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For the latest news from Scotland see our ScotNews feed at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/
Electric Scotland News
Rather than news I am using this section to show how I am involved in other things than just history and so I thought the two articles I present here might demonstrate this.
1. OSMTH
As some of you will know I am the Editor for the Canadian Templar quarterly newsletter which is a publication of the Grand Priory of Canada, part of OSMTH, which is an NGO of the United Nations. The current September issue is some 60 pages in length.
While I can add news and views to this publication the final decision on what goes in is with the Grand Prior of Canada as it should be.
I have been critical of the leadership of OSMTH in the past issue but wasn't allowed to keep that article in so I decided to use my newsletter to explain my rationale.
I am told by the leadership of the order that OSMTH does a lot on the International stage and also through the UN. Problem is that they can't talk about much of what they do as it would compromise the security of the people concerned. My criticism of this is that the vast majority of the international order, the Knights and Dames, work divorced from this work of the order. I wanted to address this in the current newsletter as I believe it is time that the order does projects that the whole order can get behind and talk about.
That said I was told the proper way to bring this up is through the Grand Prior who would raise this at the International meetings. The problem with this is that as ordinary Knights & Dames we also don't get told about what is discussed at these meetings. So how do we know the Grand Prior is actually raising these issues?
I also mentioned that while the order is represented in 40 countries of the world our membership is small with just some 5,000 members. I've been told that the number of members is not relevant as it's the quality of the people that counts and not the number. The problem I see is that new members are recruited each year and yet many years later we still have 5,000 members and so it is clear many chose to leave the order.
I thus feel the leadership of the order is flawed and thus it is time to hold them to account. However there seems to be no real means of doing this. I have tried to phone or email some of the leadership but my phone calls were not returned nor my emails answered.
I'm not sure how many of you have read the Canadian Templar so I will just say I try to highlight the work of the individual Canadian Priories and also provide reports from our Grand Prior, Vicar General and Grand Chancellor. To this I have an International OSMTH section to show some of what we do. I also have a more general International section bringing general news stories from the world. I also have a regular Canadian Update section to discuss what Canada is doing domestically and internationally. To this I have a Religious section and also add a few stories of what I believe are of general interest... mostly of a Christian and moral nature and I usually add a bit of humour as well.
All of this is based on...
OUR VISION Today, OSMTH – Knights Templar International looks for a world in which:
a constructive dialogue between the great religious faiths, and the individuals and nations that adhere to them, is conducted in an atmosphere of mutual respect, understanding and peace;
the holy sites of Christianity and the other great faiths are respected, protected and maintained, and pilgrims can travel to them in safety;
the dedication, generosity and integrity of all those engaged in providing humanitarian aid are recognised and valued, and aid workers carry out their vital work in an ethical manner without fear of discrimination;
the principles of active charity, courtesy, dedication and honesty, inherent in the highest ideals of a code of chivalry and a personal rule of life, are spread wider and wider in society;
and the contribution of the Knights Templar, medieval and modern, with regard to agriculture, construction, transportation, crafts, medicine, finance, inter-faith affairs, diplomacy and philanthropy is both well researched, and also widely understood and valued by the public.
And as such I have strived to cover many topics that cover our vision within the newsletter.
Many of our Knights and Dames do some excellent charity work and many do good but don't publicise it. That is as it should be. However many of us are interested in doing something that helps Christians in the Holy Land and much of what we do can't be talked about. I believe the time has come when as an order we need to do something the whole order can get behind and talk about.
The flood of migrants and refugees into Europe from the Middle East is horrendous and we need to help and we need to discuss how we might help. That's what I believe we should be discussing in an open fashion. For example while I am fully supportive of helping those that are fleeing for their safety I do also wonder how many ISIS fighters are getting into Europe through the disguise of being a refugee. I also know that Denmark is concerned with the number of Muslim residents they have in their country that have no interest in being true citizens of the country. The Dutch are so concerned about this that they have enacted new legislation in their Parliament.
In other words there are many issues that need discussion and I believe OSMTH should be taking a lead in this and getting their Knights and Dames involved.
You can read the newsletters and the current September issue at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/religion/kt.htm
2. EU
I felt I should also comment on the EU as it is clear with the current refugee crisis that is all over the news media that they haven't a clue how to handle it. The EU in my view started the Ukraine crisis and it is recognised as being one of the most corrupt organisations in the world with billions being stolen from it.
This is the organisation that the SNP wanted to join if they had got independence from the UK. In their Scotland's Future document they mention that the EU is Scotland's largest export market but they failed to mention that over 70% of those exports are to England. So you can see how the truth can be told but by omitting that little bit of information provided a flawed view of the situation.
Through the EU policies some 100,000 jobs were lost in the Scottish fishing industry along with the devastation of many of our local rural communities. It was also EU interference that cost us our steel plant at Ravenscraig losing many thousand of jobs there as well.
Scotland is nothing like many central European nations and if it were a member of the EU it would only represent 1% of the voters. Our influence would be virtually zero. Instead we should have looked at being a member of EFTA, the EEA and the Nordic council but that was brushed aside and Nicola Sturgeon stated the SNP would not have a referendum on whether to join the EU or not as it was clear our future was with the EU. I totally disagree with that statement.
If Scotland had become independent it would have required its own diplomatic staff yet right now we have no course at our Universities on diplomacy. Enquiring about this I was told that the SNP has no control of international matters. However, they do have control of education, so surely they do have a say on whether we should be training our future diplomats. Note however that they don't lie about these things as there statement was correct but they just failed to answer the question.
You might like to read the paper on Scotland in Europe at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/inde...ndineurope.htm
Can anyone help?
I'm trying to get some information on a pair of beautiful carved door panels from the 14th-16th century that I recently inherited. Any thoughts would be wonderful.
That was the email I got in and was subsequently sent in graphics of the two door panels which I include here so if anyone can help email jimkirkland@comcast.net
Nae Numties Allowed
Got sent in this picture of a sign outside a pub...
Clan web sites are going down the tubes
This week I was adding some information about Scottish clans and I am still amazed at how many links to clan and clan societies are dead links. What on earth are these clan and clan societies doing? I mean I can understand a site might go down for one reason or another but if they then bring up another site then why can't they do a simple search to find out what sites have linked to them? They can then contact them to tell them of the new web site. The problem is they simply don't care less and in my view if clans are to prosper then they need to work harder.
In the event I find something I consider new and interesting about a clan I often go to their web site and then tell them about my findings. I rarely even get an acknowledgement. That's just rude in my opinion.
Just as an example I found that the Clan MacRae Society of Canada was a dead link. I Googled the society and found their correct address and updated the link which now works. I thought I'd email the Society to let them know about this and the email was returned as not available. That in my opinion is at the root of the problem when it comes to clan web sites. The current President in his opening letter says to email him but I couldn't find his email address so just used their Contact Us link and that's when I was told the email address wasn't available.
Perhaps clan society members might out of interest check their own clan sites out on the web just to see if there are dead links and if their own web site email works?
Her Majesty the Queen
This week the Queen became the longest reigning Monarch with 63 years in service to the UK and the Commonwealth said to reign over some 140 million people. Like her or hate her she has does an amazing service over these many years and even today she opened the new Borders railway in Scotland.
Clan and Family History in the Scottish Highlands:
A Workshop Featuring Graeme Mackenzie
Saturday, October 10, 2015 9:45 am – 3:45 pm.
Elizabeth Bradley, Turner Center, Columbus State University
Corner of E. Lindsay Drive and College Drive, Columbus, Georgia 31907
Sponsored by the Muscogee Genealogical Society
For more information about the seminar, see www.muscogeegenealogy.com or call 706-322-3175.
On Saturday, October 10, the Muscogee Genealogical Society will host a day-long workshop featuring widely-acclaimed Scottish genealogical speaker Graeme Mackenzie. He will present three separate lectures, along with an hour-long q&a session.
The program begins at 9:45am, preceded by registration/check-in starting at 9:00am. Coffee and pastries will be served before the program; refreshments will also be provided during breaks. Attendees will enjoy box lunches for their midday meal (price included in registration fee; please mark your sandwich preference on registration form).
Graeme Mackenzie, Chairman of the Association of Highland Clans & Societies (of Scotland), is a professional genealogist with 25 years experience specializing in Highland family and clan history. As the historian and genealogist of Clans MacKenzie and MacMillan he has travelled extensively during the last decade in the USA and Canada, speaking to clan societies, appearing at Highland Games, and lecturing to Scottish interest groups, local history societies and genealogical bodies.
In the course of his work as a professional genealogist he's collected a considerable amount of information on other Scottish families and names, and is pursuing a particular interest in the nature of the Scottish clan, and the evolution of the so-called “clan system.”
Scottish Symposium
Our 2015 symposium will be one of our best ever with keynotes from both Dr. Bruce Durie and Dr. Michael Newton. We've just made some real breakthroughs in our North Carolina research and we are hoping to share with as broad an audience as possible. This conference, while hosted by Clan Currie, will be relevant to all interested in the Scots history in the Carolinas.
The Clan Currie Symposium on October 2, the Scotland County Highland Games on October 3, and the Kirkin’ of the Tartans service and Premiere Solo Bagpiping competition on October 4 adds up to a great Scottish heritage weekend not to be missed, not only for anyone interested in the Clan Currie, but also for people interested in the history and culture of Scotland.
Host hotel for the weekend is the Comfort Inn of Laurinburg. For further details and information on the Scotland County Highland Games, visit http://www.schgnc.org
Electric Canadian
Reminiscences of a Canadian Pioneer for the last Fifty Years
Continuing to add more chapters to this book.
We are now up to Chapter LXVI.
In Chapter LXIV. we read an interesting view which starts by saying...
While I was a member of the City Council, the question of the proper qualification for electors of municipal councils and of the legislature, was much under discussion. I told my Reform opponents, who advocated an extremely low standard, that the lower they fixed the qualification for voters, the more bitterly they would be disappointed; that the poorer the electors the greater the corruption that must necessarily prevail. And so it has proved.
In thinking over the subject since, I have been led to compare the body politic to a pyramid, the stones in every layer of which shall be more numerous than the aggregate of all the layers above it. And this comparison is by no means strained, as I believe it will be found, that each and every class is indeed numerically greater than all the classes higher in social rank--the idlers than the industrious--the workers than the employers--the children than the parents--the illiterate than the instructed--and so on. Thus it follows as a necessary consequence, that the adoption of the principle of manhood suffrage, now so much advocated, must necessarily place all political power in the hands of the worst offscourings of the community--law-breakers, vagrants, and outcasts of all kinds. This would be equivalent to inverting the pyramid, and expecting it to remain poised upon its apex--which is a mere impossibility.
