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Freemasonry Its History and Customs
Freemasonry Its History and Customs
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Kindle version of vintage magazine article originally published in 1901. Contains lots of great info and illustrations seldom seen in the last 110 years.
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Some authorities on Freemasonry have ascribed the foundation of the system to the master—builders and artists engaged in the construction of the first Jewish temple, during the reign of Solomon. Others have attempted to trace it to the Eleusinian mysteries of classic Greece, which are said to have taught the immortality of the soul and other sublime truths of natural religion. Some, again, have attributed its establishment to the sainted heroes of the Crusades; while others have endeavored to penetrate the almost forgotten mysteries of the Druids, and to discover its origin amongst the wise men of ancient Britain.
Early Masonry is distinguished as either operative or speculative. To the former category belong the "traveling Freemasons," who went about Europe from country to country and from city to city for the purpose of erecting religious edifices. Some of the finest of the buildings that stand today as monuments of the middle ages are evidences of the skill of these journeymen masons. It is not impossible that the medieval bodies had their origin and owed their existence to the Roman colleges of artificers founded by Numa some seven hundred years before Christ. Freemasonry of today is purely speculative —that is, it has no connection with the actual work of building.
Existing records, as has been said, date back to 1717, in which year, on the 24th of June, four lodges in Lon¬don erected themselves into a grand lodge and selected a grand master. A Scottish lodge, known as the Mother Lodge of Kilwinning, claims to have been established long before that date. The early records of this body are lost, but its own historians assert that it owes its birth to the founding of Kilwinning Abbey, near Irvine, in Ayrshire, by one Hugh Morville in the year 1140.
Not all Masonic writers agree concerning the date of the Kilwinning Lodge. Dr. Mackey, who made careful searches for evidence bearing on the subject, says:
I look upon the legend, and the documents that contain it, with some favor as at least furnishing the evidence that there has been among the fraternity a general belief in the antiquity of the Kilwinning Lodge.
Other authorities positively assert that this and several other lodges existed in Scotland as early as the twelfth century.
read excerpt -
Some authorities on Freemasonry have ascribed the foundation of the system to the master—builders and artists engaged in the construction of the first Jewish temple, during the reign of Solomon. Others have attempted to trace it to the Eleusinian mysteries of classic Greece, which are said to have taught the immortality of the soul and other sublime truths of natural religion. Some, again, have attributed its establishment to the sainted heroes of the Crusades; while others have endeavored to penetrate the almost forgotten mysteries of the Druids, and to discover its origin amongst the wise men of ancient Britain.
Early Masonry is distinguished as either operative or speculative. To the former category belong the "traveling Freemasons," who went about Europe from country to country and from city to city for the purpose of erecting religious edifices. Some of the finest of the buildings that stand today as monuments of the middle ages are evidences of the skill of these journeymen masons. It is not impossible that the medieval bodies had their origin and owed their existence to the Roman colleges of artificers founded by Numa some seven hundred years before Christ. Freemasonry of today is purely speculative —that is, it has no connection with the actual work of building.
Existing records, as has been said, date back to 1717, in which year, on the 24th of June, four lodges in Lon¬don erected themselves into a grand lodge and selected a grand master. A Scottish lodge, known as the Mother Lodge of Kilwinning, claims to have been established long before that date. The early records of this body are lost, but its own historians assert that it owes its birth to the founding of Kilwinning Abbey, near Irvine, in Ayrshire, by one Hugh Morville in the year 1140.
Not all Masonic writers agree concerning the date of the Kilwinning Lodge. Dr. Mackey, who made careful searches for evidence bearing on the subject, says:
I look upon the legend, and the documents that contain it, with some favor as at least furnishing the evidence that there has been among the fraternity a general belief in the antiquity of the Kilwinning Lodge.
Other authorities positively assert that this and several other lodges existed in Scotland as early as the twelfth century.
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