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Correspondence.
charters . I believe the pretended discovery of this Malcolm business , or old document about sixty years ago , was really a finding of something that never was lost ; the thing being probably got up at that time for the purpose of enabling the Glasgow Masons to take the precedence they took over all the others at
the laying of the foundation-stone of the Lunatic Asylum at Glasgow in 1 S 10 . Only a few , however , I would imagine were in the plot . I should have liked to have asked the translator how it comes that our
translation is so exactly the same as the rendering of the Stirling document . * Also , if Dr . Clelaud ever thought of comparing the handwriting of this document with that of any of the parties who Avere connected with its discovery ; said discovery being also remarkably well timed for insertion in Cleland ' s
" Annals of Glasgow . " The only authority ( if I may be allowed to use that term now ) that can be quoted in support of this Malcolm writ is Dr . James Millar , who says in his " Architects and Builders of the Middle Ages , " page 19 "There is no doubt of its being an authentic
, charter , and it Avas sustained as such in an action before the Court of Session , in 1 S 15 . " Which assertion has misled many , myself included , and upon the faith of Avhich I have made statements Avhich I now beg to withdraw ; as upon investigation I now find said assertion to be false . Besides Professor
Cosimo Innes , another chartologist saw this Malcolin writ lately , Avho also said it was not a charter . Dr . Anderson also in his " Memoirs of the House of Hamilton , " says , apart from other considerations , the writing is not above 200 or 300 years old . Even the charter now held by the Lodge of GlasgoAV Sfc . John , b
granted y the Grand Lodge of Scotland , dated May 6 th , 1 S 50 , contains the following words ( while acknowledging the other evidences of their great antiquity they do so ) " without admitting the antiquity of a charter founded on by the petitioners and alleged to have been granted to said Lodge of
Glasgow by Malcolm the Third , King of Scots . " I consider that I have said enough to show that this "impudent forgery" as it has been called , lias now run its course , there not being the ghost of a chance of its being a real document . It has not been a very gracious task to dig out the evidence , but having once began I considered it to be my duty to make the result known , as I believe that truth alone will stand to the end .
I also consider and expect to see it proved , that notwithstanding the falsehood of this Malcolm writ , the Lodge of Glasgow St . John is still entitled to be held as the primary lodge of Scotland on the evidence afforded by , and to be deduced from , the royal charter granted by William the Lion , in 1190 , to the
Fraternity appointed by Bishop Joceline to the construction of Glasgow Cathedral . About which 1190 charter , Professor Cosmo Innes said : " There is that beautiful charter , the authenticity of Avhich is indisputable , granted by William the Lion , that is a sure foundation on which to build , if you will connect yourselves properly with it , and certainly old enough " and I may add where is the lodge that can shoAV anything like it ?
It is strange it was after the advent of Joceline s fraternity into Scotland , that almost all the stone fabrics of our cathedrals , abbeys , & c , Avere built , extant remains showing so ( Kelso and Jedburgh , which have so much of the Norman in them , I believe ,
not even excepted ) . In the MAGAZINE for February 22 nd , page 149 , 1 threw aside this Malcolm writ and proceeded to show how the Lodge of Glasgow could prove its priority without it , referring to the fact of Bishop John founding his cathedral in 1123 , as a proof of the existence of Freemasons then in GlasgowAvhich
, circumstance is as good a proof of tho existence of a Freemasons' lodge in Glasgow in 1123 , as the circumstance of the abbeys of Holyrood and Kelso being founded in 1128 as a proof of their existence then at these places , * hut Avhich circumstances , however , taking everything into consideration , Avithout
something else to back it up , I am afraid is no great proof of the existence of Freemason lodges in either of the three places at that early date ; because , e . g ., supposing that a real body of Freemasons existed at Glasgow , or Avere employed elsewhere in the diocese , when Joceline came on to be Bishop , how does it happen , as the 1190 charter tells , that Joceline
requires to get "the consent of the abbots , priors , and other clergy of his diocese" to the appointment of "this fraternity" to the construction of his cathedral ? And also , if such fraternities Avere quite common in Scotland in 1190 , how is it that the King says , " We devoutly receive this fraternity , and
afford them the suport of our Royal protection , strictly charging all our bailiffs and servants that they protect and take them by the hand everywhere throughout our kingdom " ? On the whole , looking at this charter closely , and remembering that it was after the advent of this fraternity in Glasgow that
almost all the beautiful architectural examples of Masonic skill were constructed in Scotland , I am led to assert that the first advent of " these enthusiastic fraternities , " as Professor Cosmo Innes calls them , into Scotland was at Glasgow . From Avhence undoubtedly branches soon sprang off to other places . Also , wherever this GlasgoAV fraternity came from other branches could also follow from the same
country ; and I am inclined , in the meantime , to give to England the honour of being tbe first place from whence these fraternities came into Scotland , because , as is well known , many English nobles came into Scotland in the twelfth century , and were warmly received and Avelcomed ; and I consider , as a
matter of course , English Masons followed them , and were " devoutly received . " Although Scotland and France were afterwards so closely connected together , they were not so in the twelfth century . Witness Malcolm IV ., for example , going to King Henry of England to be knihted by
g him , and afterwards following Henry to France for the same object . The assertion that a body of Masons came from Cologne ( Cologne Cathedral not being founded , a 3 Ave now see it , until 1270 ) and , settling in Kilwinning , built an abbey about 1140 , in the Early English
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Correspondence.
