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Article SONGS OF THE CEAFT. ← Page 2 of 14 →
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Songs Of The Ceaft.
found ? No modern collection of Masonic minstrelsy appears to have been made ; the musical Brethren of the Order certainly have occasionally contributed a song or a glee , but it never appears to have entered into any one ' s mind to hunt up all that has been written in
honour of the Craft , and circulate amongst its mem b ers a Masonic song-book , which is very much wanted in some of our Lodges , w here instead of songs of a practical Masonic character , all sorts of insipid , and occasionally indecent , songs are perpetrated . As a specimen of
the former , it has been our good fortune to hear a Brother , who at the best of times does not speak remarkably clearly ; he constantly and perversely edifies us with a song from Paul Clifford , or some such worthy , one line of which is indelibly engraven on our memory
as , ~~~' " WallaTelalumparIarcalIadoles 3 ^ finishing with an unintelligible something about . ' '" My bonny Black Bess . ' It would have been thonght that amongst Brethren so well known for their friendship and conviviality some one would have beenfound since 1797 to give us a taste , as old Grower quaintly expresses it , —~ ci 5 ?
Of songes and of deetes glade ; Finding , however , that such a collection was not in being , the writer of the present paper , having some little acquaintance with the general ballad literature of the country , and knowing that he had often seen Masonic songs , long before he was an initiate , cast about to see what materials there were for his purpose , and the following list is the most accurate that could be made . Some of the titles are abridged to save space .
In Anderson s " . book or Constitutions , quarto , London , 1723 , and Northouck ' s reprint of the above , quarto , ibid ., 1784 , there are Odes , Songs , & c . ab the end . The first collection , unattached to any other work , is , —Calendar ' s " Masonic Odes and Songs / ' octavo , ibid ., 17 [ 35 ?] , a little book of which we could only meet with some pages ; " The Secrets of the Freemasons revealed by a disgusted Brother , containing an Account of theip Origin , Practices , & c . To
which is added the Songs of the Masons # # # and an exact list of * # # Lodges , " 2 nd edit ., quarto , London , 1759 . This affair is a reproduction , as far as the songs go , of those in Anderson . " The Pocket Companion and History of the Freemasons , & c . * * # and a select number of Songs , and other Particulars for the Use of the Society , " 12 mo ., London , 1762 ; Wyld ' s " Songs of Masonry / ' octavo , London ., 1764 ; "Wilson ' s
"Collection of Masonic Songs / ' 12 mc , London , 1788 ; Preston ' s " Illustrations of Masonry , " octavo , London , 1775 ; Br . Oliver ' s reprint of the same , octavo , ibid ., 1846 ; Jones ' s " Masonic Miscellanies , I ., The Muse of Masonry , containing 170 Masonic Songs , with appropriate Toasts , & c , " 12 mo ., London , 1797 . Most of these books are reproductions of each other ; it is true some contain more songs than others , but it seems impossible that about 170 songs
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Songs Of The Ceaft.
found ? No modern collection of Masonic minstrelsy appears to have been made ; the musical Brethren of the Order certainly have occasionally contributed a song or a glee , but it never appears to have entered into any one ' s mind to hunt up all that has been written in
honour of the Craft , and circulate amongst its mem b ers a Masonic song-book , which is very much wanted in some of our Lodges , w here instead of songs of a practical Masonic character , all sorts of insipid , and occasionally indecent , songs are perpetrated . As a specimen of
the former , it has been our good fortune to hear a Brother , who at the best of times does not speak remarkably clearly ; he constantly and perversely edifies us with a song from Paul Clifford , or some such worthy , one line of which is indelibly engraven on our memory
as , ~~~' " WallaTelalumparIarcalIadoles 3 ^ finishing with an unintelligible something about . ' '" My bonny Black Bess . ' It would have been thonght that amongst Brethren so well known for their friendship and conviviality some one would have beenfound since 1797 to give us a taste , as old Grower quaintly expresses it , —~ ci 5 ?
Of songes and of deetes glade ; Finding , however , that such a collection was not in being , the writer of the present paper , having some little acquaintance with the general ballad literature of the country , and knowing that he had often seen Masonic songs , long before he was an initiate , cast about to see what materials there were for his purpose , and the following list is the most accurate that could be made . Some of the titles are abridged to save space .
In Anderson s " . book or Constitutions , quarto , London , 1723 , and Northouck ' s reprint of the above , quarto , ibid ., 1784 , there are Odes , Songs , & c . ab the end . The first collection , unattached to any other work , is , —Calendar ' s " Masonic Odes and Songs / ' octavo , ibid ., 17 [ 35 ?] , a little book of which we could only meet with some pages ; " The Secrets of the Freemasons revealed by a disgusted Brother , containing an Account of theip Origin , Practices , & c . To
which is added the Songs of the Masons # # # and an exact list of * # # Lodges , " 2 nd edit ., quarto , London , 1759 . This affair is a reproduction , as far as the songs go , of those in Anderson . " The Pocket Companion and History of the Freemasons , & c . * * # and a select number of Songs , and other Particulars for the Use of the Society , " 12 mo ., London , 1762 ; Wyld ' s " Songs of Masonry / ' octavo , London ., 1764 ; "Wilson ' s
"Collection of Masonic Songs / ' 12 mc , London , 1788 ; Preston ' s " Illustrations of Masonry , " octavo , London , 1775 ; Br . Oliver ' s reprint of the same , octavo , ibid ., 1846 ; Jones ' s " Masonic Miscellanies , I ., The Muse of Masonry , containing 170 Masonic Songs , with appropriate Toasts , & c , " 12 mo ., London , 1797 . Most of these books are reproductions of each other ; it is true some contain more songs than others , but it seems impossible that about 170 songs