Cross Keys February 2013

Cross Keys February. 2013

The Cross Keys

The Monthly Newsletter of Lodge Houstoun St. Johnstone

February 2013 Number 164

In this issue:

Sir Robert Moray

Freemasons & the Nazis

What Kind of Product do we have?

Kaiser Wilhelm 1

A Strange Tale

Special Meeting at the Alamo

Masonic Bookplates


Sir Robert Moray

Sir Robert Moray No.1641 is a ‘research lodge’ which meets in Edinburgh. But who was Sir

Robert Moray?

Moray was also a Scot born in 1609 and educated at St Andrews University before serving with

the Scots Guards of Louis XIII in 1633. Towards the end of Cardinal Richelieu's life Moray be-

came his favourite and then acted as a spy for him. In 1638 the General Assembly of the Cove-

nanters in Scotland were rebelling against Charles I. Richelieu gave Moray a commission, pro-

moting him to Lieutenant-Colonel in Louis's elite Scots Guards, and dispatched him to Scotland.

Ostensibly he was supposed to recruit more Scots soldiers but he also admitted that he had the

objective of assisting his fellow countrymen in their dispute with Charles, by causing trouble for

England.

Moray was appointed quartermaster-general of the Covenanter's Army, in 1640. He was respon-

sible for laying out camps and fortifications, where his knowledge of mathematics and surveying

would have been extremely important. He marched south with the Scottish Army towards the

Tyne and played his part in defeating the Earl Stafford's English conscript Army at Newcastle.

On 20 May 1641 Moray was initiated in to Freemasonry whilst garrisoned at Newcastle along

with General Alexander Hamilton. Hence the reason for the lodge number which was chosen

and was not coincidental.

After the death of Cromwell it looked likely that Charles II would be restored to the throne of

England. Charles was close to his sister, who was married to the Duke of Orange and from her he

knew that the naval war with the Dutch, that Cromwell had started, was likely to flare up again.

Moray was either asked, or volunteered, to use his Masonic contacts to gain as much military in-

formation about intentions of the Dutch states as he could. He went to Maastricht, where he col-

lected political and military information about the intentions of the Nederlanders. He used his

Freemasonic links to join the local Masons and on the basis of this acceptance became a citizen of

Maastricht. The purpose of Moray's spying missions was to size up the Dutch threat and then re-

turn to Paris to assess the likely French response before finally joining the King in London.

Once Charles was settled back in Whitehall, Moray joined him. When he arrived in London he

was greeted as an old friend, 'the King gripping and shaking his hand', like a brother and was

given private apartments in the Palace of Whitehall with regular access to the King. Moray,

brought back the worrying news that the Dutch navy outclassed Charles's fleet and that a re-

sumption of the naval war was extremely likely. Charles had no money and little expertise to call

on to improve his navy. He had a great enthusiasm for naval matters but no resources. What

could be done, without any naval experts, or the money hire them?


Moray came up with an inspired solution. He renewed his Masonic contacts in and around Lon-

don, probably with the idea of finding out just who was involved in studying 'the hidden myster-

ies of nature and science', the subject of the Masonic Second Degree to this day. Within weeks

Moray had made contact with Masonic groups which were now supporting the 'poor and dis-

tressed' brethren who had been thrown out of academic office by the return of a Royalist Govern-

ment.

He quickly discovered that the main centre for Freemasonry, in Restoration London, was Gresh-

am College. Gresham was a public college which Sir Thomas Gresham had set up to support his

Masonic ideals of study. Here Moray found the answer to Charles's dilemma. When the King had

returned to England he had thrown many of the Parliamentarian scientists out of their University

posts in an almost knee-jerk response, they were struggling to survive. An important group was

based at Gresham College, surviving on the small stipends the College paid to either them or

their friends. They represented a pool of expertise in naval technology that could be tapped into.

But these 'scientists' were all politically out of favour as well as extremely short of money. And

Charles could not afford to pay them.