You can read the rest of this chapter and the other new chapters at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/pion...pson/index.htm
Enigma Machine
The whole collection can be found at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/lifestyle/enigma.
We're still struggling with puzzle 115 so nothing new this week.
Canadian National & Patriotic Songs
Complete with sheet music.
I added a link to this book at the foot of our Patriotic Songs page at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...otic_songs.htm
Electric Scotland
General View of the Agriculture of the Hebrides
By James MacDonald (1811)
The early history of the Hebrides is involved in thicker darkness than that of any neighbouring region. These islands were successively over-run by different tribes from the continents of Scotland and Ireland and by the northern rovers of Scandinavia. The ancient tales and traditions of the natives, which constitute the existing historical documents of this district, constantly refer to these eruptions; but they yield little that can be relied upon.
The natives are evidently of the same stock with the inhabitants of Ireland and of the Highlands of Scotland: Their language, manners, superstitions, and customs are the same. The tribes who settled among them in consequence of the Scandinavian conquests, between the 9th and 12th centuries, were few in number in comparison with the population of the country, and were speedily absorbed by the native race.
The first written accounts which we have of the Hebridians, occur in the Chronicle of Mann; and these are scanty and confused; nor indeed is the loss of their history of much consequence during the latter periods, (or even from the reign of Alexander III.) when they were finally annexed, by a specific agreement, with the Scottish Crown. What we regret most is the loss of their annals during the area of the introduction of Christianity and the age which preceded it, as well as that of their connexion with the Roman transactions in Britain.
That these extensive regions were at some former epoch possessed of a considerable population, and of resources far beyond what is commonly supposed, we may learn from the monuments of antiquity still visible in them. Castles built with astonishing skill in the midst of deep lakes; immense pillars of stone, plainly indicating the aid of mechanical powers to raise them, and the command of great numbers of men to carry them over ground impervious to cattle used for draught; watch-towers erected in places which, in point of judgment of selection, astonish the ablest engineers of modern times, and formed a regular chain of telegraphic communication; ruins of houses and of temples discovered deep under the present surface of the soil, or within the sea mark in some of the lower isles, and referring consequently to a remote antiquity; all these announce a degree of power, of wealth, and of civilization totally incompatible with the ideas usually adopted with respect to the ancient history of the Hebrides.
But this is not all. The language, superstitions, proverbs, and modes of thinking, general throughout these isles, evince ancient eminence. Their poetry is lofty and pathetic, replete with noble sentiments, and founded upon the historical associations of an illustrious race. It carries us back to a period in which "The kingdom“ of the Innsegallians (as they delight to call themselves) was the pride of its allies, and the terror of its foes; when the kings of the north, and the masters of the great world, fled away discomfited and terrified from its arms; and when the bravery of its heroes, and the virtues of its subjects, were the theme of the historian and song of the bard. Such sentiments we find even at this day universal throughout the western isles; and they carry to the unbiassed mind, upon a controversy lately agitated with much heat and intemperance, a degree of conviction which no sophistry can shake and no eloquence can overturn.
In consequence of the removal of the seat of government from Dunstaffnage, Inverlochy, and the western coast of Scotland, to the eastern counties of Perth, Fife, and Midlothian, the Hebrides were deprived of the immediate protection of their princes, and left to the capricious and arbitrary despotism of their chiefs. The chiefs carried on perpetual wars against one another, and these too of the most rancorous kind, being firequently founded on family or personal feuds. Neither the sanctifier of religion, nor the claims of humanity were respected. The Scottish monarchs, too feeble and too distant to punish the more powerful chiefs, adopted the miserable policy of managing them by setting one of themselves against the other, and of offering the property of the vanquished to his more successful antagonist. To this antagonist another chief was soon opposed, who in his turn, whether victorious or unsuccessful in the first instance, seldom escaped the violent fate of his neighbouring chief. This was the state of the Hebrides from the accession of Alexander III. till the beginning of the 18th century, when, in consequence of the union of England and Scotland, and some circumstances favourable to the admission of young Hebridians of influence into the British army and navy, the blessings of a regular government, and the refinements of civilized society were gradually introduced.
It was not, however, until the year 1748, that the Hebrides could be said to enjoy the complete security which results from an equitable and a powerful government. The abolition of the heritable jurisdictions conveyed to their inhabitants the full privileges of British subjects; and if they have not since that period been so well governed as other portions of our empire, the cause is not to be looked for in any neglect or injustice of the legislature, but in circumstances of a local nature, which it will require much time and powerful exertions to remove.
These circumstances are, the disjoined, unconnected, geographical state of the Western Islands, their great distance from cities and markets, the immediate nurses of wealth and of refinement, the difficulty of intercourse on account of the boisterousness of the seas around them, and the storms which so frequently prevail during nine months of the year but above all, the nonresidence of, many of the proprietors, who drain the poor Hebrides of their wealth, and, too often, residing in other parts of the empire, pay little attention to the improvement of their estates.
Whoever weighs these considerations, and many others of a collateral nature, but which are so obvious that it is unnecessary to mention them, will not be surprised to find the Western Islands of Scotland so far back in improvements as they are at present; but, on the contrary, he will wonder how they can, under such disadvantages, supply the stock and support the population which they now contain.
The following report, drawn up by a native, for the consideration of the Board of Agriculture and of Internal Improvement, is the result of seven voyages and journies at different periods since 1793, among these isles, and particularly of a journey of more than 9900 miles through them, in the months of May, June, July, August, and September 1808. He is sure that it is impartial, and he hopes it may be useful. The indulgence of the Board will in his case be but candour; for where the task is arduous, and the means of performance scanty, mediocrity is unavoidable and natural, and to escape censure is positive praise.
You can download this book at: http://www.electricscotland.com/agri...griculture.pdf
I will say about this book that it gives an excellent record of the conditions under which they live and work.
Robert Burns Lives!
Edited by Frank Shaw
Rededication of the Highland Mary Monument at Greenock Cemetery, Sunday 30th August, 2015 by Gerard Carruthers, University of Glasgow.
I received an email from friend Gerry Carruthers this week and attached to it was an article on a celebration of Highland Mary that he attended, not as speaker or presiding officer, but as a guest. If you know Gerry, you know this is a bit unusual for him as he is in great demand as a speaker and writer in Scotland, Europe and the United States. You may not know that he even finds time to serve as the current president of the Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Society, and mixed in there somewhere are all the teaching duties he has at the University of Glasgow and its Centre for Robert Burns Studies. Like many of you, I have often wondered how Gerry does all that he does for Burns and for us – those who study the Bard and meet regularly to celebrate his work. I include myself in the latter group since my forefathers made their way from Scotland’s Isle of Jura to the shores of North Carolina in the mid-1750s.
Once again we welcome Gerry to the pages of Robert Burns Lives! and deeply appreciate his finding time to think of our readers while engaged in so many activities. He is one of a kind, and we are always honored to have him with us. This is a special article by a special friend. Enjoy it and live it with him. I did! (FRS: 9.3.15)
You can read this article at: http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives222.htm
The History of the Ancient Scots
By The Rev. Duncan M'Callum (1858)
THERE are three views in which the history of the Ancient Scots has been considered. The first is the fabulous; the second, confounding them and the Picts; and the third, what may be called the "dark age" of the Scots. Those who have looked no farther than the last, fancied the nation to have been just then emerging from barbarism; and they might have been heard comparing their ancestors with the native races of America. As this History comes not down to that unfavourable era, no notice shall be taken of the dim light in which the Scots appeared from the sixteenth century to the Union, a period of about two hundred years. It is not necessary to speak of the fabulous history, the writers of which have been fully exposed by Innes. Had they looked to the great nation of whom they were descended, they needed not to have sought elsewhere for higher antiquity.
The confused state in which the Scots and the Picts have been represented, may not be so easily described in tracing the origin of the Scots, since writers that should have known better, differ, and the least favourable account has been adopted by some eminent authors.
All that is stated in Part Second will admit of no dispute, as the history of the nation is simply narrated, with the lives of the kings who governed during the space of five centuries; and what relates to this period, but could not be conveniently inserted in the History, is given in Part Third.
ARISATG,
March 3, 1858.
You can download this book at: http://www.electricscotland.com/book...cientscots.htm
Updated the Clan Gray page
Added Scalacronica: By Sir Thomas Gray of Heon and a link to the Gray Nation web site. You can get to this athttp://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/dtog/gray.html
Will Weatherhelm
A Story of a young man going to sea. I started to read this book just out of interest and before I knew it I was half way through it. That being the case I thought I'd share it with you. I might add the person is of Shetland stock.
You can download this book at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...otreg/Will.pdf
Information concerning the Province of North Carolina
Addressed to Emigrants from the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland by an Impartial Hand. Added a link to this old book at the foot of the page at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...s/chapter5.htm
The family of De Atholia, and their descendants, the Robertsons
Found this book and added a link to it at the foot of our Atholl page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ion/atholl.htm
Guide to Inverness
Added this historical guide to our page on "The Northern Highlands in the Nineteenth Century" as the information on that page is in the same time frame as the contents of the guide.
You can download this at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/highlands/
Curling picture and article
Added this picture and accompanying article to our Curling page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ling/index.htm
Scottish Society of Indianapolis
Got in a copy of their Fall 2015 newsletter which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...olis/index.htm
THE STORY
Thought I'd bring you this story showing the background of the Masons and the Scottish connections...
Scots and Freemasonry
By Carson C. Smith, FSA Scot
Introduction
There’s mony a badge that’s unco braw;
Wi’ ribbon, lace and tape on;
Let kings an’ princes wear them a’,
Gie me the Master’s Apron!
(Translation)
There’s many a badge uncommonly handsome;
With ribbon, lace and tape on;
Let kings and prices wear them all,
Give me the Master’s Apron!
The Master’s Apron
Robert Burns (1786)
Robert Burns (1759-1796) was initiated as an Entered Apprentice at Lodge St. David in Tarbolton on July 4, 1781 at the age of 23. He was passed to Fellow Craft, and raised a Master Mason on October 1, 1781. In his poetry, Burns upheld the Masonic ideals of Liberty, Equality and Religious Toleration. He is celebrated as the Poet Laureate of Freemasonry.
What is Freemasonry?
Freemasonry has been defined as “a system of morality, veiled in allegory.” Simply stated, it is a society of men who symbolically apply the tools of “operative” masonry, to the “speculative” science of character building. It is often said that the goal of Freemasonry is “to take good men and make them better.” Freemasonry is the oldest, largest, most respected and, at the same time, the most dreaded Fraternity in the World.