charters . I believe the pretended discovery of this Malcolm business , or old document about sixty years ago , was really a finding of something that never was lost ; the thing being probably got up at that time for the purpose of enabling the Glasgow Masons to take the precedence they took over all the others at
the laying of the foundation-stone of the Lunatic Asylum at Glasgow in 1 S 10 . Only a few , however , I would imagine were in the plot . I should have liked to have asked the translator how it comes that our
translation is so exactly the same as the rendering of the Stirling document . * Also , if Dr . Clelaud ever thought of comparing the handwriting of this document with that of any of the parties who Avere connected with its discovery ; said discovery being also remarkably well timed for insertion in Cleland ' s
" Annals of Glasgow . " The only authority ( if I may be allowed to use that term now ) that can be quoted in support of this Malcolm writ is Dr . James Millar , who says in his " Architects and Builders of the Middle Ages , " page 19 "There is no doubt of its being an authentic
, charter , and it Avas sustained as such in an action before the Court of Session , in 1 S 15 . " Which assertion has misled many , myself included , and upon the faith of Avhich I have made statements Avhich I now beg to withdraw ; as upon investigation I now find said assertion to be false . Besides Professor
Cosimo Innes , another chartologist saw this Malcolin writ lately , Avho also said it was not a charter . Dr . Anderson also in his " Memoirs of the House of Hamilton , " says , apart from other considerations , the writing is not above 200 or 300 years old . Even the charter now held by the Lodge of GlasgoAV Sfc . John , b
granted y the Grand Lodge of Scotland , dated May 6 th , 1 S 50 , contains the following words ( while acknowledging the other evidences of their great antiquity they do so ) " without admitting the antiquity of a charter founded on by the petitioners and alleged to have been granted to said Lodge of
Glasgow by Malcolm the Third , King of Scots . " I consider that I have said enough to show that this "impudent forgery" as it has been called , lias now run its course , there not being the ghost of a chance of its being a real document . It has not been a very gracious task to dig out the evidence , but having once began I considered it to be my duty to make the result known , as I believe that truth alone will stand to the end .
I also consider and expect to see it proved , that notwithstanding the falsehood of this Malcolm writ , the Lodge of Glasgow St . John is still entitled to be held as the primary lodge of Scotland on the evidence afforded by , and to be deduced from , the royal charter granted by William the Lion , in 1190 , to the
Fraternity appointed by Bishop Joceline to the construction of Glasgow Cathedral . About which 1190 charter , Professor Cosmo Innes said : " There is that beautiful charter , the authenticity of Avhich is indisputable , granted by William the Lion , that is a sure foundation on which to build , if you will connect yourselves properly with it , and certainly old enough " and I may add where is the lodge that can shoAV anything like it ?
It is strange it was after the advent of Joceline s fraternity into Scotland , that almost all the stone fabrics of our cathedrals , abbeys , & c , Avere built , extant remains showing so ( Kelso and Jedburgh , which have so much of the Norman in them , I believe ,
not even excepted ) . In the MAGAZINE for February 22 nd , page 149 , 1 threw aside this Malcolm writ and proceeded to show how the Lodge of Glasgow could prove its priority without it , referring to the fact of Bishop John founding his cathedral in 1123 , as a proof of the existence of Freemasons then in GlasgowAvhich
, circumstance is as good a proof of tho existence of a Freemasons' lodge in Glasgow in 1123 , as the circumstance of the abbeys of Holyrood and Kelso being founded in 1128 as a proof of their existence then at these places , * hut Avhich circumstances , however , taking everything into consideration , Avithout
something else to back it up , I am afraid is no great proof of the existence of Freemason lodges in either of the three places at that early date ; because , e . g ., supposing that a real body of Freemasons existed at Glasgow , or Avere employed elsewhere in the diocese , when Joceline came on to be Bishop , how does it happen , as the 1190 charter tells , that Joceline
requires to get "the consent of the abbots , priors , and other clergy of his diocese" to the appointment of "this fraternity" to the construction of his cathedral ? And also , if such fraternities Avere quite common in Scotland in 1190 , how is it that the King says , " We devoutly receive this fraternity , and
afford them the suport of our Royal protection , strictly charging all our bailiffs and servants that they protect and take them by the hand everywhere throughout our kingdom " ? On the whole , looking at this charter closely , and remembering that it was after the advent of this fraternity in Glasgow that
almost all the beautiful architectural examples of Masonic skill were constructed in Scotland , I am led to assert that the first advent of " these enthusiastic fraternities , " as Professor Cosmo Innes calls them , into Scotland was at Glasgow . From Avhence undoubtedly branches soon sprang off to other places . Also , wherever this GlasgoAV fraternity came from other branches could also follow from the same
country ; and I am inclined , in the meantime , to give to England the honour of being tbe first place from whence these fraternities came into Scotland , because , as is well known , many English nobles came into Scotland in the twelfth century , and were warmly received and Avelcomed ; and I consider , as a
matter of course , English Masons followed them , and were " devoutly received . " Although Scotland and France were afterwards so closely connected together , they were not so in the twelfth century . Witness Malcolm IV ., for example , going to King Henry of England to be knihted by
g him , and afterwards following Henry to France for the same object . The assertion that a body of Masons came from Cologne ( Cologne Cathedral not being founded , a 3 Ave now see it , until 1270 ) and , settling in Kilwinning , built an abbey about 1140 , in the Early English