Moray, however, was resourceful. He had many contacts with the Masonic Scottish nobles and

knew many wealthy gentlemen Masons. These Freemasons were not only amateurs in the study

of science but they had money and influence. Moray saw a way of harnessing these two groups

and persuading them to work together for the good of their King and country. He saw that he

could use his Masonic contacts to solve the problems of Charles's navy.

Moray brought together Royalists with money and Parliamentarians with scientific skills, to set

up a self-funding group to solve the pressing problems of sorting out the Navy. Moray, the sol-

dier, was afraid of another war with the Dutch and he realised that their ship-building skills were

far in advance of the English ones at the time. His solution touched the imagination of the newly

restored Kingdom. He used the interest in science, which was shared by all Freemasons, as a ba-

sis for a new Society to focus the application of science on the problems of defence.

To make his idea work Moray took from Freemasonry the injunction not to speak about religion

or politics within the meetings. And he drew funds by appealing to the charity of those who

could afford it, so enabling able, but poor, men to be able to carry out experiments. When the

First Charter was delivered Moray stood back, putting forward the Naval enthusiast, Lord

Bouncker as the First President, hoping that the Society would now continue under its own mo-

mentum. Perhaps he hoped to spend more time working on the History of Freemasonry which he

had started to write and encouraging the free exchange of information through his proposed

'Transactions'. He was successful in establishing The Transactions, but his History of Freemason-

ry was lost when the Hanoverian Duke of Sussex 're-organised' the Royal Society's library at the

Sir Robert Moray (ctd)


beginning of the nineteenth century and purged it of any Stuart history.

Despite the evidence of his actions I find it hard to believe that Sir Robert set out to create the

world's premier Scientific Society on 28 Nov 1660. He probably only expected the group to solve

the military problems Charles could not afford to tackle. However, he used the Masonic princi-

ples of equality and the study of science to create a tremendous living force. His group was free

from the shackles of religious dogma and had a unique democratic structure for its time. Whether

by accident, or design, he used three of the most powerful ideas of Scottish Freemasonry and ap-

plied them to the development of technology.

These were the ideas he took from Freemasonry.

1. That the study of the works of nature can lead to an understanding of the underlying plan

of God. i.e. that there is an underlying order of the laws of nature that can be determined by

observation and experiment. This idea led directly to the work of Newton.

2. That all men are equal. If they come together to discuss learning, and forbid discussion of

religion and politics they will be able to co-operate. This concentration on experimental sci-

ence to the exclusion of all distractions helped the Royal Society become a major force in

creating our modern scientific age.

3. That for Officers and Presidents to have true power, they must be elected by and have the

support of the members they rule. William Schaw, the first Grand Warden of Freemasonry,

had decreed that sixty years earlier, and Moray built the idea into the Charters of the Socie-

ty, ensuring that the Fellows would elect their own leaders so that they would be loyal to

them.

We owe our modern society, and its many wonderful scientific gadgets, to the accidental success

of Brother Sir Robert Moray. He saw the wisdom of the Masonic teachings, which had inspired

him; he used the Scottish Schaw Lodge system and its methods of promoting Masonic harmony

to bring together the opposing sides after the great civil war; and he provided a structure that en-

abled science to break free of the superstitious cage of religion.

Sir Robert Moray (ctd)


Freemasons and the Nazis

After an interval of five decades it may be the exception rather than the rule for English-speaking Brethren

to have any particular knowledge of what happened in a masonic context in Germany in 1933. Until fairly

recently my own supposition was that the National Socialist regime would have outlawed Freemasonry

forthwith. Adolf Hitler became Reich Chancellor on 30 January 1933 and during the next few weeks the

Nazis literally seized Germany by the throat. They had been ranting against the Freemasons and all their

works for years on end and an immediate interdiction would have been probable.