It is respected for its ideals of Liberty, Equality and Religious Toleration. But it is hated equally by both Religious Fundamentalists, and Anti-religionists; by Anti-religionists, because no Atheist can be made a Mason, and by Religious Fundamentalists, because in a just and lawfully constituted lodge of Freemasons, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and all who acknowledge the Great Architect of the Universe, sit as Brothers.
The history of Freemasonry can be divided into three (3) distinct categories or periods; the Ancient or Legendary, the Medieval or “operative” and the Modern or “speculative.” The first refers to the building of the Temple of King Solomon, the second to the tools of medieval stonemasons, and the third to the spiritual application of mechanical principles.
As the members of the ancient guilds were initiated into their craft, so to are Freemasons initiated into the degrees of their Craft. When stonemasons set about the task of building a castle or a cathedral, they erected temporary shelters called lodges. Likewise Freemasons conduct their meetings in a building called a lodge. And, like “operative” stonemasons, Freemasons wear as the uniform of their craft, a ceremonial apron which, in the case of Freemasonry, is made of white lambskin, or an imitation thereof.
The ancient stonemasons guilds received entered apprentices, who were trained to become fellows of the craft, to one day be elevated to the status of a master mason. Likewise, after submitting a petition to a just and lawfully constituted lodge of Freemasons, a candidate becomes an Entered Apprentice, is passed to Fellow Craft, and raised a Master Mason.
Freemasonry is not a secret society. Freemasons openly identify themselves as Masons, and proudly wear the square and compass, which has become one of the most recognized insignia in the World. Our buildings are clearly marked. We are listed in the phone book. We sponsor public fundraising efforts to support Masonic Homes, Shriners Hospitals, and a variety of programs to benefit the disadvantaged.
Freemasonry is a society that has secrets. But our rituals, hailing signs, penal signs, pass words and grips, are revealed to our members at each degree of their initiation into greater Masonic Light. And, as they progress, candidates are presented the working tools of the “operative” mason, the square, the compass, the 24 inch gage, the common gavel, the level, the plumb and the trowel, and they are taught their spiritual application for the “speculative” mason.
Many aspects of Masonic Ritual have worked their way into our common language; we work toward making a “square deal,” conducting our business “on the level,” we seek to “subdue our passions,” when we share a confidence, we guard against “eavesdroppers,” when we are deceived, we claim that we have been “hoodwinked,” if someone is excluded from membership in a group, he is “blackballed,” and when we are subjected to a severe line of questioning, we complain that we are being given “the third degree.”
In any bookstore, you can purchase one of a number of books about the history of Freemasonry including A Dictionary of Freemasonry and Duncan’s Ritual. Truth be told, with the arrival of the Internet, Masonic ritual books and Masonic handbooks can be ordered online, and the purchaser is never asked to prove whether or not he is a Mason. Opponents of Freemasonry have gone so far as to have actually posted, word for word, the rituals of Freemasonry, complete with the secret words and pass words, and with illustrations of the grips and pass grips, on several websites.
So what do the Scots have to do with Freemasonry, and what does Freemasonry have to do with the Scots?
The Knights Templar
During the first millennium of the Christian era, many of the devout made pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Palestine was under Arab control from 637 AD. The Islamic world considered Jesus of Nazareth a prophet, but second to Mohammed, and permitted Christian pilgrims free access to all of their holy sites. The Christian residents of Palestine established small hospitals in order to provide for the pilgrims needs. In 1046 the merchants of Amalfi, Italy established the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. The hospital was staffed by brothers who served under no particular religious order.
In 1076 the Ottoman Turks invaded Palestine and proceeded to persecute the Christian community and defile all Christian shrines. A pilgrim who was known as Peter the Hermit, returned to Western Europe, and began to preach a crusade to free the Holy Lands from the Turks. He led a mob toward Jerusalem, but remnants of this “Peoples Crusade” were annihilated by the Turks at Nicaea.
Pope Urban II (1042-1098) assembled a Council at Clermont, France in 1095 to organize a “Holy War.” The “First Crusade” set out for Palestine the following year under the leadership of several nobles. After capturing Nicaea and Antioch, they marched through the deserts and mountains of northern Palestine. A Christian army of 20,000 arrived at the gates of Jerusalem on June 7, 1099. The city was surrendered on July 15, 1099.
Nearly twenty years later, in 1118, nine Christian knights formed a fighting unit to patrol the roads of Palestine, and escort pilgrims on their journey. Their leader was a Burgundian knight by the name of Hugh de Payens (? -1136), and they called themselves “The Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ.” Baldwin II, the Christian king of Jerusalem, assigned them quarters on the Temple Mount, near the Dome of the Rock, at the former site of Herod’s Temple.
The knights expanded their title to “The Poor Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon,” which was later shortened to “The Knights of the Temple” and eventually, “The Knights Templar.” Later study of the Temple Mount reveals that the Templars embarked upon an ambitious excavation project under the site of Herod’s Temple. What they may or may not have found there is the subject of much speculation.
By 1165 the Knights Templar were firmly established in Jerusalem, and throughout Europe. When a nobleman joined their ranks, he surrendered his castle and properties to the Templars, who used revenues that were generated to purchase armor, weapons, horses and ships that were used to carry pilgrims, troops and commercial cargoes across the Mediterranean from France to Italy, Palestine, Spain and beyond. From the highly fortified harbor of La Rochelle, it is alleged they were able to conduct trade with the British Isles, Greenland and the North Americas. The Templar Fleet exceeded that of any state at that time. For the purposes of defense, the Templar fleet included a number of highly maneuverable war galleys fitted with rams.
The Knights Templar are credited with the development of modern banking. A pilgrim could, at the beginning of his journey, deposit his money with the Templars. He would receive a letter of credit, with markings known only to the Templars, against which he could draw what he needed, as he proceeded to and from the Holy Lands, without fear of having all of his money stolen along the way.
King Philip IV (1268-1314), known as Philip la Bel, or Philip the Fair, of France, was envious of the popularity and wealth of The Knights Templar. France was bankrupt, Philip was a weak and unpopular king, he was deeply in debt to the Templars, and he sought to secure the wealth of the Templars for himself. In 1307 King Philip IV persuaded Pope Clement V that the Templars were practicing blasphemous rituals, preaching heresy and engaging in homosexuality.
Pope Clement V (1260-1314) condemned the Templars as heretics and on Friday the 13th of 1307 King Philip IV of France ordered simultaneous raids on all Templar priories in France. Hundreds of Knights were captured, including The Grand Master, Jacques de Molay (1244-1314). But word of the raids was received in advance, and hundreds more Templars fled from France, or melted into the general population, and the Templar fleet disappeared.
The captured Templars were tortured in order to extract confessions that would fit the charges leveled against them. In 1310 fifty-four Templars were burned at the stake in order to force confessions from the remaining Templars in French custody. Jacques de Molay was burned at the stake in 1314. As the flames rose about him, de Molay pronounced a curse upon King Philip IV and Pope Clement V. Both died within the year. Neither the King, nor the Pope, captured the Templar treasury or the Templar fleet. But thereafter, Vatican shipping came under the attack of privateers, flying the Templar maritime flag, a black banner with a skull and crossed bones.
Robert the Bruce of Scotland
One year prior to the meeting between King Philip IV and Pope Clement V, where they plotted the destruction of the Templars, Robert the Bruce (1274-1329), grandson of Robert Bruce, who had contended with John Balliol for the crown of Scotland in 1292, murdered his rival, John Comyn, in a church in Dumfries on February 10, 1306. The Pope who ordered the destruction of the Templars excommunicated Robert the Bruce.
On June 24, 1314, (The Feast of St. John), an English army under King Edward II, that had arrived to relieve Stirling Castle, was defeated by Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn. Legend has it that knights, who appeared on horseback, in the flowing cassocks of the Templars, aided the Bruce in the defeat of the English cavalry. Edward II only narrowly escaped with his life and, to this day, the Battle of Bannockburn stands as the most single important military victory in all of Scottish history.
The Battle of Bannockburn occurred only seven years after the disappearance of the Templars and the Templar fleet. Like the Templars, Robert the Bruce was under Papal proscription. Like the Templars, Robert the Bruce had been excommunicated. It has been said that, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” and there is no reason why the Bruce would not have welcomed the support of Warrior Knights who, like himself, were at odds with the Roman Church.
It is now believed that part of the Templar fleet sailed northward along the west coast of England, through the North Channel which separates Scotland from Ireland, avoiding Ireland, (which was firmly under the control of the Roman Church), to arrive north of Glasgow in Argyll, in the vicinity of the town of Oban. This is supported by the fact that Templar graves, marked with slabs of stone, and bearing the outline of a Templar sword, are found in Argyll. Similar graves are found in the vicinity of Rosslyn, south of the city of Edinburgh.
The Sinclairs of Rosslyn
It is impossible to tell the story of Freemasonry, without telling the story of Clan Sinclair.
Prince Henry St. Clair, Earl of Orkney, offered refuge to the Templars upon his land in Scotland. In 1398, one hundred years before Columbus arrived in the New World, Henry St. Clair sailed to what is known today as Nova Scotia. His arrival was recorded in the tribal history of the Mi’kmaq Indians.
Further evidence of his expedition to the New World is found in Rosslyn Chapel, which is, in actuality, a Templar shrine. In addition to the Pre-Christian Green Man, scenes from the Old and New Testaments, and decorative elements of the Knights Templar, there are representations of maize and aloe, which would have been unknown prior to Henry St. Clair’s arrival in the New World.
In 1440 William St. Clair, grandson of Prince Henry St. Clair, began the construction of Rosslyn Chapel on the floor plan of the Third Temple, built in Jerusalem by Herod, and destroyed in the First Century by the Romans, where it stood upon the Temple Mount, which was later controlled by the Knights Templar. According to History of Clan Sinclair, masons working on the project were given “The Mason Word” by William St. Clair, in order to preserve the secrets of the Templars that Rosslyn was built to house.
As was suggested earlier, what may, or may not, have been housed at Rosslyn Chapel is the subject of much speculation. It has been theorized that everything from the Ark of the Covenant, to the Holy Grail, to a Secret Testament of Jesus, to the Genealogy of the Descendants of Jesus and Mary are hidden beneath the floor of Rosslyn Chapel.
What is certain is that on the lower frame of the window in the southwest corner of Rosslyn Chapel, there is a carving of the Masonic First Degree. The image is that of a man kneeling between two pillars. He is blindfolded and has a noose around his neck. His feet are in an unnatural position. In his left hand he holds a Bible. The end of the noose is held by a man who is wearing the mantle of the Knights Templar.
