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The circumstance has, in my own judgment, been far too lightly passed over, that the earliest “records” of any degrees whatsoever, extraneous to the system of ancient Freemasonry, are those of the ROYAL ORDER, at London...

Robert Freke Gould [1]

Recently, I tried to show why the broadly accepted theory which ascribes the origin of ‘high degrees’ to French Masons hardly fits with a series of facts, such as the existence of The Order of Kilwinning or Scotch Heredom, a masonic Order conferring degrees upon Master Masons in London.[2] The present paper intends to bring together early documents issued by, or related to, this little-known Order together with a few factual comments.

We neither know when the Order was founded nor who founded it. We know it delivered several documents to two Brethren who had come from The Hague to London in 1750, presumably in order to be granted a Charter for their Continental masonic body, because one of the two, a Scots named William Mitchell, brought them back a few years later to Edinburgh where they are extant. We are inclined to believe that the Order existed at least since 1741 because two of these documents were signed by the then Provincial Grand Master “in the Ninth Year” of his charge. And we are sure it met in London in 1743 since the discovery made in 1926 by Frederick William Levander who found a meeting of the Order advertised in a non-identified newspaper in the middle of a collection of press cuttings. Which shows that luck played an important part in our limited knowledge of the Order’s history and that with a little more luck, we may still discover more about it.

Early masonic literature about the Order’s beginnings is scarce : excerpts scattered in books by Thory, Lenning and Clavel,[3] one chapter of David Murray Lyon’s (1819-1903) History of the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary's Chapel), No. 1 (1873) and twenty pages authored by William James Hughan (1841-1911) [4] in the History of the Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons and Concordant Orders (1891), a collective work of nine hundred pages issued in the United States.[5]

Monographs devoted to the Order were first issued in the 20^th century.[6] Among the papers of Robert Strathern Lindsay, an Office-bearer of the Order who died in 1963, his widow found a manuscript draft of its history up to 1839 and gave it to the Executive Committee of the Order. The Committee considered “it was too long, contained many tautologies, and had never been revised by the author” and asked A.J.B. Milborne (1888-1976) “to undertake the task of editing the MS. and bringing it into publishable format”.[7] The result was The Royal Order of Scotland (1970). George Draffen of Newington (1910-1986) authored a second volume issued in 1977 under the self-describing title The Royal Order of Scotland. The Second Hundred Years.

The Scottish Rite Journal is published bimonthly by the Supreme Council, 33°, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of the Southern Jurisdiction, United States of America, Washington, DC.

PLACE OF ORIGIN, SUCCESSIVE NAMES AND INTERMITTENT ACTIVITY OF THE ORDER

In spite of its present name, it appears unlikely that the Order originated in Scotland. Lyon’s statement “Of the existence in Scotland of any branch of the Order prior to 1754 there is not a particle of evidence” [8] still holds water. According to Lindsay, “there does not seem to be any shadow of doubt that the Royal Order’s birthplace was England”.[9]

The Order went first under the name of Scotch H—d—m (Heredom), or Ancient and Honourable Order of K—n—g (Kilwinning). The adjective ‘Royal’ seems to have been adopted shortly after its establishment in Edinburgh : Laws of the R.L. H.R.D.M. (Royal Heredom) were approved on 5 January 1767 and, under 26 July 1769, the records of the Edinburgh Town Council mention “a Petition, of the Governor and other officers of the Royal Order of Ancient Scots Masonry”.[10] Grand Secretary William Gibb wrote in a letter from 21 October 1782 :

[...] there are two different orders of masonry which subsist in Scotland. The one called “The Holy Lodge of St. John” [...] The other is called the Royal Order of the H.R.D.M. of Kilwinning or the Royal Order of Scotch Masonry, into which none but Master masons of the order of St. John can be admitted. This order con(tains) 4 other degrees of masonry, & was instituted for many great & valuable purposes [...].[11]

Since 1785, the Order received applications for Charters from abroad. It may be the reason why shortly afterwards ‘in Scotland’ was appended to its title : the high and honourable Order of the H-r-d-m of Kilwinning in Scotland,[12] The Royal Order of the H.R.D.M. of Kilwinning in Scotland.[13] The present expression The Royal Order of Scotland seems to be first met with [14] in the Concordat [15] the Order entered into with the Supreme Council for Scotland in April 1855.

According to extant documents, the history of the Order can be divided into three periods :

1)      an English one until 1753,

2)      a Scottish one from 1753 to 1839, including two full lapses (1794-1802 and 1819-1839). In 1786, the Grand Lodge in Edinburgh warranted a Provincial Grand Lodge in the kingdom of France, headed in Rouen by Jean Matheus, which created some twenty-five bodies of the Order in France and overseas until 1811.

3)      A modern one from 1839 to the present time.