The problem which bedevilled and split the masonic order in Germany for years on end was the so-called

'Jewish question'.2 In its original form it referred to religious rather than racial prejudice. The three 'Old

Prussian' Grand Lodges had always refused to accept Jews for initiation, because their Craft degrees were

followed by higher ones of a Christian character.3 Thus as far as the 'Old Prussians' were concerned one

brief but important passage in the Antient Charges was ignored. It reads: 'Let a man's religion or mode of

worship be what it may, he is not excluded from the order provided he believe in the glorious architect of

heaven and earth and practise the sacred duties of morality.' The six 'Humanitarian' Grand Lodges, on the

other hand, nominally made no distinction between Christian and Jew. This did not mean that every Jewish

candidate could be sure of joining a lodge because exclusion by blackball was not unknown. However,

once a Jew became a Freemason he could attend 'Old Prussian' Craft lodges as a visitor.

Superficially at least, the overall situation was that the 'Old Prussian' Grand Lodges represented ultracon-

servative attitudes while the 'Humanitarian' obediences were more liberally inclined. The 'Jewish question'

in the sense that it was perenially a source of controversy between the two groups was probably always

basically insoluble. Nevertheless, as long as it was solely based on religious prejudice some kind of modus

vivendi, although never a completely satisfactory one, was contrived.

In a non-masonic context religious discrimination against Jews gave way after 1870 to political and eco-

nomic anti-semitism. Then, during the 1900s, we encounter the early stages of the virulent racial anti-

semitism which was to afflict Germany like a disease and which culminated thirty years later in Hitler's

'Final Solution', meaning genocide. The wave of anti-semitic propaganda which flooded the country during

the years 1910-14 was one of the various manifestations of German nationalism's overheated condition at

that time. The Jew was now presented as the antithesis of all that was 'truly German', hence as the embodi-

ment of a whole range of negative or unattractive qualities. It never occurred to the pre-1914 anti-semitic

propagandists to attack Freemasonry on the grounds that its Craft rituals incorporate material and symbol-

ism derived from the Old Testament and therefore superficially of 'Jewish' origin. When anti-Masonic prop-

aganda of this kind was first disseminated by the anti-semitic caucus immediately after the First World

War, the Grand Lodges found the proposition that the Craft could conceivably be 'tainted' for these reasons

so ludicrous that they hardly reacted.

The anti-semites had already created the 'perfidious Jew' archetype before 1914. Yet another archetype, the

'perfidious Freemason', was invented during the war but did not become well known to most Germans un-

til immediately after their country's military defeat in 1918. The astonishing proposition that Germany had

been the victim of an international Judaeo-Masonic conspiracy began to be current in 1918 and was repeat-

ed ad nauseum in a succession of books and pamphlets which were published during the era of the Wei-

mar republic.


Freemasons and the Nazis (ctd)

Fitting end to the KTs?

The 'Judaeo-Masonic Conspiracy' theory was so manifestly silly that the Grand Lodges cannot be blamed

for failing to realize that its incessant repetition would ultimately damage the Craft. The 'Old Prussian' sec-

tor protested that they were Christian institutions and did not admit Jews but the market for myths was

invariably larger than any for reasoned statements. Initially at least the conspiracy legend represented more

of a nuisance than a positive threat to the Order's well-being. Freemasonry continued to attract much the

same kind of candidates, in terms of social background, as in the past. The newcomers were mainly mem-

bers of the professional middle-class with a large proportion of schoolmasters, lawyers and local govern-

ment officials. However, the repetitive anti-semitic propaganda with its anti-masonic undertones which

never abated during the era of the Weimar Republic was to have its erosive effect and by c. 1930, about two

years before the Nazis came to power, had already greatly weakened the Order from within. Many Freema-

sons who disliked or were afraid of being identified with an organization which was unceasingly attacked

by the political Right resigned from the Craft.

The German Grand Lodges have been criticized for their apparent inability to keep utterly aloof from poli-

tics during the Weimar period. Their involvement, however, was on the whole an involuntary one. The

extremist Right's favourite hobby-horse was that 'International Jewish Freemasonry', led by Germany's for-

mer enemies, was responsible for every conceivable evil that afflicted the country. The German Freema-

sons' frequent protests that they were just as 'patriotic' as their critics inevitably led them in the direction of

political controversy.