This image serves to raise the question, “Which came first, Freemasonry or the Knights Templar?” In 1738, three hundred years following the construction of Rosslyn, Pope Clement XII (1652-1740) who, ironically, shared his name with Pope Clement V, who had condemned the Knights Templar 400 years earlier, condemned Freemasonry on the grounds that it was descended from the Knights Templar.
The previous year, in 1737, a prominent Freemason, Andrew Ramsay (1686-1743), who was known throughout his adult life as Chevaliers Ramsay, and who served as the Scottish tutor of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, delivered an address, which has come to be known as Ramsay’s Oration. He declared that Freemasonry had originated among “Crusader Knights” who had formed themselves into “lodges of St. John.” Furthermore, Ramsay stated that Scotland had been absolutely instrumental in preserving Freemasonry from the Crusades to the present. Although Ramsay took pains to avoid using the word “Templar,” it appears that Pope Clement XII had made the connection.
Karl Gotthelf (1722-1776), the Baron von Hund und Altengrotkau, went so far as to declare, “Every Mason is a Templar.” Baron von Hund claimed that exiled Scottish nobles in Paris had initiated him into a Templar Masonic Order in 1742. He further claimed, that he had been authorized to reform Freemasonry, by restoring it to its Templar roots, but that he had lost contact with his superiors, following the failure of the Jacobite Uprising of 1745.
Scottish Freemasonry
What is certain is that Scottish Freemasonry predates English Freemasonry. Rosslyn Chapel was begun in 1440. In 1483 the burgh of Aberdeen is recorded as having been involved in the resolution of a dispute between six “masons of the lodge,” not “stonemasons,” not “craftsmen,” but “masons of the lodge.” As Freemasonry began to spread, new lodges were established throughout Scotland, candidates were initiated, and given “The Mason Word.” The earliest surviving Lodge Minutes from Edinburgh date from 1599.
James the VI (1566-1625) of Scotland was made a Mason at the Lodge of Scoon and Perth in 1601. In 1602 the Lodges of Scotland affirmed William St. Clair of Rosslyn as the Hereditary Grand Master Mason of Scotland from Time Immemorial. It was not until 1603, when James VI of Scotland, became James I of Great Britain, that he took Freemasonry to England. In 1641, nearly forty years later, Sir Robert Moray (1608-1673) is recorded to have been the first man to have been made a Mason on English soil.
The Jacobites, The Scottish Rite, and the French Connection
The Earl of Mar (1675-1732) led an uprising for Prince James Stuart, “The Old Pretender,” in 1715. Jacobus being the Latin for James, his followers are referred to as Jacobites. Within a year, the Jacobite Uprising of 1715 was subdued, Prince James and the Earl of Mar escaped to France, and the Jacobite army simply disbanded and dissolved. The Masonic Lodges in England began to disclaim their Scottish roots.
In 1717 the Grand Lodge of London was formed and English Masons took pains to deny any Jacobite connections. The first National Grand Lodge was formed in Ireland in 1725 and in 1736 the Grand Lodge of Scotland was formed in order to counter London’s expansionism. It was also in 1736 that another William St. Clair of Rosslyn, who had inherited the title of Grand Master Mason of Scotland, relinquished his hereditary rights in favor of elected officers
Prince Charles Edward Stuart (1720-1788), or “Bonnie Prince Charlie,” or “The Young Pretender,” raised his standard at Glenfinnan on August 19, 1745. The Jacobite army proceeded to take Perth, Edinburgh, Prestonpans and Carlisle, and reached into England as far south as Derby, only 150 miles from London. In the absence of a promised invasion from France, and with only limited support from English Jacobites, the Jacobite army withdrew north to Scotland. On April 16, 1746 Government forces under the command of the Duke of Cumberland defeated the Jacobite army at the Battle of Culloden. Prince Charles Edward Stuart, and a number of his supporters, escaped to France.
In Paris in 1758, “The Grand Council of Emperors of the East and West” organized a “Rite of Perfection,” consisting of 25 degrees, the highest being “The Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret.” Jacobite expatriates took an active part in creating the Rite, and many saw in its symbolism the return of the Stuart kings to the throne of Great Britain.
“The Grand Council of Emperors of the East and West” granted a patent to Etienne Morin in 1761, permitting him to bring this Rite to the New World. Morin spread the Rite to the West Indies and North America from his base in the city of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. In 1783 Isaac de Costa, one of the deputies commissioned to establish the Rite in other countries, formed what were called “Scottish Rite” bodies in South Carolina, which later became the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction. With the formation of the Supreme Council in continental America, 8 more degrees, the so-called “Continental High Degrees,” were added to the original 25 degrees, to make the 33 degrees of the modern Scottish Rite.
The Scottish Rite Creed of Freemasonry is as follows:
“Human progress is our cause, liberty of thought our supreme wish, freedom of conscience our mission, and the guarantee of equal rights to all people everywhere our ultimate goal.”
The Least You Need To Know
Scotland is where the Templar Knights found refuge following their excommunication.
Scotland is where the Templar graves are found.
Scotland is where the Sinclairs built a shrine on the floor plan of Herod’s Temple.
Scotland is where the first images of New World flora such as corn and aloe are found.
Scotland is where the practices of “speculative” Masonry are first recorded.
Scotland is where the future King James I of Great Britain was made a Mason.
Scotland is where the Jacobites began to formulate what was to become the Scottish Rite.
Scotland is where the Poet Laureate of Masonry, Robert Burns, was born.
Freemasonry and the American Revolution
Go to the center of Government in the State of Indiana, the Indiana Statehouse, which is located on the northwest corner of Washington and Capitol. And there, standing in the south lawn, is a larger-than-life figure of the Father of our country, George Washington.
Is he wearing the uniform of the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army? No. He is in civilian dress. But take a closer look. What is that under his coat? He is wearing an apron, a Masonic apron. And what is he wearing about his neck? A medal won through the trials of military conflict? No. It is a compass, with the sun at its center, the jewel of the office of Worshipful Master, the presiding officer in a Lodge of Freemasons. And in his right hand he is holding a gavel, which rests upon a pedestal, which is another symbol of the office of Worshipful Master.
Reach into your pocket and pull out your billfold. Take from it a One Dollar Bill. And there, on the front, you see the image of the Father of our Country, George Washington. Turn the bill over. There you see the obverse, and the reverse sides, of the Great Seal of the United States.
On the right side of the bill you see the image that appears in the carpet of the Oval Office, and upon the lectern, whenever the President of the United States addresses the Nation. We see the Bald Eagle, our national symbol, holding in its right claw, an olive branch with thirteen (13) leaves, representing our peaceful intentions, and in its left claw, thirteen (13) arrows, representing our ability to wage war in our own defense. Over the eagle’s breast, we see a representation of our national banner, with thirteen (13) stripes of red and white under a field of blue, and over the eagle’s head, we see a constellation of thirteen (13) stars. In its beak, it holds a scroll which bears the inscription, “E Pluribus Unum,” or “Our of the many, One.”
But look at the mysterious, and seldom displayed, image on the left side of the bill, which, reading left to right, is actually the first thing that you see. A pyramid with thirteen (13) steps, or thirteen (13) tiers, with the Roman numerals MDCCLXXVI chiseled into its base. The thirteen (13) steps, or thirteen (13) tiers, represent the thirteen (13) original colonies or states, and MDCCLXXVI represents 1776, the year that the original thirteen (13) colonies declared themselves free and independent states. But what is that at the top of the pyramid and what does the scroll at the bottom say?
The pyramid is surmounted with an image familiar to all Freemasons. It is called “The All-Seeing Eye,” and it a representation of the Deity, by whatever Name you choose to call Him, who is the Great Architect of the Universe. The scroll at the bottom bears the inscription, “Novus Ordo Seclorum,” or “The New Order of the World.” But this has nothing to do with the Trilateral Commission or with President George Herbert Walker Bush’s proclamation of “A New World Order.” The Vision is much greater than that.
Does Freemasonry have anything to do with the American War of Independence?
George Washington was a Mason. On the night before he crossed the Delaware, he insisted that only Masons be posted as sentries, because they were the only soldiers he felt could be trusted. He served as Master of his Lodge in Alexandria, Virginia. At the laying of the cornerstone of the Nations’ Capitol, Washington wore his Masonic apron. When offered a third term as President of the United State, he declined, upholding the Masonic tradition that no man is greater than the office in which he serves. Upon his death, Washington received Masonic rites, and was carried to his grave by six Masons dressed in aprons. And in every just and lawfully constituted Lodge in the United States, the Worshipful Master is seated to the East, the Senior Warden is seated in the West and the Junior Warden is seated in the South. There is no officer seated in the North, but upon the North wall, there hangs a portrait of George Washington, in full Masonic regalia.
Benjamin Franklin was a Mason. He was selected to serve upon the committee, which drafted the Declaration of Independence, and was one of nine (9) Masons to sign it.
John Hancock was a Mason. He was the President of the Continental Congress, which approved the Declaration of Independence, and was the first of nine (9) Masons to sign it.
Patrick Henry was a Mason. He was a member of the Continental Congress, and is credited with spurring the formation of the Virginia militia with his speech at St. John’s Church, in which he declared, “Give me liberty or give me death!”
John Paul Jones was a Mason. He was a Scottish born seaman and privateer, (which is simply another word for pirate), who was to become “The Father of the US Navy.”
Major General Henry Knox was a Mason. He was the owner of a bookshop, who learned about cannons and mortars from the books that he read, and became “The Father of the US Artillery.”
Marquis de Lafayette was a Mason. He was the French nobleman and soldier who became a great supporter of his friend, and Brother, George Washington.
Major General Israel Putnam was a Mason. He commanded the troops at Bunker Hill and is remembered for his orders, “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes!”
Paul Revere was a Mason. He was a member of the St. Andrew’s Lodge of Boston, where he met John Hancock and Samuel Adams, and acted as one of the “Indians” in the Boston Tea Party. He is credited with the famous midnight ride of April 18, 1775.
Does Freemasonry have anything to do with the American War of Independence? Freemasonry has everything to do with the American War of Independence, and with the struggle for freedom and equality, for men and women of every race, religion and creed throughout the World, and that Vision of liberty and justice for all is the New World Order for which we are striving, to this very day.
Should you wish to do further research we have a link to a very good 2 volume publication "An Encyclopedia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences" at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/freemasonry/
And that's it for this week and hope you all enjoy your weekend.
