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Article MASONIC EXeUESIOET TO BOSLIN GASTLE. ← Page 4 of 14 →
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Masonic Exeuesioet To Boslin Gastle.
- '„•' . ¦ . . '¦¦' . ¦ - ¦ . .- '¦ ' ¦ - ¦> of the Freemasons of Edinburgh and the country around . Dalkeith contains a flourishing Lddge , at present under the mastership of Bro . Dr . Jefferiss . Deputations from almost all the Edinburgh Lodges visited this Lodge in the end of December last , and were most graciously welcomed and entertained . After
spending a few happy hours together , they were escorted to the railway station by the Brethren of the Lodge , headed by tta ^ county militia , the whole way being lighted up by a profusion of torches . The train is soon in motion , and , as we gaze from the window of the carriage , we are charmed with the distant prospect . It has thus been described by James
Grahame , one of our Scottish poets : — " Look round ; behold a prospect wide and fair ; The Lomond hills , with Fife ' s town-skirted shore ; The intervening sea ; Inchkeith's grey rocks , With beacon-turret crowned ' Arthurs proud crest , And Salisbury abrupt ; the Pentland range , Now peaked , and now , with undulating swell , Heaved to the clouds . " More at hand is a wide extent of very fine and richly-cuUivated country embracing some of the most fertile tracts in the counties of Edinburgh and
Haddington , while the numerous engine stacks that strike the eye in every direction , tell of the immense supplies of mineral wealth to be found under the soil . The lover of the picturesque is amply gratified with the sight of extensive landscap es pleasantly interspersed with noblemen ' s seats , elegant farm-steadings , thriving villages , and . variegated plantations ; and the reader of history finds abundant food for rumination while he surveys the gentle declivities of Wallyford , the heights of Carbery , the plains of Boslin , or the defiles of Bullion Green .
In less than an hour we reach Hawthornden station . Here we alight , and , entering the station-house , assume our Masonic costume . Bro . Ainslie , the Standard-bearer of the Lodge , unfurls his banner , a fac-simile of the banner generally known by the title of " the Blue Blanket , " or banner of the Holy Ghost , which was borne by the trades of Edinburgh daring the Crusades , and planted by them on the walls of Jerusalem and the battlements of Ptolemais , which , on their return , they dedicated to the altar of St . Eloi , in the church of St . Giles ,
and which , we are told , is now kept by each successive convener of the fourteen incorporated trades of Edinburgh ; the Wardens assume their batons , composed of oak from the Old Trinity Hospital , Edinburgh , and presented to the Lodge by Bro . J . D . Kirkwood ; Bro . Kerr handles the mallet , a sturdy implement , which was used by a deceased Brother Journeyman in assisting to prepare the stones which compose the buildings of the University of Edinburgh ; and the faster shoulders his rod , an essay piece by Past Master Bro . Wright , having a silver
plate , on which the names of all the Past Masters of the Lodge are engraved . Headed by the Edinburgh Instrumental Band , and by Bro . Gibb , Tyler of the Lodge , wearing the , badge and jewel of his office , and armed with an elegant claymore , we march to the gate of Hawthornden , where a warrant of admission froni the agents of the proprietrix , Lady Drummond , is produced , and acts as potently in making the barred entrance fly open , as did the pronunciation of the word "Sesame" at the robber ' s cave in the Arabian Nights . We now proceed
along a beautiful avenue of ashes and evergreens , while the music of the band reverberating through the neighbouring woods produces a charming effect . In a few minutes the pinnacles of the mansion of Hawthornden are descried among the trees . Immediately in front of it are the remains of an old fortalice of unknown antiquity . The modern house , which was built in 1638 , is not pi very large dimenbut it
sion ^ occupies a most romantic site on the edge of a high perpendicular precipice that overlooks the Esk . Over the door the arms of the late Dr . William Abernethy Drummond , Bishop of Edinburgh , are sculptured in marble , and below them is the following inscription : — "Divino munere , Gulielmus Drummondus , Johannis equitis aurati filius , ut honesto otio quiesceret , sibi et successoribus iustauravit . Anno 1638 . " After being satisfied with examining the exterior of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Exeuesioet To Boslin Gastle.