1. The English Period up to the end of 1753

There is no information showing when the Order was founded. Evidence concerning the English period comes from two sources only.

·        Three clippings from non-identified newspapers advertising meetings of the Order in London in November 1743, August 1750 and November 1753.[16]

·        Several documents delivered in London to William Mitchell, a Scotsman from The Hague,[17] in July 1750 when appointed Provincial Grand Master of the Order of the H.R.D.M. throughout the Seven United Provinces (as The Netherlands were then called). They include a patent, instructions and a book of records. No mention is made of a ritual. If Mitchell received one, it is not extant any more.

1). The first newspaper’s announcement

The earliest piece of evidence about the Order is the following announcement which appeared in a newspaper on 26 November 1743 :

The Brethren of the Scotch H——d——m, or Ancient and Honourable Order of K——n——g, are desir’d to meet the Grand Master of the said Order, and the rest of his Grand Officers, at the sign of the Swan in Great Portland-street, near Oxford-Market, on Wednesday next, at Three o’Clock in the Afternoon precisely, to celebrate the Day. By Order of the Grand Master, E. W., Grand Sec.[18]

The wording is not indifferent since it includes the only mention of a “Grand Master of the Order”, likely the same person as “the Right Hon^ble and Right Worship^l Prince and Supreme Ruler and Governor of the Great S.N.H.D.R.M. and Grand Master of the H.R.D.M. of K.L.W.N.N.G.” referred to in the patent delivered to Mitchell some seven years later by the Provincial Grand Master in S. Britain. The Grand Master’s and his Grand Officers’ names are unknown. The only clue given by the announcement relies in the fact that in November 1743 the Order met at The Swan, Great Portland Street.

It seems to have passed hitherto unnoticed that one of the Four Old Lodges, that which met in 1717 at the Apple-Tree,[19] moved some time before January 1742 to The Swan where it remained until about June 1750.[20] Since 1723 it met ‘on every other Wednesday’, since 1729 on ‘the 1^st and 3^rd Wednesday’.[21] Remarkably, the announced meeting of the Order was to take place on 30 November 1743 (Old Style) which was the fifth Wednesday in November.

Two weeks later, on 11 December, a Chapter of the Order was founded at The Golden Horse Shoe, Cannon Street, Southwark, London.[22]

2). The visitors from abroad and the documents they received

In 1750, two Brethren, William Mitchell and Jacobus Jonas Kluck, arrived in London from The Hague [23] and addressed a petition (an undated copy of which was made by the Provincial Grand Secretary) to the Provincial Grand Master of the Order. Nothing shows how they had become aware of his existence. It stated that both of them and some Brethren at The Hague already were members of the Order and wished to receive a Constitution.

a). The Petition

To the Right Worshipful Sir Robert Relief K.^nt of the R:Y:C:S: Provincial Grand Master of the Most Ancient and Hon^le. Order of the H.R.D.M. of K.L.W.N.N.G. in S^o. Britain, Sir Jos^h. Hen^y. Broomott, F.R.D.M. Deputy G^d. Mas^r. Sir Will^m. P.R.P.T.O.N. and Sir Rich. T.C.T.Y. Grand Wardens and the rest of the Right Worsh^l. Grand Officers of the said Order, etc.[24]

There being Divers brethren of the above most Ancient and Hon^le. Order of Masons residing at the Hague, and we whose Names are hereunto subscribed, Brothers of the said Most Ancient and Hon^le. Order and residing as above, being Authorised and Appointed to petition your Worship etc. for the Grant of a Constitution, DO therefore in the Name of the whole Pray That your Worship etc. will be pleas’d to Grant us the said Favour by which means we shall be Brought under Your Care and Direction ; which Favour being Granted us, we shall allways bear a Grateful Remembrance, and as in Duty bound, will make it our Careful study to be Obedient to all such good Laws and Rules, as Your Worship etc. shall from time to time Think proper to Lay us under.

Wm. Mitchell F.D.L.T.Y.

Jon^s. Kluck, S.N.C.R.T.Y. [25]

On the strength of “the excellence of its wording and the knowledge it displayed as to the names and Characteristics [26] of the principal Office-bearers”, Lindsay disbelieved the terms of Mitchell’s and Kluck’s petition and was “inclined to guess” that it had been “framed” in London by the Provincial Secretary of the Order. Mitchell, Kluck and the Brethren from The Hague “could not possibly have been members of the Order” since “their names as such were not on the Register of the Order [27] [...] Therefore as a first step, they were both required to take the two Degrees of the Order”.[28] And Lindsay suggested :

They were probably holders of the French Rose Croix Degree, who wanted a Charter to enhance the working of the Rose Croix Degree as part of their Lodge system and [...] thought that the Provincial Grand Lodge of the Order of Heredom of Kilwinning at London, with its Rosy Cross Degree, could be able to issue to them the type of Charter they wanted. [29]