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com/
Electric Scotland News
Rather than news I am using this section to show how I am involved in other things than just history and so I thought the two articles I present here might demonstrate this.
1. OSMTH
As some of you will know I am the Editor for the Canadian Templar quarterly newsletter which is a publication of the Grand Priory of Canada, part of OSMTH, which is an NGO of the United Nations. The current September issue is some 60 pages in length.
While I can add news and views to this publication the final decision on what goes in is with the Grand Prior of Canada as it should be.
I have been critical of the leadership of OSMTH in the past issue but wasn't allowed to keep that article in so I decided to use my newsletter to explain my rationale.
I am told by the leadership of the order that OSMTH does a lot on the International stage and also through the UN. Problem is that they can't talk about much of what they do as it would compromise the security of the people concerned. My criticism of this is that the vast majority of the international order, the Knights and Dames, work divorced from this work of the order. I wanted to address this in the current newsletter as I believe it is time that the order does projects that the whole order can get behind and talk about.
That said I was told the proper way to bring this up is through the Grand Prior who would raise this at the International meetings. The problem with this is that as ordinary Knights & Dames we also don't get told about what is discussed at these meetings. So how do we know the Grand Prior is actually raising these issues?
I also mentioned that while the order is represented in 40 countries of the world our membership is small with just some 5,000 members. I've been told that the number of members is not relevant as it's the quality of the people that counts and not the number. The problem I see is that new members are recruited each year and yet many years later we still have 5,000 members and so it is clear many chose to leave the order.
I thus feel the leadership of the order is flawed and thus it is time to hold them to account. However there seems to be no real means of doing this. I have tried to phone or email some of the leadership but my phone calls were not returned nor my emails answered.
I'm not sure how many of you have read the Canadian Templar so I will just say I try to highlight the work of the individual Canadian Priories and also provide reports from our Grand Prior, Vicar General and Grand Chancellor. To this I have an International OSMTH section to show some of what we do. I also have a more general International section bringing general news stories from the world. I also have a regular Canadian Update section to discuss what Canada is doing domestically and internationally. To this I have a Religious section and also add a few stories of what I believe are of general interest... mostly of a Christian and moral nature and I usually add a bit of humour as well.
All of this is based on...
OSMTH – KNIGHTS TEMPLAR INTERNATIONAL
BRUSSELS DECLARATION
13th October 2007
where we state our Vision as...BRUSSELS DECLARATION
13th October 2007
OUR VISION Today, OSMTH – Knights Templar International looks for a world in which:
a constructive dialogue between the great religious faiths, and the individuals and nations that adhere to them, is conducted in an atmosphere of mutual respect, understanding and peace;
the holy sites of Christianity and the other great faiths are respected, protected and maintained, and pilgrims can travel to them in safety;
the dedication, generosity and integrity of all those engaged in providing humanitarian aid are recognised and valued, and aid workers carry out their vital work in an ethical manner without fear of discrimination;
the principles of active charity, courtesy, dedication and honesty, inherent in the highest ideals of a code of chivalry and a personal rule of life, are spread wider and wider in society;
and the contribution of the Knights Templar, medieval and modern, with regard to agriculture, construction, transportation, crafts, medicine, finance, inter-faith affairs, diplomacy and philanthropy is both well researched, and also widely understood and valued by the public.
And as such I have strived to cover many topics that cover our vision within the newsletter.
Many of our Knights and Dames do some excellent charity work and many do good but don't publicise it. That is as it should be. However many of us are interested in doing something that helps Christians in the Holy Land and much of what we do can't be talked about. I believe the time has come when as an order we need to do something the whole order can get behind and talk about.
The flood of migrants and refugees into Europe from the Middle East is horrendous and we need to help and we need to discuss how we might help. That's what I believe we should be discussing in an open fashion. For example while I am fully supportive of helping those that are fleeing for their safety I do also wonder how many ISIS fighters are getting into Europe through the disguise of being a refugee. I also know that Denmark is concerned with the number of Muslim residents they have in their country that have no interest in being true citizens of the country. The Dutch are so concerned about this that they have enacted new legislation in their Parliament.
In other words there are many issues that need discussion and I believe OSMTH should be taking a lead in this and getting their Knights and Dames involved.
You can read the newsletters and the current September issue at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/religion/kt.htm
2. EU
I felt I should also comment on the EU as it is clear with the current refugee crisis that is all over the news media that they haven't a clue how to handle it. The EU in my view started the Ukraine crisis and it is recognised as being one of the most corrupt organisations in the world with billions being stolen from it.
This is the organisation that the SNP wanted to join if they had got independence from the UK. In their Scotland's Future document they mention that the EU is Scotland's largest export market but they failed to mention that over 70% of those exports are to England. So you can see how the truth can be told but by omitting that little bit of information provided a flawed view of the situation.
Through the EU policies some 100,000 jobs were lost in the Scottish fishing industry along with the devastation of many of our local rural communities. It was also EU interference that cost us our steel plant at Ravenscraig losing many thousand of jobs there as well.
Scotland is nothing like many central European nations and if it were a member of the EU it would only represent 1% of the voters. Our influence would be virtually zero. Instead we should have looked at being a member of EFTA, the EEA and the Nordic council but that was brushed aside and Nicola Sturgeon stated the SNP would not have a referendum on whether to join the EU or not as it was clear our future was with the EU. I totally disagree with that statement.
If Scotland had become independent it would have required its own diplomatic staff yet right now we have no course at our Universities on diplomacy. Enquiring about this I was told that the SNP has no control of international matters. However, they do have control of education, so surely they do have a say on whether we should be training our future diplomats. Note however that they don't lie about these things as there statement was correct but they just failed to answer the question.
You might like to read the paper on Scotland in Europe at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/inde...ndineurope.htm
Can anyone help?
I'm trying to get some information on a pair of beautiful carved door panels from the 14th-16th century that I recently inherited. Any thoughts would be wonderful.
That was the email I got in and was subsequently sent in graphics of the two door panels which I include here so if anyone can help email jimkirkland@comcast.net
Got sent in this picture of a sign outside a pub...
This week I was adding some information about Scottish clans and I am still amazed at how many links to clan and clan societies are dead links. What on earth are these clan and clan societies doing? I mean I can understand a site might go down for one reason or another but if they then bring up another site then why can't they do a simple search to find out what sites have linked to them? They can then contact them to tell them of the new web site. The problem is they simply don't care less and in my view if clans are to prosper then they need to work harder.
In the event I find something I consider new and interesting about a clan I often go to their web site and then tell them about my findings. I rarely even get an acknowledgement. That's just rude in my opinion.
Just as an example I found that the Clan MacRae Society of Canada was a dead link. I Googled the society and found their correct address and updated the link which now works. I thought I'd email the Society to let them know about this and the email was returned as not available. That in my opinion is at the root of the problem when it comes to clan web sites. The current President in his opening letter says to email him but I couldn't find his email address so just used their Contact Us link and that's when I was told the email address wasn't available.
Perhaps clan society members might out of interest check their own clan sites out on the web just to see if there are dead links and if their own web site email works?
Her Majesty the Queen
This week the Queen became the longest reigning Monarch with 63 years in service to the UK and the Commonwealth said to reign over some 140 million people. Like her or hate her she has does an amazing service over these many years and even today she opened the new Borders railway in Scotland.
Clan and Family History in the Scottish Highlands:
A Workshop Featuring Graeme Mackenzie
Saturday, October 10, 2015 9:45 am – 3:45 pm.
Elizabeth Bradley, Turner Center, Columbus State University
Corner of E. Lindsay Drive and College Drive, Columbus, Georgia 31907
Sponsored by the Muscogee Genealogical Society
For more information about the seminar, see www.muscogeegenealogy.com or call 706-322-3175.
On Saturday, October 10, the Muscogee Genealogical Society will host a day-long workshop featuring widely-acclaimed Scottish genealogical speaker Graeme Mackenzie. He will present three separate lectures, along with an hour-long q&a session.
The program begins at 9:45am, preceded by registration/check-in starting at 9:00am. Coffee and pastries will be served before the program; refreshments will also be provided during breaks. Attendees will enjoy box lunches for their midday meal (price included in registration fee; please mark your sandwich preference on registration form).
Graeme Mackenzie, Chairman of the Association of Highland Clans & Societies (of Scotland), is a professional genealogist with 25 years experience specializing in Highland family and clan history. As the historian and genealogist of Clans MacKenzie and MacMillan he has travelled extensively during the last decade in the USA and Canada, speaking to clan societies, appearing at Highland Games, and lecturing to Scottish interest groups, local history societies and genealogical bodies.
In the course of his work as a professional genealogist he's collected a considerable amount of information on other Scottish families and names, and is pursuing a particular interest in the nature of the Scottish clan, and the evolution of the so-called “clan system.”
Scottish Symposium
Our 2015 symposium will be one of our best ever with keynotes from both Dr. Bruce Durie and Dr. Michael Newton. We've just made some real breakthroughs in our North Carolina research and we are hoping to share with as broad an audience as possible. This conference, while hosted by Clan Currie, will be relevant to all interested in the Scots history in the Carolinas.
The Clan Currie Symposium on October 2, the Scotland County Highland Games on October 3, and the Kirkin’ of the Tartans service and Premiere Solo Bagpiping competition on October 4 adds up to a great Scottish heritage weekend not to be missed, not only for anyone interested in the Clan Currie, but also for people interested in the history and culture of Scotland.
Host hotel for the weekend is the Comfort Inn of Laurinburg. For further details and information on the Scotland County Highland Games, visit http://www.schgnc.org
Electric Canadian
Reminiscences of a Canadian Pioneer for the last Fifty Years
Continuing to add more chapters to this book.
We are now up to Chapter LXVI.
In Chapter LXIV. we read an interesting view which starts by saying...
While I was a member of the City Council, the question of the proper qualification for electors of municipal councils and of the legislature, was much under discussion. I told my Reform opponents, who advocated an extremely low standard, that the lower they fixed the qualification for voters, the more bitterly they would be disappointed; that the poorer the electors the greater the corruption that must necessarily prevail. And so it has proved.
In thinking over the subject since, I have been led to compare the body politic to a pyramid, the stones in every layer of which shall be more numerous than the aggregate of all the layers above it. And this comparison is by no means strained, as I believe it will be found, that each and every class is indeed numerically greater than all the classes higher in social rank--the idlers than the industrious--the workers than the employers--the children than the parents--the illiterate than the instructed--and so on. Thus it follows as a necessary consequence, that the adoption of the principle of manhood suffrage, now so much advocated, must necessarily place all political power in the hands of the worst offscourings of the community--law-breakers, vagrants, and outcasts of all kinds. This would be equivalent to inverting the pyramid, and expecting it to remain poised upon its apex--which is a mere impossibility.
