Masonic Notes And Queries.

the Magazine . This document may be called a confirmatory charter , because it confirms , or establishes by Royal authority , what the Bishop had done" carta "Willielmi regis qua ) confirmat fraternitatem constitutam ad constructionem ecelesie C-lasguensis . " I see nothing surprising in a charter being granted in 1190 for the protection of a building fraternity ; because , as Professor Cosmo Innes truly observes , — "This was the era of those enthusiastic fraternities or

associations for church building which assisted in erecting most of the beautiful churches of Europe , " and I consider the charter itself shows that . Bro . Haye makes several mistakes in his remarks at page 470 . Kg ., he says— " Bro . Buchan would have us to believe that not only did the builders rear the Cathedralbut threared it at their own cost

, ey , "b y money obtained by begging . " What I say is , that a building fraternity consisted not only of pure operatives , but also of " collectors , " who had power , or rather liberty to beg ( if you like that term ) throughout the diocese for money and provisions to help to pay and feed the operatives engaged on the

building . Over aud above this , the Bishop had to provide stones , wood , and other material , and also money , in order to raise which he had his own agents , and ways aud means , also the " safe conduct . " Bro . Haye is also mistaken in supposing that because the Cathedral was burnedthe " monks " had

, " no longer a roof to shelter them ;' ' for while " in conventual churches the officials resided iu buildings within the walls of tho monastery iu cathedrals , the dignitaries' and prebends' houses were generally separated from it . "

Another gratuitous asnumptiou is to say that " it is impossible to put such a construction upon it" as that the "fraternity is composed of builders . " I affirm it to be quite possible . Again , Bro . Haye says— " William the Lion , in 1190 , converted Glasgow into a burgh . " The truth

is William the Lion / between 1175 and 1178 granted a charter constituting Glasgow a Bishop ' s Burgh , not a Eoyal Burgh , which did not happen until the ' 17 th century ) . There are other remarks , which I hope to be better able to go into next month . In the meantimeas a

, " Masonic Student" is taking an interest in the matter , we shall be glad to hear him anenfc it , aud if he coincides with Bro . llaye in considering the translation a fair one .

1 am glad to find that Bro . Haye seems to be ready to acknowled ge the absurdity of the Mother Kilwinning 1140 Legend , of which we may yet hear more . Before closing , I perceive that Bro . Haye characterizes the William the Lion Charter as " a serious document

, " ancl also as " being genuine . '' So far so good . —W , P . BUCHAN . SCOTS AND SCOTCH SYNONYMOUS . Bro . Anthony Oneal Haye has joined issue with W . P . B . in his futileand to our mind somewhat

, pedantic , attempt to suppress the words Scotch and Scotchmen . Bro . Haye ' s note on the subject is certainly not such as one would have expected from the pen of so distinguished a scholar . He tells us that "Scotch , " " although sanctioned by the names of Burns and Scott , was condemned by Hume , Henry

Mackenzie , Henry Erskine , and the writers in the ' Scots Magazine . '" Bro . Haye ought to have shown what manner of condemnation " Scotch '' had received at the hands of the three eminent writers he has named . TTntil it is shown to be otherwise , we shall take for granted that the " condemnation " referred to was of a purely negative character . Their

preference for "Scots" cannot surely be held as condemnatory of "Scotch . " Bro . Haye ' s citation of " the writers in the Scots Magazine , ' in support of his view of the question , is rather unfortunate for himself . We do not know in what estimation as a writer Junius is held by Bro .

Haye ; but his " Letters " we have always understood to rank amongst the most admired in British literature . Well , Junius was a writer in the " Scots Magazine , " and so far from condemning the word " Scotch , " he uses it both as an adjective ancl a noun . ( See " Junius to a great personage , " pp . G 3 G-7 " Scots

Magazine , " 1769 . ) In other contributions to the same volume , mention is made of " Scotch boroughs " aud " Scotchmen . " Bro . Haye will , we think , be the last to assert that in his writings the late Rev . Andrew Bonar displayed vulgarism either in sty le or matter . And yet in the

most interesting of his contributions to the " Scottish Freemasons' Magazine "— " The Masonic Poets of Scotland" —that ripe scholar and true poet almost invariably uses " Scotch ' ' and " Scotchmen , ' ' in preference to " Scots " and " Scotsmen . " ( See Scot . Freemasons' Mag . vol . iv . pp . 6-11 and 23-27 . )

, , It is true that one of the Edinburgh newspapers of the present day is named " The Scotsman ; " but if Bro , Haye refers to " jS ' otes and Queries , 1853 , " he will find that the earliest Scottish gazette was entitled , " The Edinburgh Gazette , or Scotch Postman , " aud that another of the now defunct Edinburgh papers

was called " The Scotch Mercury . ' ' We now take leave of the subject . We have shown that the words objected to by Bros . W . P . B . and A . Oneal Haye have the sanction of usage by writers of the first eminence ; aud there is little reason to expect that words that have become so incorporated with the language will be discarded on the mere unsupported dictum of individuals . —D . MURRAY ETON .

SPAIN . Tour review of the year contains a seasonable hint as to Masonry in Spain . It is to be hoped , under the present more tolerant aspect of affairs , that English brethren having a connexion with Spain or visiting its cities will endeavour to promote Spanish Masonry —READER .

GEORGIA . Can any of your readers connected with the East inform me whether Masonry has been introduced among the Georgians ; I know it has among the Armenians and Greeks . I assume there is no lodge at Tylis , as it is under Russian rule , but there are many Georgians living in Constantinople , under milder and more tolerant rule , and where there are many lodges . —READER .

PAST MASTER ' S PIKE . Among foreign Masons a toast is responded to by a lire . In some lodges iu England the Past Masters do the same with what they call the Past Master ' s fire , TRAVELLER .