The Lodge Of Scoon And Perth.*

THE LODGE OF SCOON AND PERTH . *

It is to be regretted that the Minutes during any period of its career of such an ancient lodge as that of Scoon and Perth should have been lost , and our regret in this case is enhanced by the fact that in the course of the period which is thus

minuteless—from the end of 1777 to Gth September , iSifithere should have occurred , some of the most interesting events in Scottish Masonic history . In 1 S 07 was signed the treaty , or agreement between the Grand Lodge of Scotland and Mother

Kilwinning , by which thc latter reunited its fortunes with those of tin ? Grand Lodge , and was assigned the place without a number at the head of the roll of lodges , its daughter lodges being also assigned their proper places on the register . We

do not , of course , suppose that the minutes of an ordinary private lodge would throw much additional lig ht on those graver concerns which affect the whole Masonic community , but the Contract , or Agreement , before referred to , of 24 th December ,

1658—or , as Bro . MURRAY LYON , in his great work on Scottish Freemasonry , states it as 1657—which the lodge tendered as its Charter when it joined the Grand Lodge of Scotland , formed part , and a very material part , of the evidence on which Mother

Kilwinning rests its claims to precedency of thc restof the . Scottish Lodges . It is quite possible , therefore , that under these circumstances , the minutes might have contained some record of so importantan event . However , if the period is minuteless , Bro . SMITH

has used his utmost endeavours to fill the gap from outside sources of information , his earliest success having been obtained through the minutes ol the Edinburgh Royal Arch Chapter , No . I , bearing date the 2 nd and 4 th December , 177 8 . It is therein recorded that

on the former day the compliment of six sundry steps in Masonry was offered to the Oflice Bearers of St . Stephen ' s Lodge by sundry of the Brethren from the ancient Lodge of Perth and Scoon , particularly Bro . ANDREW GLOAG , Bro .

BRYSON , Bro . DAVID GRAY , and Bro . JOHN SCOHIE , the recipients being "the Right Worshipful ! Master , Bro . DAVID MCLAREN , Bro . WM . LYON , Jun . Warden , Bro . JOHN DiCK , Secretary , " and five others , " who all of one voice accepted of

the compliment of that degree of Masonry , viz ., called Past thc Chair . " On the 4 th December , it is recorded : "This night being set apart by the Brethren of Perth and Scoon Lodge , in

order toconlcr upon thc Office Bearers of St . Stephen s Lodge the following Degrees of Masonry , ' ¦/; . ' ., Excellent and Super Excellent Mason , Arch and Royal Arch Mason , and lastly , Kni < jhls of Malta . " Then follow the names of the Office

Bearers upon whom thc Degrees were conferred , Jafter which wc are told that "the Right Worshipful Master , Worshipful Jun . Warden , and Office Bearers then ] present ordered the same to be minuted in order to show to the worthy Brethren of St .

Stephen ' s Lodge what honour the brethren of Perth and Scoon Lodge conferred on us . " Here , then , we have evidence that thc Lodge worked the higher Degrees last century , ami it is

added " possibly in an irregular manner in ' this century . " Bro . SMITH says that tin- Lodge still possesses the R . A . chapter tools , and that he has been told by an old member still living that the veils were used to decorate the lodge on the occasion of

the marriage of the Prince of \\ AI . ES in 1863 . The minutes of " the Royal Arch Lodge of Perth , now No . 122 , " of 10 years later contair a reference lo Scoon and Perth " Lodge , it being " represented that several members of the

Perth and Scoon Lodge desired to correspond with us in order to get a sermon on St . John ' s Day . " Subsequent entries in the minutes of the same lodge show that on St . John ' s Day ( 27 th December ) , i 7 Q'j , and again in the following year it exchanged

visits with Scoon and Perth and also with Lodge St . Andrew of Perth—now No . 74—while from a declaration and return made to the Sheriff on the 12 th September , 1 7 00 , in comnliance

the Act 30 , Geo . III ., Cap . 79 , it appears that Bros . ANDREW MCCIT . I . IE , Mason and ROBERT RLTIIERI'ORD , writer , were respectively W . M . and Secretary , the Return showing that the