Lindsay’s suggestion appears more improbable than the possibility that the Brethren at The Hague already were members of the Order. The earliest mention of the word Rose-Croix in a masonic context I am aware of, is met with in a French ritual for the installation of the Master of a Lodge, which bears the date 1754.[30] The next one, a Rose Croix Certificate said by Kloss to be dated 1 Mai 1757 and reproduced in facsimile by Jean Eustache Peuvret.[31] The ritual of Chevalier de l'Aigle du Pélican dit de Rose Croix, included in the ritual collection of the Marquis de Gages, is probably the oldest extant manuscript version of the degree.[32] However the date on the manuscript, 1763, is by thirteen years later than Mitchell’s arrival in London.

b). The ‘docket’ or ‘deliverance’

“In compliance with this petition the Provincial Grand Master [...] gave a deliverance that ‘one brother who has signed the same do attend me at the house of Brother Lowis, S.N.C.R.T.Y., on Monday’ the 22nd July 1750, at four o’clock precisely.” wrote Murray Lyon.[33] Lindsay described the document as : ‘Copy of a docket by R.L.F. “Pro: Gr: Mr. in S: B.”’ and summarized it thus :

This grants the Prayer of the Petitioners and orders that “one of the brethren who have signed the same attend me at the house of Bro. Lewis S.N.C.R.T.Y. the Sign of the Gold Horsehoe in Cannon Street in Southwark [34] on Monday, the twenty-second day of July instant at Four o’clock in the Afternoon to receive the Pattent etc. according to customary form in such cases”. This document is dated 10 July A.D. 1750, AMH 5753, and is in the hand of the Provincial Grand Secretary at London. Mitchell was the one who attended, and from this point Kluck disappears entirely from the story.[35]

c).  The ‘certificate’

The petition was granted, according to a document (certificate) here reproduced in the version of Murray Lyon :[36]

London, 22d July A.D. 1750, AMH. 5758. I did this day attend at the house of Brother Lowis, S.N.C.R.T.Y., the sign of the Golden Horse Shoe in Cannon Street, Southwark, and did then and there constitute the petitioning brethren residing at the Hague into a regular Chapter in full form, and did constitute and appoint our right worshipful and highly honoured Brother, William Mitchell, known and distinguished among the brothers of the Order by the sublime title and characteristick of F.D.L.T.Y., and Knight of the R.Y.C.S., to be T.R.S.I., by delivering the pattent and in due form as usual for the constitution of Chapters in foreign parts, and did, by virtue of my authority exchange his characteristick and invest him for that of R.L. (Signed) R.L.F.

The above Petition, Docket and Certificate, still extant in Edinburgh, are described by Lindsay as ‘copies’.[37]

d).  The sealed ‘pattent’

The pattent (its seal and the fact that it is also termed a copy elsewhere are discussed in Appendix I) is said by Lindsay to be one “of two single sheets now separate but originally stitched together by thread down the left-hand side”.[38] It is worded thus :

SIR ROBERT R. L. F. Knight of the Order of the R.Y.C.S. Warder of the Tower of R.F.S.M.N.T. Presedent of the Judges and Councel of the Great S.N.H.D.R.M. and Provincial Grand Master of the H.R.D.M. of K.L.W.N.N.G. in S.B.: &c^a: &c^a: &c^a.

To Sir WILLIAM R :L :F, Knight of the Order of the R.Y.C.S.

