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Article MASONIC EXeUESIOET TO BOSLIN GASTLE. ← Page 8 of 14 →
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Masonic Exeuesioet To Boslin Gastle.
any of the family died , a supernatural light was seen to illuminate the whole of the chapel . Sir Walter Scott has finely alluded to this tradition in the " Lay of the Last Min & rel , " when he makes Harold , the bard of the St . Glairs , recite the ballad of Bosabelle : —
" O ' er Boslin , all that dreary night A wondrous blaze was seen to gleam ; 'Twas broader than the watchfire light , And redder than the bright moonbeam It glared on Roslin ' s castled rock , It ruddied all the copse-wood glen ; 'Twas seen from Dryden ' s groves of oak , And seen from cavern'd Hawthornden .
Seemed all on fire that chapel proud , Where Roslin ' s chiefs uncofBued lie ; Each baron for a sable shroud , Sheathed in his iron panoply ; Seemed all on fire within , around , Deep sacristy and altar ' s pale , Shone every pillar foliage bound , And glimmered all the dead men ' s mail
Blazed battlement and pinnet high > Blazed every rose-carved buttress fair-So still they blaze when fate is nigh The lordly line of high St , Clair . "
The Bible is now placed on the altar covered with a fine linen cloth , the requisite number of tapers are lighted , and the Brethren range themselves round the centre aisle . The sombre light and the solemnizing aspect of the building at this moment must have made every Brother feel the desire expressed by Milton in his "II penseroso , " after he has so beautifully described the pleasures of straying and reposing amid " arched walks of twilight groves : "" But let my due feet never fail
To walk the studious cloister ' s pale , And love the high embowed roof , With antique pillars massy proof ; And storied windows richly dight , Casting a dim religious light . " The entrances to the chapel having been properly tyled , the R . W . M . standing in front of the high altar , with the assistance of the Wardens and Brethren , opens
a Lodge in due form . He then said , " Brethren , after a delightful stroll among the groves and glades of Hawthornden , and along the picturesque and romantic banks of the Esk , we are at length assembled in the ancient chapel of Boslin . A Masonic meeting in this place is no less novel than it is appropriate and imposing . One Mason Lodge , I believe , has met in it in recent times , but I question if a Lodge , for the purposes which we contemplate , has been opened in it , since the time that the ancient Masons were engaged in its erection . The founder of this chapel , as you are well aware , was William St . Clair , prince of Orkney , who
brought hither the most distinguished Masons whom he could find , both in this country and on the continent . For his devotion to architecture and the interests of the Craft , he was raised by James II . to the high honour of Grand Master Mason of Scotland , and this honourable office continued in his family for nearly three hundred years . The design of the founder was never completed ; but the part of it which we have , consisting principally of the choir , is one of the richest specimens of the florid style of Gothic architecture to be found in this country . Some of the Brethren may think the sculptures a little rude , but it must be
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Exeuesioet To Boslin Gastle.
any of the family died , a supernatural light was seen to illuminate the whole of the chapel . Sir Walter Scott has finely alluded to this tradition in the " Lay of the Last Min & rel , " when he makes Harold , the bard of the St . Glairs , recite the ballad of Bosabelle : —
" O ' er Boslin , all that dreary night A wondrous blaze was seen to gleam ; 'Twas broader than the watchfire light , And redder than the bright moonbeam It glared on Roslin ' s castled rock , It ruddied all the copse-wood glen ; 'Twas seen from Dryden ' s groves of oak , And seen from cavern'd Hawthornden .
Seemed all on fire that chapel proud , Where Roslin ' s chiefs uncofBued lie ; Each baron for a sable shroud , Sheathed in his iron panoply ; Seemed all on fire within , around , Deep sacristy and altar ' s pale , Shone every pillar foliage bound , And glimmered all the dead men ' s mail
Blazed battlement and pinnet high > Blazed every rose-carved buttress fair-So still they blaze when fate is nigh The lordly line of high St , Clair . "
The Bible is now placed on the altar covered with a fine linen cloth , the requisite number of tapers are lighted , and the Brethren range themselves round the centre aisle . The sombre light and the solemnizing aspect of the building at this moment must have made every Brother feel the desire expressed by Milton in his "II penseroso , " after he has so beautifully described the pleasures of straying and reposing amid " arched walks of twilight groves : "" But let my due feet never fail
To walk the studious cloister ' s pale , And love the high embowed roof , With antique pillars massy proof ; And storied windows richly dight , Casting a dim religious light . " The entrances to the chapel having been properly tyled , the R . W . M . standing in front of the high altar , with the assistance of the Wardens and Brethren , opens
a Lodge in due form . He then said , " Brethren , after a delightful stroll among the groves and glades of Hawthornden , and along the picturesque and romantic banks of the Esk , we are at length assembled in the ancient chapel of Boslin . A Masonic meeting in this place is no less novel than it is appropriate and imposing . One Mason Lodge , I believe , has met in it in recent times , but I question if a Lodge , for the purposes which we contemplate , has been opened in it , since the time that the ancient Masons were engaged in its erection . The founder of this chapel , as you are well aware , was William St . Clair , prince of Orkney , who
brought hither the most distinguished Masons whom he could find , both in this country and on the continent . For his devotion to architecture and the interests of the Craft , he was raised by James II . to the high honour of Grand Master Mason of Scotland , and this honourable office continued in his family for nearly three hundred years . The design of the founder was never completed ; but the part of it which we have , consisting principally of the choir , is one of the richest specimens of the florid style of Gothic architecture to be found in this country . Some of the Brethren may think the sculptures a little rude , but it must be