The Lodge Of Scoon And Perth.*

lodge contained 19 S members , its character as mainly an operative lodge being determined by the fact that of these 198 members , 162 were Masons by trade , thc remaining 3 6 being made

up of military men , slaters , wrights , physicians , writers , bricklayers , farmers , fleshers , Sic , & c . A similar return for lSoo is in possession of the lodge and from this it : appears that ANDREW DOAC , was Master , and HUGH CAMERON , Treasurer . Further

researches have enabled Bro . SMITH to ascertain who were the Masters of the lodge from 1800 onwards ; that it took part in sundry Masonic functions ; andJromL . VURlE's "History ofthe Grand Lodge of Scotland , " that in 1807 the lodge petitioned to be re-admitted into the bosom of Grand Lodge , from which it had been

estranged for some years , and that , " considering the great antiquity of this Lodge , and the handsome manner in which her office-bearers offered to pay up all arrears , the Grand Lodge reinstated her ir her old number on the Roll of Daughter Lodges . " Wc learn further that the lost minutes were in the possession of

thc Lodge on thc 6 th July , 1825 , when it is minuted " that the records were searched , and WlLLlAM DUNCAN was found to have been initiated on thc 26 th December , 1806 . " But the chief discovery of all relating to thc earlier years of the present century is that a friendly society was established in connection with

the Lodge in 1804 ; that the two were amalgamated—so far as amalgamation was possible—in 1813 , the union lasting till 1857 " when the funds began to give out . " This discovery resulted through an application made by Bro . SMITH , on the strength of an entry in the second extant minute book to the Sheriff Clerk ,

and led to the recovery , on petition to the Sheriff , of certain documents now in possession of the Lodge , to wit— " ( 1 ) Printed Copy of the Regulations of Friendly Society of the Scoon and Perth Lodge , 1804 ; ( 2 ) Copy of Printed Regulations of the Lodge Scoon and Perth , 1777 ; and ( 3 ) excerpt from the minutes

of the meeting of the Lodge Scoon and Perth held on St . John s Day , 27 th December , 1813 . " ' On the subject of this union of the Friendly Society with the Lodge , Bro . SMITH makes some

very pertinent remarks , which , having regard to the danger always confronting us that Freemasonry may be converted into a huge benefit society , wc deem it expedient to quote in full . Says Bro .

SMITHOn the whole , we cannot speak favourably of Friendly Societies being connected or mixed up with Mason Lodges . In every lodge where this union has been tried , however successful the Friendly Societies may have been , the effect has been bad on Masonry . In Scoon and Perth , during the whole time the

societies were working as one , there was always too much Friendly Society and too little Masonry . Friendly Societies by themselves we heartily commend , but joined to Masonic Lodges Ihey are excrescences and foreign to the spirit of Masonry . The spirit of the Friendly Society is prudence and foresight , the spirit of Freemasonry is benevolence and charity . "

It must have been a relief to thc author when his endeavours to supply as far as possible the place of the lost minutes came to an end , while at the same time he must have derived great consolation from thc fact that these labours had been attended with such satisfactory results . At all events , from the j qth September , 1 S 16 , which is the date of ths first entry in the j

second of the- -preserved records , till the present time , his ; labours in tlie compilation of his narrative must have been comparatively easy . With a continuous record in four successive books for the last 82 years , there could not be any lack of material to work from , and , so far as it is possible for us to form an

opinion , wc should say that he has turned his material to . the very best account . He appears lo have noted carefully , in the order of their occurrence , the principal incidents in the Lodge history , the occasions on which the Lodge took part in any great Masonic function , and the most prominent brethren whom t ! ) L '

Lodge has had the honour to include in its roll of members . Moreover , he has done this well , in a way which leaves nothing to be desired in the matter of simplicity aud straig htforwardness .

He has freel y criticised the acts of thc Lodge , and we are persuaded that the members of Scoon and Perth Lodge will exlii' - - lowards him in no niggardly spirit that sense of gratitude t ( 1 which , by reason of his successful labours , he is so juslb

entitled . We could with advantage have prolonged this notice of B ' ' 0-SMITH ' work by referring particularly to incidents and parsonages mentioned during the latter portionbut space and tim < -

, 1 tforbid this , and all there remains for us to add is that the o °° itself is as admirable in its general " get-up" as its contents an- ' illustrations are praiseworthy .