When the Nazis at last achieved power in January 1933 the masonic Order in Germany had already begun

to disintegrate. Its multiplicity of Grand Lodges and the 'rigid conservatism of the Old Prussian sector had

always militated against unity and in 1933 the two groups of Grand Lodges were not even on speaking

terms. The 'Humanitarian' Grand Lodges surrendered immediately; they signed their own death warrants.

The 'Old Prussians' ineffectually tried to find a compromise but eventually they, too, had to capitulate.

Wheelock Commandery No. 5 (what we call a preceptory) in Texas had all 55 of its members killed serving

in the Confederate Army. The Commandery ceased to exist.


What Kind of Product do we have?

Once again the cries of a ‚membership crisis‛ resound across the Masonic landscape. The

question is will Freemasonry double down on what has failed its ability to add new

members? Will it continue to try to market the Craft in order to bring in new members?

Will it continue to corrupt Masonic charity by making it a tool of Masonic awareness and

publicity?

Freemasonry is a personal journey. Yes there is brotherhood bonding and yes there are

family gatherings under the square and compass. But the Lodge is not a men’s social club

dedicated to curing the ills and failings of society. Freemasonry is a personal journey to

better a man’s life.

When Freemasonry either uses the community for cheap publicity or parades itself about

in the public eye for the purpose of hyping membership, it not only cheapens itself but it

takes away from the practice of Freemasonry itself. Spending an inordinate time and

money on marketing the Craft makes for a diminished and cheapened product, the prod-

uct you are trying to sell being Freemasonry.

When Freemasonry is practiced poorly you end up with a re-

tention problem. You can bring candidates in by the ton but

unrealized expectations won’t convince them to stay.

The answer is not to try to market Freemasonry but instead im-

prove the product, the practice of Freemasonry, to the point

where it sells itself. Don’t put the cart before the horse. You

can’t talk about how great Freemasonry is until you do a good

job of practicing it. Don’t spend all your time and money trying

to market a poor product, spend your time and money on mak-

ing the product better. With a superior product, something

they cannot find elsewhere, people will beat down your doors

to get in.

So put on great degrees, ensure good mentoring, provide extensive Masonic education,

see to it that there is great fellowship and perform some meaningful community service

or individual aid without expecting anything in return.

Even then Freemasonry may not sell itself. The path to success in building membership is

to be pro active as an individual, one on one with those whom you come in contact with

that are worthy. Don’t try to mass sell Freemasonry! Sell it one on one and by example.

From Freemasonry Information website (Editor's highlights)

Has the tide turned in Scotland? Grand Lodge has stated that there were more candi-

dates last year, 242 has more candidates than just one year and many lodges are reporting

a slight increase or interest. We are unlikely to return to the 1980s social club era or post

war eras, but we may return to a steady pace with appropriate candidates seeking the

light.


Old Postcard from US

Under the leadership of Kaiser Wilhelm and his

Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, Prussia achieved

the unification of Germany and the establishment

of the German Empire. Wilhelm was crowned

Emperor in 1871 after defeating Emperor Napole-

on III in the Franco Prussian War. He and his de-

scendents retained the crown of Prussia.

Crown Prince Wilhelm was initiated in 1840 in a

special meeting of the Grand Master's Union in

Prussia, after permission was granted by his fa-

ther, Fredrick Wilhelm III. Unfortunately, his in-

tentions about joining the Craft were less than

scrupulous. German officials feared secret socie-

ties as potential sources of subversion, so the

Prussian government became involved in Mason-

ry as a means to watch and control it. Kaiser Wil-

helm I was the patron of the three Berlin Grand

Lodges for many years, and he decided that Jews

would only be permitted if there was unanimous

agreement.

However, he remained in the Craft until his death in 1888. From 1867 to 1918 more than

1,000 memorials to William I were constructed.

Kaiser Wilhelm 1


From the Columns

On 10th January, Lodge Craigends No.1042 visited the lodge to confer the

FC degree on Darren Alistair Coyle, son of Stuart our DM.