You can read the rest of this chapter and the other new chapters at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/pion...pson/index.htm
Enigma Machine
The whole collection can be found at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/lifestyle/enigma.
We're still struggling with puzzle 115 so nothing new this week.
Canadian National & Patriotic Songs
Complete with sheet music.
I added a link to this book at the foot of our Patriotic Songs page at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...otic_songs.htm
Electric Scotland
General View of the Agriculture of the Hebrides
By James MacDonald (1811)
The early history of the Hebrides is involved in thicker darkness than that of any neighbouring region. These islands were successively over-run by different tribes from the continents of Scotland and Ireland and by the northern rovers of Scandinavia. The ancient tales and traditions of the natives, which constitute the existing historical documents of this district, constantly refer to these eruptions; but they yield little that can be relied upon.
The natives are evidently of the same stock with the inhabitants of Ireland and of the Highlands of Scotland: Their language, manners, superstitions, and customs are the same. The tribes who settled among them in consequence of the Scandinavian conquests, between the 9th and 12th centuries, were few in number in comparison with the population of the country, and were speedily absorbed by the native race.
The first written accounts which we have of the Hebridians, occur in the Chronicle of Mann; and these are scanty and confused; nor indeed is the loss of their history of much consequence during the latter periods, (or even from the reign of Alexander III.) when they were finally annexed, by a specific agreement, with the Scottish Crown. What we regret most is the loss of their annals during the area of the introduction of Christianity and the age which preceded it, as well as that of their connexion with the Roman transactions in Britain.
That these extensive regions were at some former epoch possessed of a considerable population, and of resources far beyond what is commonly supposed, we may learn from the monuments of antiquity still visible in them. Castles built with astonishing skill in the midst of deep lakes; immense pillars of stone, plainly indicating the aid of mechanical powers to raise them, and the command of great numbers of men to carry them over ground impervious to cattle used for draught; watch-towers erected in places which, in point of judgment of selection, astonish the ablest engineers of modern times, and formed a regular chain of telegraphic communication; ruins of houses and of temples discovered deep under the present surface of the soil, or within the sea mark in some of the lower isles, and referring consequently to a remote antiquity; all these announce a degree of power, of wealth, and of civilization totally incompatible with the ideas usually adopted with respect to the ancient history of the Hebrides.
But this is not all. The language, superstitions, proverbs, and modes of thinking, general throughout these isles, evince ancient eminence. Their poetry is lofty and pathetic, replete with noble sentiments, and founded upon the historical associations of an illustrious race. It carries us back to a period in which "The kingdom“ of the Innsegallians (as they delight to call themselves) was the pride of its allies, and the terror of its foes; when the kings of the north, and the masters of the great world, fled away discomfited and terrified from its arms; and when the bravery of its heroes, and the virtues of its subjects, were the theme of the historian and song of the bard. Such sentiments we find even at this day universal throughout the western isles; and they carry to the unbiassed mind, upon a controversy lately agitated with much heat and intemperance, a degree of conviction which no sophistry can shake and no eloquence can overturn.
In consequence of the removal of the seat of government from Dunstaffnage, Inverlochy, and the western coast of Scotland, to the eastern counties of Perth, Fife, and Midlothian, the Hebrides were deprived of the immediate protection of their princes, and left to the capricious and arbitrary despotism of their chiefs. The chiefs carried on perpetual wars against one another, and these too of the most rancorous kind, being firequently founded on family or personal feuds. Neither the sanctifier of religion, nor the claims of humanity were respected. The Scottish monarchs, too feeble and too distant to punish the more powerful chiefs, adopted the miserable policy of managing them by setting one of themselves against the other, and of offering the property of the vanquished to his more successful antagonist. To this antagonist another chief was soon opposed, who in his turn, whether victorious or unsuccessful in the first instance, seldom escaped the violent fate of his neighbouring chief. This was the state of the Hebrides from the accession of Alexander III. till the beginning of the 18th century, when, in consequence of the union of England and Scotland, and some circumstances favourable to the admission of young Hebridians of influence into the British army and navy, the blessings of a regular government, and the refinements of civilized society were gradually introduced.
It was not, however, until the year 1748, that the Hebrides could be said to enjoy the complete security which results from an equitable and a powerful government. The abolition of the heritable jurisdictions conveyed to their inhabitants the full privileges of British subjects; and if they have not since that period been so well governed as other portions of our empire, the cause is not to be looked for in any neglect or injustice of the legislature, but in circumstances of a local nature, which it will require much time and powerful exertions to remove.
These circumstances are, the disjoined, unconnected, geographical state of the Western Islands, their great distance from cities and markets, the immediate nurses of wealth and of refinement, the difficulty of intercourse on account of the boisterousness of the seas around them, and the storms which so frequently prevail during nine months of the year but above all, the nonresidence of, many of the proprietors, who drain the poor Hebrides of their wealth, and, too often, residing in other parts of the empire, pay little attention to the improvement of their estates.
Whoever weighs these considerations, and many others of a collateral nature, but which are so obvious that it is unnecessary to mention them, will not be surprised to find the Western Islands of Scotland so far back in improvements as they are at present; but, on the contrary, he will wonder how they can, under such disadvantages, supply the stock and support the population which they now contain.
The following report, drawn up by a native, for the consideration of the Board of Agriculture and of Internal Improvement, is the result of seven voyages and journies at different periods since 1793, among these isles, and particularly of a journey of more than 9900 miles through them, in the months of May, June, July, August, and September 1808. He is sure that it is impartial, and he hopes it may be useful. The indulgence of the Board will in his case be but candour; for where the task is arduous, and the means of performance scanty, mediocrity is unavoidable and natural, and to escape censure is positive praise.
You can download this book at: http://www.electricscotland.com/agri...griculture.pdf
I will say about this book that it gives an excellent record of the conditions under which they live and work.
Robert Burns Lives!
Edited by Frank Shaw
Rededication of the Highland Mary Monument at Greenock Cemetery, Sunday 30th August, 2015 by Gerard Carruthers, University of Glasgow.
I received an email from friend Gerry Carruthers this week and attached to it was an article on a celebration of Highland Mary that he attended, not as speaker or presiding officer, but as a guest. If you know Gerry, you know this is a bit unusual for him as he is in great demand as a speaker and writer in Scotland, Europe and the United States. You may not know that he even finds time to serve as the current president of the Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Society, and mixed in there somewhere are all the teaching duties he has at the University of Glasgow and its Centre for Robert Burns Studies. Like many of you, I have often wondered how Gerry does all that he does for Burns and for us – those who study the Bard and meet regularly to celebrate his work. I include myself in the latter group since my forefathers made their way from Scotland’s Isle of Jura to the shores of North Carolina in the mid-1750s.
Once again we welcome Gerry to the pages of Robert Burns Lives! and deeply appreciate his finding time to think of our readers while engaged in so many activities. He is one of a kind, and we are always honored to have him with us. This is a special article by a special friend. Enjoy it and live it with him. I did! (FRS: 9.3.15)
You can read this article at: http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives222.htm
The History of the Ancient Scots
By The Rev. Duncan M'Callum (1858)
THERE are three views in which the history of the Ancient Scots has been considered. The first is the fabulous; the second, confounding them and the Picts; and the third, what may be called the "dark age" of the Scots. Those who have looked no farther than the last, fancied the nation to have been just then emerging from barbarism; and they might have been heard comparing their ancestors with the native races of America. As this History comes not down to that unfavourable era, no notice shall be taken of the dim light in which the Scots appeared from the sixteenth century to the Union, a period of about two hundred years. It is not necessary to speak of the fabulous history, the writers of which have been fully exposed by Innes. Had they looked to the great nation of whom they were descended, they needed not to have sought elsewhere for higher antiquity.
The confused state in which the Scots and the Picts have been represented, may not be so easily described in tracing the origin of the Scots, since writers that should have known better, differ, and the least favourable account has been adopted by some eminent authors.
All that is stated in Part Second will admit of no dispute, as the history of the nation is simply narrated, with the lives of the kings who governed during the space of five centuries; and what relates to this period, but could not be conveniently inserted in the History, is given in Part Third.
ARISATG,
March 3, 1858.
You can download this book at: http://www.electricscotland.com/book...cientscots.htm
Updated the Clan Gray page
Added Scalacronica: By Sir Thomas Gray of Heon and a link to the Gray Nation web site. You can get to this athttp://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/dtog/gray.html
Will Weatherhelm
A Story of a young man going to sea. I started to read this book just out of interest and before I knew it I was half way through it. That being the case I thought I'd share it with you. I might add the person is of Shetland stock.
You can download this book at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...otreg/Will.pdf
Information concerning the Province of North Carolina
Addressed to Emigrants from the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland by an Impartial Hand. Added a link to this old book at the foot of the page at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...s/chapter5.htm
The family of De Atholia, and their descendants, the Robertsons
Found this book and added a link to it at the foot of our Atholl page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ion/atholl.htm
Guide to Inverness
Added this historical guide to our page on "The Northern Highlands in the Nineteenth Century" as the information on that page is in the same time frame as the contents of the guide.
You can download this at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/highlands/
Curling picture and article
Added this picture and accompanying article to our Curling page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ling/index.htm
Scottish Society of Indianapolis
Got in a copy of their Fall 2015 newsletter which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...olis/index.htm
THE STORY
Thought I'd bring you this story showing the background of the Masons and the Scottish connections...
Scots and Freemasonry
By Carson C. Smith, FSA Scot
Introduction
There’s mony a badge that’s unco braw;
Wi’ ribbon, lace and tape on;
Let kings an’ princes wear them a’,
Gie me the Master’s Apron!
(Translation)
There’s many a badge uncommonly handsome;
With ribbon, lace and tape on;
Let kings and prices wear them all,
Give me the Master’s Apron!
The Master’s Apron
Robert Burns (1786)
Robert Burns (1759-1796) was initiated as an Entered Apprentice at Lodge St. David in Tarbolton on July 4, 1781 at the age of 23. He was passed to Fellow Craft, and raised a Master Mason on October 1, 1781. In his poetry, Burns upheld the Masonic ideals of Liberty, Equality and Religious Toleration. He is celebrated as the Poet Laureate of Freemasonry.
What is Freemasonry?
Freemasonry has been defined as “a system of morality, veiled in allegory.” Simply stated, it is a society of men who symbolically apply the tools of “operative” masonry, to the “speculative” science of character building. It is often said that the goal of Freemasonry is “to take good men and make them better.” Freemasonry is the oldest, largest, most respected and, at the same time, the most dreaded Fraternity in the World.
