells phonetically , and uses U for V . A few difficult words may be explained , such as uoicse for voices , tilers for tillers ,

seletlt for sclleth , Geniscs for genesis , Oiest sone—oldest son , ptcdparted , stl for said , toung for tongue , euell for evil , hear afer wards—hear afterwards , bad for bade , or bid , priuillic for privately , Dialitick for the more usual Logick , Semes for Shems , Hermcrus and Hermcris a corruption of Hermes , Cubis for Cubs , or Cub , Babellon , Babellen , or Babilon for Bab ylon , Serud for served , yn for

then , pfor for prefer , moled stone for moulded stone , owen for own , otah for oath . The final "e" in words such as stone , there , one , and the " e " in words such as " called , " is often left out . Templum Doiiim . almost looks like templum Denni for Templum Domini . The word freemason ( fremason ) is written as one word . The old capital letter If for _" , is common , and lands is used where lambs was meant . Jabal , Jubal and Tubal undergo many variations .

Expressions such as the Master of the East may be noted ; " his Cozen , " the question arises if a relation or a friend as companion is meant . Euclid is called " Doctor , " " Clerk , " and Master . Hyram ' s Sun that was called ( left out ) , the scribe evidently copied from a

debased manuscript , and did not know sufficiently well which Hiram was meant . The reading of the second name is largel y dealt with by Bro . Bcgemann . Another explanation of Abif or Abi , is " Hiram of my fathers , " that is -. Hiram the servant of my father , or belonging to his household .

Names— "Graeous" is left out , see Quatuor Coronati Reproductions and Transactions , Bros . Hughan , Gould , itc , or the Newcastle College Reproductions , 1 . and If . Lateren for Latercs is not so badly done , considering the usual

jumble made of this term . Attention may be drawn to the properties of this brick " because it will swim on the face of the water . " Even sun dried bricks wdll not do this . Did any antient nation use pumice stone bricks Y

The blank after 2 / 6 per week suggests the words " and 3 ' fo' - bis nonlinch " or his lunch , left out . Perhaps the scribe did not understand the word "nonlinch . "