On Tuesday 15th January 2013, Bro. George Barclay headed a deputation of

over 20 brethren to Lodge St Barchan No.156. The purpose of the visitation

was to confer the 2nd Degree on their candidate and continued with the tra-

dition of Lodge Houstoun St Johnstone being Lodge St Barchan’s first foot

of the year.

Some brethren form the lodge visit-

ed Lodge Oak No.877 in Kelty in

Fife and witnessed the ‚3 lodge FC

degree‛ conferred by three lodges .

From left to right. Bros. John Flana-

gan PM 242, Jim Taylor DM 242,

Douglas Pratt MM 242 PM 877, Gra-

ham Scott PM 242, Andrew Pater-

son PM 877 PGM F & K and Danny

Birrell PM Sec 242.

Thursday 24th January saw Bro. Scott William Gra-

ham being passed to the 2nd Degree. The Degree was

carried out by the lodge office bearers and PM’s.

Once again the degree team were up to the usual

242 standard and it was good to see Bro. Sam Reid

PM back on the floor. The master acknowledged

Bro. Alan Campbell’s return to provide his musical

accompaniment and passed on his best wishes to his

wife from all at 242.

Bro. William B. Johnstone, the oldest PM, can be

seen receiving his Jubilee certificate from the master.


George Frederick Samuel Robinson, the Marquess of Ripon joined the Craft in 1853 when

he had been elected MP for Hudderfield. Ripon went on to have a distinguished career in

politics, becoming Lord President of Council and Viceroy for India, whilst masonically he

went on to be the Grand Master.

Ripon was very influential and attracted the future king as a

member—HRH Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (KE VII) was

not initiated in England but in Sweden. On a visit to

Stockholm in December 1868 he was put through all eleven

degrees of the Swedish system by the King of Sweden. On the

news reaching England, he was, in 1869, elected an honorary

Past Grand Master of our Grand Lodge. The other Royal

Princes, the Duke of Connaught and his younger brother, the

Duke of Albany, also joined the Craft during Ripon’s Grand

Mastership. This is a well known photo of Albert Edward

which was also displayed in A. E. Pickard’s Panopticon at the

Tron in Glasgow on the winding stair!

However, Ripon was accepted into the Catholic Church on the 8th September, 1874.

Although he was well acquainted with the relations between the Craft and the Papacy,

apparently he was slow to believe that the Papal Bulls which had been levelled at the

Craft were still valid. However, when at the last moment the attitude of the Vatican in

regard to Freemasonry was made clear to him, it was relatively much too small a matter

to modify the grave decision at which he had arrived. Ripon resigned having withdrawn

from the Craft on 2nd September, 1874 sacrificing his political and Masonic career for the

greater universal spiritual company of the Roman Catholic Church. At this time Ripon

has been in Masonry for twenty-one years, of which he had been the Provincial Grand

Master for thirteen years, and the Grand Master for four years. Coincidentally, the lodge

rooms on Skellgate in Ripon, still have his regalia as Provincial Grand Master on display.

According to the apocryphal story, Ripon gave his regalia for the gardener to burn when

he resigned from the Craft. The gardener never carried out his instructions and

eventually the regalia found its way to the local lodges.

A Strange Tale


Sunday 21st April, 2013—PGL Divine service in Stowe Brae Kirk, 82 Causeyside Street,

Paisley. PA1 1YP.

Saturday 23rd February, 2013—Seminar for Admin & Progressive OBs in Lodge

Nitshill No.1478 between 10am and 12noon.

Monday 29th April, 2013—Tri-Annual Communication in Lodge Union & Crown

No.307 at 7.30pm. ALL brethren welcome.

The PGLRE is holding a fund raising night on Sat-

urday 30th March 2013, 6.30 for 7 pm start at Lodge

Union and Crown No. 307 Barrhead.