- '„•' . ¦ . . '¦¦' . ¦ - ¦ . .- '¦ ' ¦ - ¦> of the Freemasons of Edinburgh and the country around . Dalkeith contains a flourishing Lddge , at present under the mastership of Bro . Dr . Jefferiss . Deputations from almost all the Edinburgh Lodges visited this Lodge in the end of December last , and were most graciously welcomed and entertained . After
spending a few happy hours together , they were escorted to the railway station by the Brethren of the Lodge , headed by tta ^ county militia , the whole way being lighted up by a profusion of torches . The train is soon in motion , and , as we gaze from the window of the carriage , we are charmed with the distant prospect . It has thus been described by James
Grahame , one of our Scottish poets : — " Look round ; behold a prospect wide and fair ; The Lomond hills , with Fife ' s town-skirted shore ; The intervening sea ; Inchkeith's grey rocks , With beacon-turret crowned ' Arthurs proud crest , And Salisbury abrupt ; the Pentland range , Now peaked , and now , with undulating swell , Heaved to the clouds . " More at hand is a wide extent of very fine and richly-cuUivated country embracing some of the most fertile tracts in the counties of Edinburgh and
Haddington , while the numerous engine stacks that strike the eye in every direction , tell of the immense supplies of mineral wealth to be found under the soil . The lover of the picturesque is amply gratified with the sight of extensive landscap es pleasantly interspersed with noblemen ' s seats , elegant farm-steadings , thriving villages , and . variegated plantations ; and the reader of history finds abundant food for rumination while he surveys the gentle declivities of Wallyford , the heights of Carbery , the plains of Boslin , or the defiles of Bullion Green .
In less than an hour we reach Hawthornden station . Here we alight , and , entering the station-house , assume our Masonic costume . Bro . Ainslie , the Standard-bearer of the Lodge , unfurls his banner , a fac-simile of the banner generally known by the title of " the Blue Blanket , " or banner of the Holy Ghost , which was borne by the trades of Edinburgh daring the Crusades , and planted by them on the walls of Jerusalem and the battlements of Ptolemais , which , on their return , they dedicated to the altar of St . Eloi , in the church of St . Giles ,
and which , we are told , is now kept by each successive convener of the fourteen incorporated trades of Edinburgh ; the Wardens assume their batons , composed of oak from the Old Trinity Hospital , Edinburgh , and presented to the Lodge by Bro . J . D . Kirkwood ; Bro . Kerr handles the mallet , a sturdy implement , which was used by a deceased Brother Journeyman in assisting to prepare the stones which compose the buildings of the University of Edinburgh ; and the faster shoulders his rod , an essay piece by Past Master Bro . Wright , having a silver
plate , on which the names of all the Past Masters of the Lodge are engraved . Headed by the Edinburgh Instrumental Band , and by Bro . Gibb , Tyler of the Lodge , wearing the , badge and jewel of his office , and armed with an elegant claymore , we march to the gate of Hawthornden , where a warrant of admission froni the agents of the proprietrix , Lady Drummond , is produced , and acts as potently in making the barred entrance fly open , as did the pronunciation of the word "Sesame" at the robber ' s cave in the Arabian Nights . We now proceed
along a beautiful avenue of ashes and evergreens , while the music of the band reverberating through the neighbouring woods produces a charming effect . In a few minutes the pinnacles of the mansion of Hawthornden are descried among the trees . Immediately in front of it are the remains of an old fortalice of unknown antiquity . The modern house , which was built in 1638 , is not pi very large dimenbut it
sion ^ occupies a most romantic site on the edge of a high perpendicular precipice that overlooks the Esk . Over the door the arms of the late Dr . William Abernethy Drummond , Bishop of Edinburgh , are sculptured in marble , and below them is the following inscription : — "Divino munere , Gulielmus Drummondus , Johannis equitis aurati filius , ut honesto otio quiesceret , sibi et successoribus iustauravit . Anno 1638 . " After being satisfied with examining the exterior of