Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonry In Northumberland.
Masonry in Northumberland .
By Bro . buunKUiCK H . COKDEU , Provincial Grand Secretary .
r T ^ O anyone attempting a brief excursus on Masonry in the I far north Province of Northumberland , some of whose lodges are further from London than any others in England , and where Christianity was introduced from Ireland through the south-western part of what afterwards became known as Scotland , long before Gregory ' s Monks
landed in Kent , the mysterious past of the Craft forces itself upon the mind of the speculative excursist . Every part of the Masonic ritual shows its close intimacy with religion , and to the thoughtful student of antiquity it becomes a matter of little doubt that Masonry , Operative'as
well as Speculative , had its origin with the priests and its continuation with those who had structural secrets to keep . Else why all the mystery about a craft founded upon the principles of geometry ?—principles as clear as the light , and free to all with an aptitude or a desire for their investigation .
Long before Moses received in a mysterious manner the pattern of the Jewish Tabernacle direct from Jehovah , the priests of Egypt had secret chambers and passages , both in their temples and in the tombs which they built for their kings . The masons who built these would be sworn to
secrecy ; the stones would be prepared by apprentices ; the inner parts craftsmen alone would be permitted or privileged to build , but the inmost and secret intricacies would be constructed only by master masons carrying out the designs of the Master of the whole body or the lodge , who , of course , would be one of the higher and perhaps the chief of the priests . Hence the secrets of Masonry .
Then again , in comparatively modern times , in the middle ages , when baron warred against baron and built his fortified castle with its secret rooms and exits , secrecy is attain a most
J 1 HO . TIIK HKillT HON . VISCOUNT H 1 DI . HV , 1 'ltOVINI'lAL GliANl ) MASTKlt .
important desideratum on the part of the masons . Evidently , unless the French King ' s method—of putting the artificer to
ISliO . J . I'ARTWHLL RlDLKV , P 110 V . G . WA 1 U 1 EN . death on the completion of his task—had been followed , the operatives must have been sworn to secrecy , the solemnity of the oath increasing with the rank of the mason .
Thus any body of masons engaged upon an important work would be formed info a lodge , or if the work was of sufficient size , such as a Solomon ' s Temple , a new castle or a Durham Cathedral , a Hexham Abbey , & c , more than one lodge might be constituted , different portions of tlie edifice
being entrusted to different lodges . In early times all masons , like every other kind of workmen , would be in the condition of serfs , either to the church or to the baron . Those of the church were early made free , and clerical influence was strongly used to induce the barons
to manumit the more deserving of their bondmen , many of whom , too , found themselves in a position to obtain their freedom by purchase . Thus arose the body of
Freemasons . As the work of these men , unlike that of most of the other craftsmen , lay in country places , in broad parks , on lonely hill sides , or in secluded valleys , they did not form themselves into guilds of the same pattern as those of towns men . The various bodies or lodges would move from
place to place , or at least give off from the parent stem affiliated lodges to carry out some more or less distant work , perhaps planned by the master , such master being the prototype of a Provincial Grand or of a Grand Master . The evolution of the Speculative from the Operative lodges
, if difficult to trace from records is easy enough to imagine . Gradually , as in the guilds , men who had shown their worth to the community , more particularly to the Masonic portion of it , would be admitted as honorary members . As society became more settled and the old castles were replaced by
Tudor mansions , the necessity of secrecy on the part of the operatives would disappear , the honorary element would increase , while ( lie operative would proportionally decrease ; and thus , from operative the lodges would become speculative . The last trace I can find of operative Freemasonry in Northumberland is in connection with the Newcastlc-on-Tyne Lodge , No . 24 , in the following extract from the minutes
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonry In Northumberland.
Masonry in Northumberland .
By Bro . buunKUiCK H . COKDEU , Provincial Grand Secretary .
r T ^ O anyone attempting a brief excursus on Masonry in the I far north Province of Northumberland , some of whose lodges are further from London than any others in England , and where Christianity was introduced from Ireland through the south-western part of what afterwards became known as Scotland , long before Gregory ' s Monks
landed in Kent , the mysterious past of the Craft forces itself upon the mind of the speculative excursist . Every part of the Masonic ritual shows its close intimacy with religion , and to the thoughtful student of antiquity it becomes a matter of little doubt that Masonry , Operative'as
well as Speculative , had its origin with the priests and its continuation with those who had structural secrets to keep . Else why all the mystery about a craft founded upon the principles of geometry ?—principles as clear as the light , and free to all with an aptitude or a desire for their investigation .
Long before Moses received in a mysterious manner the pattern of the Jewish Tabernacle direct from Jehovah , the priests of Egypt had secret chambers and passages , both in their temples and in the tombs which they built for their kings . The masons who built these would be sworn to
secrecy ; the stones would be prepared by apprentices ; the inner parts craftsmen alone would be permitted or privileged to build , but the inmost and secret intricacies would be constructed only by master masons carrying out the designs of the Master of the whole body or the lodge , who , of course , would be one of the higher and perhaps the chief of the priests . Hence the secrets of Masonry .
Then again , in comparatively modern times , in the middle ages , when baron warred against baron and built his fortified castle with its secret rooms and exits , secrecy is attain a most
J 1 HO . TIIK HKillT HON . VISCOUNT H 1 DI . HV , 1 'ltOVINI'lAL GliANl ) MASTKlt .
important desideratum on the part of the masons . Evidently , unless the French King ' s method—of putting the artificer to
ISliO . J . I'ARTWHLL RlDLKV , P 110 V . G . WA 1 U 1 EN . death on the completion of his task—had been followed , the operatives must have been sworn to secrecy , the solemnity of the oath increasing with the rank of the mason .
Thus any body of masons engaged upon an important work would be formed info a lodge , or if the work was of sufficient size , such as a Solomon ' s Temple , a new castle or a Durham Cathedral , a Hexham Abbey , & c , more than one lodge might be constituted , different portions of tlie edifice
being entrusted to different lodges . In early times all masons , like every other kind of workmen , would be in the condition of serfs , either to the church or to the baron . Those of the church were early made free , and clerical influence was strongly used to induce the barons
to manumit the more deserving of their bondmen , many of whom , too , found themselves in a position to obtain their freedom by purchase . Thus arose the body of
Freemasons . As the work of these men , unlike that of most of the other craftsmen , lay in country places , in broad parks , on lonely hill sides , or in secluded valleys , they did not form themselves into guilds of the same pattern as those of towns men . The various bodies or lodges would move from
place to place , or at least give off from the parent stem affiliated lodges to carry out some more or less distant work , perhaps planned by the master , such master being the prototype of a Provincial Grand or of a Grand Master . The evolution of the Speculative from the Operative lodges
, if difficult to trace from records is easy enough to imagine . Gradually , as in the guilds , men who had shown their worth to the community , more particularly to the Masonic portion of it , would be admitted as honorary members . As society became more settled and the old castles were replaced by
Tudor mansions , the necessity of secrecy on the part of the operatives would disappear , the honorary element would increase , while ( lie operative would proportionally decrease ; and thus , from operative the lodges would become speculative . The last trace I can find of operative Freemasonry in Northumberland is in connection with the Newcastlc-on-Tyne Lodge , No . 24 , in the following extract from the minutes