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The
Grand Lodge of Scotland and the Establishment of the Masonic Community
Lisa Kahler
The establishment
of the Grand Lodge of Scotland can be seen as the single most important
event in Edinburgh masonic history during the period of 1721-1746.
This is a bold statement, but the evidence indicates that before
Grand Lodge there was little uniformity among separate lodges with
regard to rules and regulations and little recognition among the
lodges in the area. After Grand Lodge, which was instigated by four
Edinburgh lodges, a union of Scottish lodges was created and a nation-wide
masonic community was established.
Although numerous
accounts of the actual creation of the Grand Lodge have been written,
a number of both unanswered and unaddressed questions remain about
this event. These have been incorporated into this account of the
history of the establishment and development of the Grand Lodge.
The Creation
of the Grand Lodge
The first election
of a Grand Master and meeting of the Grand Lodge of Scotland was
held on November 30, 1736 at the lodge rooms of the Lodge of Edinburgh,
where 33 lodges from all over Scotland were represented. This meeting
was the culmination of at least 14 months of planning. Although
the first reference to this plan appears in September 1735, the
records indicate that most of the work involved in setting up the
Grand Lodge took place between September 29, 1736 and the date of
the first meeting two months later.
There are only
two specific references in 1735 to what would become the Grand Lodge,
and both appear in the minutes of Canongate Kilwinning. The first
is dated September 29, 1735, when a committee is formed "for
framing proposals to be layed before the Several Lodges in order
to the chusing a Grand Master for Scotland." The second occurs
on 15 October, when the committee was again directed to "take
under consideration proposals for a Grand Master."
These references
are important in the overall history of the Grand Lodge for three
reasons. First, they are the first allusions to the fact that a
plan already had been formulated and indicate that the idea of the
selection of a Grand Master was not a spontaneous notion. These
proposals were put to the several lodges, and this demonstrates
that Canongate Kilwinning recognized the importance of additional
support for its plan. Second, they appear to confirm that Canongate
Kilwinning was the instigator of this plan. The only known references
appear in the Canongate Kilwinning minutes and the committee was
initially composed of only Canongate Kilwinning members. Third,
these references mention only the selection of a Grand Master for
Scotland, not the creation of a Grand Lodge. Although this is a
pedantic point-what would be the point of having a Grand Master
without a Grand Lodge?-these two references do not clarify the intention
of Canongate Kilwinning. In fact, the creation of a Scottish Grand
Lodge is not mentioned until October 15, 1736, when the four Edinburgh
lodges met to discuss the method of selecting a Grand Master and
the regulations for the Grand Lodge. This raises the question: did
Canongate Kilwinning always intend that there should be a Grand
Lodge? Although there is no evidence in the minutes to substantiate
this, it appears likely that they did but that the selection of
a Grand Master was the priority.
While there
are no further explicit references to the Grand Lodge scheme in
the Canongate Kilwinning minutes until August 4, 1736, there is
reason to believe that the lodge was continuing the plans for its
eventual formation. This appears to be indicated by three specific
actions. First, on December 3, 1735, the Canongate Kilwinning minutes
state that the lodge was visited by members from Kilwinning Scots
Arms. Canongate Kilwinning had been re-established in the area since
February 1735, yet this is the first time the lodge had received
visitors. It seems likely that Canongate Kilwinning had invited
them to visit. Although this is speculation and the minutes do not
recount what occurred during the visit, it is plausible that Canongate
Kilwinning invited Kilwinning Scots Arms for the purpose of discussing
the selection of a Grand Master and the creation of a Grand Lodge.
Kilwinning Scots Arms, as the only other accepted lodge in Edinburgh,
would have been the logical choice of a lodge for Canongate Kilwinning
to approach with this idea. On 27 December, members from Kilwinning
Scots Arms returned to Canongate Kilwinning, and this time members
from the Lodge of Edinburgh were also in attendance. Grantham states
that the Lodge of Edinburgh "considered their lodge to be the
most important in the kingdom." Kilwinning Scots Arms may have
persuaded Canongate Kilwinning that the Lodge of Edinburgh would
have to be included in any plan for a Grand Lodge, and Canongate
Kilwinning consequently invited them to hear the ideas that the
other two lodges had discussed. Or, alternatively, Canongate Kilwinning
may have discussed the inclusion of the Lodge of Edinburgh with
Kilwinning Scots Arms before actually inviting the Lodge of Edinburgh
to the lodge.
On the other
hand, if the above scenario was the case, why was nothing specific
done on the scheme until the following September? This seems to
suggest that these two meetings were to serve as preliminary introduction
meetings and an official recognition of Canongate Kilwinning as
the new lodge in the area. Whatever the case, it appears likely
that Canongate Kilwinning wanted to test the reactions of Kilwinning
Scots Arms and the Lodge of Edinburgh to see if they would be amenable
to the idea of the creation of a Grand Lodge and the selection of
a Grand Master.
The second
event indicating Canongate Kilwinning's plan for the eventual formation
of a Grand Lodge was the admission of William St Clair of Roslin
to Canongate Kilwinning on May 18, 1736. He was then made a fellow
craft on 2 June. St Clair was the last of the direct male line of
the St Clair (alternatively Sinclair) of Roslin family, "who,
by virtue of the St Clair Charters (c.1600 and 1628), were supposed
to have been vested with hereditary powers as patrons, protectors
and judges over the masons in Scotland" as directed by William
Schaw. St Clair, after some interesting manoeuvres, apparently engineered
by Canongate Kilwinning, became the first Grand Master of Scotland.
Laurie states that the instigation of the choice of a Grand Master
for Scotland was St Clair's idea:
After William
St Clair of Rosslyn had pointed out to the Edinburgh lodges the
beneficial effects which would accrue to the Fraternity by having
a nobleman or gentleman of their own choice as Grand Master Mason
of Scotland, he resigned into the hands of the Brethren his hereditary
title to that honourable office.
*
* *
This excerpt is from Heredom,
the transactions of the Scottish Rite Research Society
Volume VI, Year 1997
©1997-2002, Scottish Rite Research Society
All Rights Reserved
Scottish Rite Research Society
1733 16th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20009-3103
202-232-3579 voice, 202-383-1847 fax
srrs@srmason-sj.org,
www.srmason-sj.org
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