The evening is a PGLRE fund raiser, and all tickets

for this are £15, non-masons and partners wel-

come. The evening called ‘wee jock’s big braw

Scottish night’, is an extremely fun and entertaining

evening. A mixture of Burns, Scottish music hall, in

a ‘Chewing the fat’ vein of comedy, singing, piping,

humour and audience participation and sing

along. All at masonic bar prices. Tickets are £15,

available from Bro. Grant Macleod.

PGL News

GL News

Brethren in Cyprus are keen to start a lodge, but the DGM (under UGLE) is not so keen to

have a lodge from Scotland. However, it might be possible to operate a new lodge under

the GL of Cyprus using Scottish workings and regalia.

Lodge St. Kildalton, No. 552 Provincial Grand Lodge of Argyll and The Isles be declared

dormant

Lodge Royal Thistle No.1338 be re-named Lodge Royal Thistle (Royal Scots) No.

1338 (see page 13)


Everyone knows about the hero-

ic efforts of the defenders of the

Alamo in the persons of Bros.

Davy Crocket, Jim Bowie, Wil-

liam Travis with eventually Bro.

Sam Houston defeating General

Santa Anna (also a brother).

However, Lodge Alamo No. 44

under the Grand Lodge of Texas

occasionally hold special meet-

ings when the brethren open in

the lodge room then proceed to the

Alamo itself for the lodge to re-

open in the MMD to allow an

‚Educational and Entertainment

Social Event‛ in the Alamo Hall.

This is followed by a Tex-Mex din-

ner (mixture of Texan and Mexican

food I assume).

This continues the very close rela-

tionship between Freemasonry and

the Craft.

Special Meeting at the Alamo


Lodge Re-Named

February Events in 242

Thursday 10th May—MMD by OBs

Thursday 24th May—MMM by OBs

Visit:

Thursday 17th—MMD at Thistle & Crown 1167 (Neilston)

at 7.30pm

Sir William Wallace RAC -

19th April—RA at 7.30pm

The history of the Lodge does not start in 1925, it started back in 1808. Originally

the 4th Battalion of The Royal Scots raised in 1804 to fight Napoleon formed the

first Lodge Royal Thistle in 1808, No. 289 on the Roll of Grand Lodge of Scotland,

meeting in Edinburgh Castle. It was passed to the 1st Battalion after the 4th battal-

ion was disbanded in 1816. From it`s first days, Royal Thistle worked in very close

harmony with Holy St. John Lodge No. 11 of the Irish Constitution, which was the first military

lodge to hold an ambulatory (or travelling) warrant. It is interesting to note that this warrant was

issued to the 1st Battalion in 1732, four years before the formation of the Grand Lodge of Scot-

land.

In 1838 the Lodge was renumbered 222. Lieutenant G. Galbraith and Lieutenant Deucher, both

exceptionally keen masons were instrumental in forming this Lodge. Lieutenant G. Galbraith

was the Lodges first R.W.M. In 1845-47 a regulation was issued, forbidding secret societies and

Masonic Lodges in the army. Thus it would seem the Royal Thistle Lodge died. There are no rec-

ords of any new members being admitted after 1845 and the warrant was struck off the Grand

Lodge of Scotland roll and its name added to the list of extinct Scottish Lodges in 1852 as a result

of being five years in arrears.

The Lodge was perpetuated (revived) in 1925 in Glencorse Barracks (then home of The Royal

Scots 4th Battalion) by the formation of the present Royal Thistle Lodge 1338. The first R.W.M.

was Major N.H.S. Fargus D.S.O. O.B.E. It was suggested early in 1925 that a lodge should be

formed for the benefit of serving and ex-soldiers of The Royal Scots and eventually local civilians

of the surrounding area. So a petition for warrant was submitted to the Grand Lodge of Scotland

on 7th May 1925. Charter 1338 was granted and thus Lodge Royal Thistle proudly raised its

head.