It is respected for its ideals of Liberty, Equality and Religious Toleration. But it is hated equally by both Religious Fundamentalists, and Anti-religionists; by Anti-religionists, because no Atheist can be made a Mason, and by Religious Fundamentalists, because in a just and lawfully constituted lodge of Freemasons, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and all who acknowledge the Great Architect of the Universe, sit as Brothers.
The history of Freemasonry can be divided into three (3) distinct categories or periods; the Ancient or Legendary, the Medieval or “operative” and the Modern or “speculative.” The first refers to the building of the Temple of King Solomon, the second to the tools of medieval stonemasons, and the third to the spiritual application of mechanical principles.
As the members of the ancient guilds were initiated into their craft, so to are Freemasons initiated into the degrees of their Craft. When stonemasons set about the task of building a castle or a cathedral, they erected temporary shelters called lodges. Likewise Freemasons conduct their meetings in a building called a lodge. And, like “operative” stonemasons, Freemasons wear as the uniform of their craft, a ceremonial apron which, in the case of Freemasonry, is made of white lambskin, or an imitation thereof.
The ancient stonemasons guilds received entered apprentices, who were trained to become fellows of the craft, to one day be elevated to the status of a master mason. Likewise, after submitting a petition to a just and lawfully constituted lodge of Freemasons, a candidate becomes an Entered Apprentice, is passed to Fellow Craft, and raised a Master Mason.
Freemasonry is not a secret society. Freemasons openly identify themselves as Masons, and proudly wear the square and compass, which has become one of the most recognized insignia in the World. Our buildings are clearly marked. We are listed in the phone book. We sponsor public fundraising efforts to support Masonic Homes, Shriners Hospitals, and a variety of programs to benefit the disadvantaged.
Freemasonry is a society that has secrets. But our rituals, hailing signs, penal signs, pass words and grips, are revealed to our members at each degree of their initiation into greater Masonic Light. And, as they progress, candidates are presented the working tools of the “operative” mason, the square, the compass, the 24 inch gage, the common gavel, the level, the plumb and the trowel, and they are taught their spiritual application for the “speculative” mason.
Many aspects of Masonic Ritual have worked their way into our common language; we work toward making a “square deal,” conducting our business “on the level,” we seek to “subdue our passions,” when we share a confidence, we guard against “eavesdroppers,” when we are deceived, we claim that we have been “hoodwinked,” if someone is excluded from membership in a group, he is “blackballed,” and when we are subjected to a severe line of questioning, we complain that we are being given “the third degree.”
In any bookstore, you can purchase one of a number of books about the history of Freemasonry including A Dictionary of Freemasonry and Duncan’s Ritual. Truth be told, with the arrival of the Internet, Masonic ritual books and Masonic handbooks can be ordered online, and the purchaser is never asked to prove whether or not he is a Mason. Opponents of Freemasonry have gone so far as to have actually posted, word for word, the rituals of Freemasonry, complete with the secret words and pass words, and with illustrations of the grips and pass grips, on several websites.
So what do the Scots have to do with Freemasonry, and what does Freemasonry have to do with the Scots?
The Knights Templar
During the first millennium of the Christian era, many of the devout made pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Palestine was under Arab control from 637 AD. The Islamic world considered Jesus of Nazareth a prophet, but second to Mohammed, and permitted Christian pilgrims free access to all of their holy sites. The Christian residents of Palestine established small hospitals in order to provide for the pilgrims needs. In 1046 the merchants of Amalfi, Italy established the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. The hospital was staffed by brothers who served under no particular religious order.
In 1076 the Ottoman Turks invaded Palestine and proceeded to persecute the Christian community and defile all Christian shrines. A pilgrim who was known as Peter the Hermit, returned to Western Europe, and began to preach a crusade to free the Holy Lands from the Turks. He led a mob toward Jerusalem, but remnants of this “Peoples Crusade” were annihilated by the Turks at Nicaea.
Pope Urban II (1042-1098) assembled a Council at Clermont, France in 1095 to organize a “Holy War.” The “First Crusade” set out for Palestine the following year under the leadership of several nobles. After capturing Nicaea and Antioch, they marched through the deserts and mountains of northern Palestine. A Christian army of 20,000 arrived at the gates of Jerusalem on June 7, 1099. The city was surrendered on July 15, 1099.
Nearly twenty years later, in 1118, nine Christian knights formed a fighting unit to patrol the roads of Palestine, and escort pilgrims on their journey. Their leader was a Burgundian knight by the name of Hugh de Payens (? -1136), and they called themselves “The Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ.” Baldwin II, the Christian king of Jerusalem, assigned them quarters on the Temple Mount, near the Dome of the Rock, at the former site of Herod’s Temple.
The knights expanded their title to “The Poor Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon,” which was later shortened to “The Knights of the Temple” and eventually, “The Knights Templar.” Later study of the Temple Mount reveals that the Templars embarked upon an ambitious excavation project under the site of Herod’s Temple. What they may or may not have found there is the subject of much speculation.
By 1165 the Knights Templar were firmly established in Jerusalem, and throughout Europe. When a nobleman joined their ranks, he surrendered his castle and properties to the Templars, who used revenues that were generated to purchase armor, weapons, horses and ships that were used to carry pilgrims, troops and commercial cargoes across the Mediterranean from France to Italy, Palestine, Spain and beyond. From the highly fortified harbor of La Rochelle, it is alleged they were able to conduct trade with the British Isles, Greenland and the North Americas. The Templar Fleet exceeded that of any state at that time. For the purposes of defense, the Templar fleet included a number of highly maneuverable war galleys fitted with rams.
The Knights Templar are credited with the development of modern banking. A pilgrim could, at the beginning of his journey, deposit his money with the Templars. He would receive a letter of credit, with markings known only to the Templars, against which he could draw what he needed, as he proceeded to and from the Holy Lands, without fear of having all of his money stolen along the way.
King Philip IV (1268-1314), known as Philip la Bel, or Philip the Fair, of France, was envious of the popularity and wealth of The Knights Templar. France was bankrupt, Philip was a weak and unpopular king, he was deeply in debt to the Templars, and he sought to secure the wealth of the Templars for himself. In 1307 King Philip IV persuaded Pope Clement V that the Templars were practicing blasphemous rituals, preaching heresy and engaging in homosexuality.
Pope Clement V (1260-1314) condemned the Templars as heretics and on Friday the 13th of 1307 King Philip IV of France ordered simultaneous raids on all Templar priories in France. Hundreds of Knights were captured, including The Grand Master, Jacques de Molay (1244-1314). But word of the raids was received in advance, and hundreds more Templars fled from France, or melted into the general population, and the Templar fleet disappeared.
The captured Templars were tortured in order to extract confessions that would fit the charges leveled against them. In 1310 fifty-four Templars were burned at the stake in order to force confessions from the remaining Templars in French custody. Jacques de Molay was burned at the stake in 1314. As the flames rose about him, de Molay pronounced a curse upon King Philip IV and Pope Clement V. Both died within the year. Neither the King, nor the Pope, captured the Templar treasury or the Templar fleet. But thereafter, Vatican shipping came under the attack of privateers, flying the Templar maritime flag, a black banner with a skull and crossed bones.
Robert the Bruce of Scotland
One year prior to the meeting between King Philip IV and Pope Clement V, where they plotted the destruction of the Templars, Robert the Bruce (1274-1329), grandson of Robert Bruce, who had contended with John Balliol for the crown of Scotland in 1292, murdered his rival, John Comyn, in a church in Dumfries on February 10, 1306. The Pope who ordered the destruction of the Templars excommunicated Robert the Bruce.
On June 24, 1314, (The Feast of St. John), an English army under King Edward II, that had arrived to relieve Stirling Castle, was defeated by Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn. Legend has it that knights, who appeared on horseback, in the flowing cassocks of the Templars, aided the Bruce in the defeat of the English cavalry. Edward II only narrowly escaped with his life and, to this day, the Battle of Bannockburn stands as the most single important military victory in all of Scottish history.
The Battle of Bannockburn occurred only seven years after the disappearance of the Templars and the Templar fleet. Like the Templars, Robert the Bruce was under Papal proscription. Like the Templars, Robert the Bruce had been excommunicated. It has been said that, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” and there is no reason why the Bruce would not have welcomed the support of Warrior Knights who, like himself, were at odds with the Roman Church.
It is now believed that part of the Templar fleet sailed northward along the west coast of England, through the North Channel which separates Scotland from Ireland, avoiding Ireland, (which was firmly under the control of the Roman Church), to arrive north of Glasgow in Argyll, in the vicinity of the town of Oban. This is supported by the fact that Templar graves, marked with slabs of stone, and bearing the outline of a Templar sword, are found in Argyll. Similar graves are found in the vicinity of Rosslyn, south of the city of Edinburgh.
The Sinclairs of Rosslyn
It is impossible to tell the story of Freemasonry, without telling the story of Clan Sinclair.
Prince Henry St. Clair, Earl of Orkney, offered refuge to the Templars upon his land in Scotland. In 1398, one hundred years before Columbus arrived in the New World, Henry St. Clair sailed to what is known today as Nova Scotia. His arrival was recorded in the tribal history of the Mi’kmaq Indians.
Further evidence of his expedition to the New World is found in Rosslyn Chapel, which is, in actuality, a Templar shrine. In addition to the Pre-Christian Green Man, scenes from the Old and New Testaments, and decorative elements of the Knights Templar, there are representations of maize and aloe, which would have been unknown prior to Henry St. Clair’s arrival in the New World.
In 1440 William St. Clair, grandson of Prince Henry St. Clair, began the construction of Rosslyn Chapel on the floor plan of the Third Temple, built in Jerusalem by Herod, and destroyed in the First Century by the Romans, where it stood upon the Temple Mount, which was later controlled by the Knights Templar. According to History of Clan Sinclair, masons working on the project were given “The Mason Word” by William St. Clair, in order to preserve the secrets of the Templars that Rosslyn was built to house.
As was suggested earlier, what may, or may not, have been housed at Rosslyn Chapel is the subject of much speculation. It has been theorized that everything from the Ark of the Covenant, to the Holy Grail, to a Secret Testament of Jesus, to the Genealogy of the Descendants of Jesus and Mary are hidden beneath the floor of Rosslyn Chapel.
What is certain is that on the lower frame of the window in the southwest corner of Rosslyn Chapel, there is a carving of the Masonic First Degree. The image is that of a man kneeling between two pillars. He is blindfolded and has a noose around his neck. His feet are in an unnatural position. In his left hand he holds a Bible. The end of the noose is held by a man who is wearing the mantle of the Knights Templar.