Masonic Bookplates

The front cover depicts an example of a masonic bookplate. These usually in-

clude symbols, the owner’s name and perhaps a motto, often in Latin. The earliest

known marks of ownership of books or documents date from the reign of Amenophis III

in Egypt (1391-1353). However, in their modern form, they evolved from simple inscrip-

tions in books which were common in Europe in the Middle Ages, when various other

forms of "librarianship" became widespread (such as the use of class-marks, call-

numbers, or shelfmarks). The earliest known examples of printed bookplates are Ger-

man, and date from the 15th century. Today, the practice has all but disappeared.

However, the PGLRE is starting a masonic library to be made available in The Royal

Stewart No. 1414, 366 Shieldhall Road, Glasgow, G51 4JH and an online version at . . . .

If any brother would like to donate to the library then perhaps a bookplate showing who

donated the book might be a way to recognise the gift. Another couple examples are

shown below and these could also be adapted to include the donator’s name.

If any brother would like to donate, please email me at [email protected] and I will ensure

some kind of recognition is available.

mailto:[email protected]


The Point within the Circle

The Ashlar was first published in September, 1855 in

Detroit, USA produced many fine articles, one of

which is given below.



Thought of the Month

Freemasonry

information.

The Second World War

The Commander of Allied forces in the Mediterranean in World

War II, Sir Harold R. L. G. Alexander, Viscount of Tunis, was

also a Mason. Alexander served as a junior officer in a Guards

Regiment in France from 1914 to 1918, being severely wounded

and winning several decorations for gallantry. Alexander com-

manded the rear guard at the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940,

and then served as the commander of British forces in south

eastern England before being assigned to the Middle East. He

was a member of Athlumney Lodge No.3245 in London, serving

as its Master in 1938 and 1939. He was an active Royal Arch Ma-

son and later served as a Grand Steward and Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of Eng-

land.

No record of British Military Masons in World War II would be

complete without mentioning the Commander in Chief, HRH

George VI (1895- 1952). The King was a very active Mason from

the time of his initiation in 1919 into Naval Lodge No.2612 (EC).

In 1922 he became Grand Senior Warden, and in 1924 Provincial

Grand Master of Middlesex. He accepted the rank of Past Grand

Master on his ascent to the throne in 1936. In 1936 he affiliated

with Glamis Lodge in Scotland, and was installed Grand Master

Mason of Scotland. He installed three Grand Masters, and was

active in the Mark Lodges, and Royal Arch Masonry, serving as First Principal. He was a

Past Grand Master of the Temple, and a 33rd Degree Scottish Rite Mason. Said he of Ma-

sonry, ‚The world today does require spiritual and moral regeneration. I have no

doubt, after many years as a member of our Order, that Freemasonry can

play a most important part in this vital need."


In Memoriam

In an older edition of the Cross Keys, an article de-

scribed Bro. George Kenning. Here is another advert for

his store in Howard Street, which was just around the

corner from where TKS used to have its Glasgow branch

before closing in the 1990s. Similar to TKS of today, he

also sold various military badges and not just masonic.

The advert below which was common place for lodges

to advertise in the evening papers is surprising in that

the premises are Buchanan Street in Glasgow. Can any-

one enlighten me with information about this meeting

place? Was it another lost masonic hall?

Old Adverts from 1864

It is with deep sadness and much regret that we have to inform you of a loss sustained to the

craft in Renfrewshire in the passing to the Grand Lodge above of the following Brother:

The dead are like the stars by day … withdrawn from mortal eye… yet not extinct that hold their way

In glory through the sky… .Spirits of bondage thus set free… .Vanish amidst immensity… While hu-

man thought… .Like human sight… .Fail to pursue…. Their trackless flight.


Thanks to Bro. Allan Stobo WSW for proof reading.

Don’t forget to support The Ashlar magazine—

Scotland’s only Masonic magazine.

Just click on the magazine to find out more.

To submit an article, contact the Editor: Grant Macleod

E-Mail: [email protected]

Lodge Website www.lodge242.co.uk

http://www.circlepublications.com/

http://www.facebook.com/groups/171263879572502?ap=1

http://issuu.com/home

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.lodge242.co.uk/

Documents

Cross Keys February 2013