This image serves to raise the question, “Which came first, Freemasonry or the Knights Templar?” In 1738, three hundred years following the construction of Rosslyn, Pope Clement XII (1652-1740) who, ironically, shared his name with Pope Clement V, who had condemned the Knights Templar 400 years earlier, condemned Freemasonry on the grounds that it was descended from the Knights Templar.
The previous year, in 1737, a prominent Freemason, Andrew Ramsay (1686-1743), who was known throughout his adult life as Chevaliers Ramsay, and who served as the Scottish tutor of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, delivered an address, which has come to be known as Ramsay’s Oration. He declared that Freemasonry had originated among “Crusader Knights” who had formed themselves into “lodges of St. John.” Furthermore, Ramsay stated that Scotland had been absolutely instrumental in preserving Freemasonry from the Crusades to the present. Although Ramsay took pains to avoid using the word “Templar,” it appears that Pope Clement XII had made the connection.
Karl Gotthelf (1722-1776), the Baron von Hund und Altengrotkau, went so far as to declare, “Every Mason is a Templar.” Baron von Hund claimed that exiled Scottish nobles in Paris had initiated him into a Templar Masonic Order in 1742. He further claimed, that he had been authorized to reform Freemasonry, by restoring it to its Templar roots, but that he had lost contact with his superiors, following the failure of the Jacobite Uprising of 1745.
Scottish Freemasonry
What is certain is that Scottish Freemasonry predates English Freemasonry. Rosslyn Chapel was begun in 1440. In 1483 the burgh of Aberdeen is recorded as having been involved in the resolution of a dispute between six “masons of the lodge,” not “stonemasons,” not “craftsmen,” but “masons of the lodge.” As Freemasonry began to spread, new lodges were established throughout Scotland, candidates were initiated, and given “The Mason Word.” The earliest surviving Lodge Minutes from Edinburgh date from 1599.
James the VI (1566-1625) of Scotland was made a Mason at the Lodge of Scoon and Perth in 1601. In 1602 the Lodges of Scotland affirmed William St. Clair of Rosslyn as the Hereditary Grand Master Mason of Scotland from Time Immemorial. It was not until 1603, when James VI of Scotland, became James I of Great Britain, that he took Freemasonry to England. In 1641, nearly forty years later, Sir Robert Moray (1608-1673) is recorded to have been the first man to have been made a Mason on English soil.
The Jacobites, The Scottish Rite, and the French Connection
The Earl of Mar (1675-1732) led an uprising for Prince James Stuart, “The Old Pretender,” in 1715. Jacobus being the Latin for James, his followers are referred to as Jacobites. Within a year, the Jacobite Uprising of 1715 was subdued, Prince James and the Earl of Mar escaped to France, and the Jacobite army simply disbanded and dissolved. The Masonic Lodges in England began to disclaim their Scottish roots.
In 1717 the Grand Lodge of London was formed and English Masons took pains to deny any Jacobite connections. The first National Grand Lodge was formed in Ireland in 1725 and in 1736 the Grand Lodge of Scotland was formed in order to counter London’s expansionism. It was also in 1736 that another William St. Clair of Rosslyn, who had inherited the title of Grand Master Mason of Scotland, relinquished his hereditary rights in favor of elected officers
Prince Charles Edward Stuart (1720-1788), or “Bonnie Prince Charlie,” or “The Young Pretender,” raised his standard at Glenfinnan on August 19, 1745. The Jacobite army proceeded to take Perth, Edinburgh, Prestonpans and Carlisle, and reached into England as far south as Derby, only 150 miles from London. In the absence of a promised invasion from France, and with only limited support from English Jacobites, the Jacobite army withdrew north to Scotland. On April 16, 1746 Government forces under the command of the Duke of Cumberland defeated the Jacobite army at the Battle of Culloden. Prince Charles Edward Stuart, and a number of his supporters, escaped to France.
In Paris in 1758, “The Grand Council of Emperors of the East and West” organized a “Rite of Perfection,” consisting of 25 degrees, the highest being “The Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret.” Jacobite expatriates took an active part in creating the Rite, and many saw in its symbolism the return of the Stuart kings to the throne of Great Britain.
“The Grand Council of Emperors of the East and West” granted a patent to Etienne Morin in 1761, permitting him to bring this Rite to the New World. Morin spread the Rite to the West Indies and North America from his base in the city of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. In 1783 Isaac de Costa, one of the deputies commissioned to establish the Rite in other countries, formed what were called “Scottish Rite” bodies in South Carolina, which later became the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction. With the formation of the Supreme Council in continental America, 8 more degrees, the so-called “Continental High Degrees,” were added to the original 25 degrees, to make the 33 degrees of the modern Scottish Rite.
The Scottish Rite Creed of Freemasonry is as follows:
“Human progress is our cause, liberty of thought our supreme wish, freedom of conscience our mission, and the guarantee of equal rights to all people everywhere our ultimate goal.”
The Least You Need To Know
Scotland is where the Templar Knights found refuge following their excommunication.
Scotland is where the Templar graves are found.
Scotland is where the Sinclairs built a shrine on the floor plan of Herod’s Temple.
Scotland is where the first images of New World flora such as corn and aloe are found.
Scotland is where the practices of “speculative” Masonry are first recorded.
Scotland is where the future King James I of Great Britain was made a Mason.
Scotland is where the Jacobites began to formulate what was to become the Scottish Rite.
Scotland is where the Poet Laureate of Masonry, Robert Burns, was born.
Freemasonry and the American Revolution
Go to the center of Government in the State of Indiana, the Indiana Statehouse, which is located on the northwest corner of Washington and Capitol. And there, standing in the south lawn, is a larger-than-life figure of the Father of our country, George Washington.
Is he wearing the uniform of the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army? No. He is in civilian dress. But take a closer look. What is that under his coat? He is wearing an apron, a Masonic apron. And what is he wearing about his neck? A medal won through the trials of military conflict? No. It is a compass, with the sun at its center, the jewel of the office of Worshipful Master, the presiding officer in a Lodge of Freemasons. And in his right hand he is holding a gavel, which rests upon a pedestal, which is another symbol of the office of Worshipful Master.
Reach into your pocket and pull out your billfold. Take from it a One Dollar Bill. And there, on the front, you see the image of the Father of our Country, George Washington. Turn the bill over. There you see the obverse, and the reverse sides, of the Great Seal of the United States.
On the right side of the bill you see the image that appears in the carpet of the Oval Office, and upon the lectern, whenever the President of the United States addresses the Nation. We see the Bald Eagle, our national symbol, holding in its right claw, an olive branch with thirteen (13) leaves, representing our peaceful intentions, and in its left claw, thirteen (13) arrows, representing our ability to wage war in our own defense. Over the eagle’s breast, we see a representation of our national banner, with thirteen (13) stripes of red and white under a field of blue, and over the eagle’s head, we see a constellation of thirteen (13) stars. In its beak, it holds a scroll which bears the inscription, “E Pluribus Unum,” or “Our of the many, One.”
But look at the mysterious, and seldom displayed, image on the left side of the bill, which, reading left to right, is actually the first thing that you see. A pyramid with thirteen (13) steps, or thirteen (13) tiers, with the Roman numerals MDCCLXXVI chiseled into its base. The thirteen (13) steps, or thirteen (13) tiers, represent the thirteen (13) original colonies or states, and MDCCLXXVI represents 1776, the year that the original thirteen (13) colonies declared themselves free and independent states. But what is that at the top of the pyramid and what does the scroll at the bottom say?
The pyramid is surmounted with an image familiar to all Freemasons. It is called “The All-Seeing Eye,” and it a representation of the Deity, by whatever Name you choose to call Him, who is the Great Architect of the Universe. The scroll at the bottom bears the inscription, “Novus Ordo Seclorum,” or “The New Order of the World.” But this has nothing to do with the Trilateral Commission or with President George Herbert Walker Bush’s proclamation of “A New World Order.” The Vision is much greater than that.
Does Freemasonry have anything to do with the American War of Independence?
George Washington was a Mason. On the night before he crossed the Delaware, he insisted that only Masons be posted as sentries, because they were the only soldiers he felt could be trusted. He served as Master of his Lodge in Alexandria, Virginia. At the laying of the cornerstone of the Nations’ Capitol, Washington wore his Masonic apron. When offered a third term as President of the United State, he declined, upholding the Masonic tradition that no man is greater than the office in which he serves. Upon his death, Washington received Masonic rites, and was carried to his grave by six Masons dressed in aprons. And in every just and lawfully constituted Lodge in the United States, the Worshipful Master is seated to the East, the Senior Warden is seated in the West and the Junior Warden is seated in the South. There is no officer seated in the North, but upon the North wall, there hangs a portrait of George Washington, in full Masonic regalia.
Benjamin Franklin was a Mason. He was selected to serve upon the committee, which drafted the Declaration of Independence, and was one of nine (9) Masons to sign it.
John Hancock was a Mason. He was the President of the Continental Congress, which approved the Declaration of Independence, and was the first of nine (9) Masons to sign it.
Patrick Henry was a Mason. He was a member of the Continental Congress, and is credited with spurring the formation of the Virginia militia with his speech at St. John’s Church, in which he declared, “Give me liberty or give me death!”
John Paul Jones was a Mason. He was a Scottish born seaman and privateer, (which is simply another word for pirate), who was to become “The Father of the US Navy.”
Major General Henry Knox was a Mason. He was the owner of a bookshop, who learned about cannons and mortars from the books that he read, and became “The Father of the US Artillery.”
Marquis de Lafayette was a Mason. He was the French nobleman and soldier who became a great supporter of his friend, and Brother, George Washington.
Major General Israel Putnam was a Mason. He commanded the troops at Bunker Hill and is remembered for his orders, “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes!”
Paul Revere was a Mason. He was a member of the St. Andrew’s Lodge of Boston, where he met John Hancock and Samuel Adams, and acted as one of the “Indians” in the Boston Tea Party. He is credited with the famous midnight ride of April 18, 1775.
Does Freemasonry have anything to do with the American War of Independence? Freemasonry has everything to do with the American War of Independence, and with the struggle for freedom and equality, for men and women of every race, religion and creed throughout the World, and that Vision of liberty and justice for all is the New World Order for which we are striving, to this very day.
Should you wish to do further research we have a link to a very good 2 volume publication "An Encyclopedia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences" at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/freemasonry/
And that's it for this week and hope you all enjoy your weekend.
Alastair
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