BY VERTUE of the Authority to ME (By the Right Hon^ble and Right Worship^l Prince and Supreme Ruler and Governor of the Great S.N.H.D.R.M. and Grand Master of the H.R.D.M. of K.L.W.N.N.G.) in this behalf given, I DO hereby grant unto You and rest of the R^t. Worthy and Worship^l Brothers of the H.R.D.M. residing at the Hague, FULL POWER and AUTHORITY to hold a Chapter of the Order, at such house as to You and them shall seem Convenient, so long as You and they shall behave as become Worthy Brothers of the said Order, with FULL power to Remove the same, from Place to Place, as Occasion shall Offer, for the Good and Glory of the Society ; in any part of the Seven United Provinces, You and they Conforming to the Constitutional Rules Assigned You by the Grand Lodge in London ; AND FURTHER Know You that for the Good, and promotion of the H.R.D.M. in Genera^l I DO HEREBY EMPOWER You to form as a Grand Lodge of the Order and DO Nominate, Constitute and Appoint You the said Sir William R. L. F. to be Grand T.R.S.T.A. to Preside at, Rule over, and Govern the same and the Brethren thereunto belonging, so long as you shall Act Conformable to the Laws and Rules of the Grand Lodge in London ; AND I do hereby Grant you Authority to appoint Proper Officers to Assist You in the execution of the High Office hereby on You Conferr’d to Consist of the following Number and Denominations, (to wit) One Deputy Prov^l Grand Master, Two Grand Wardens, one Grand Secretary, one Grand Treasurer, one Sword Bearer, one Banner Bearer, four Grand Stewards, one Grand Marshal, one Deputy Grand Marshal, one Grand Guarder ; and I DO HEREBY AUTHORIZE and IMPOWER YOU the said Sir William R. L. F. to take upon Yourself the title of Provincial Grand Master of the Order of the H.R.D.M. throughout the Seven United Provinces ; and out of a pure desire for the Glory of this Order and Increasing the Number of Worthy Brothers I do hereby IMPOWER You to Grant Constitutions of the Order, in any part within the said Seven United Provinces, and DO APPOINT YOU to Preside Amongst, Rule over and Govern all such Chapters, and the Brethren thereto belonging or on them Attendant ; AND FURTHER be it known to all and every the Brethren, that I hereby Invest You with full Power to Appoint such persons to be Your Grand Officers, as you shall think are most fit and proper, for each Respective Post, without asking the Consent or Aprobation, of any Brother of the Order, whatsoever, Except of Your own Free will You may think proper to pay such Compliment, to the Brethren ; and FURTHER, I do hereby Invest You with full power and Authority, to Depose, or Displace from His or their Office or Offices any such Grand Officer or Officers, as Shall be Guilty of any Indignities to Your Worship, or to Fine, Mulct or Amerce them, or any or either of them for the same, without being Obliged to bring them to a Formal Trial, or ask the Consent or Aprobation of the Brethren for so doing ; Except you shall of Your own will think proper so to do : AND I do hereby STRICTLY charge, and require of the Brethren in General, as well Your Grand Officers as others, to Acknowledge, Obey and put you the said Sir William R. L. F. to Due Worship, as Head Ruler and Governor, over them, and their Chapters ; and I do hereby Appoint You to hold Quarterly Meetings for Regulating the Affairs of the Order ; AND FURTHER, I do Impower You to relinquish, or Resign Your said Office (in case You shall think proper or be desirous so to do) to any Worthy Qualified Brother of the Order of the R.Y.C.S. but to no person whatsoever under that Degree ; AND FURTHER, be it known to the Brethren in Gen^l that it is not, nor Cannot be, in the Power of them, to Depose or Displace You, from the High Office hereby on You Conferr’d ; Except for High and Enormous Crimes, tending to the Scandal or Detriment of the Order, And not then without bringing You to a Regular Trial, and an Account of the Proceedings thereon, with the Crime, and sentence of the Councel ; being first sent to the Grand Lodge at London, for my Approbation ; and for Every Authority, Priviledge and Power, herein above mentioned this shall be Your Sufficient Warrant and Pattent.

R.L.F.    (L.S.)

GIVEN under my Hand and the. .

Seal of my Office at London. .

this twenty-second day of July. .

A. D. 1750, A.M.H. 5753 [39] and in. .

the Ninth Year of my Provincial. .

GRAND MASTERSHIP.

ENTER’D in the Grand Register By

Command of the Prov^l Gr^d Mast^r

the 22: day of July 1750: 5753.

N.B.L.T.Y.

Grand Secretary.

There is no reason to doubt the veracity of the above words “in the Ninth Year of my Provincial Grand Mastership” or of “in the Ninth Year of my Authority” found on the ‘Diploma’ reproduced below, which are the basis for the assumption that the Order was founded in 1741 at the latest. If the Provincial Grand Master who signed both documents had not been first in office, the Order could very well have been founded some years earlier.

e).  The ‘Instructions’

On the sheet originally stitched with the pattent were the following Instructions :

Imprimis.          All passing Fees are Your own Property as Warder of the Tower of R.F.S.M.N.T. therefore You may Demand the same from all T.R.S.T.A.’s of Chapters under Your Jurisdiction, (Except you think proper to grant them to the use of any Chapter, by Your Instructions in Writing Annexed to the T.R.S.T.A.’s Pattent) and they must be Accountable to You for the same at least Once a Quarter.

2°      No T.R.S.T.A. under Your Jurisdiction is Authorized, or Impower’d to Advance to the Knighthood of the R.Y.C.S. at their own Chapter or other places, but where Your Self or Your Deputy is present, Except by Authority first Obtain’d from You or Your Deputy in Your Absence, According as is set forth in the Laws Established by the Grand Lodge in London.

3°      Whenever your Constitute a Chapter You must do it by Pattent, and Deliver therewith to the T.R.S.T.A. a Book of the Records, of the Laws, and Rules, and the Alphabetical List of Brethren’s Names, &c., with the Classical, and Extra,‘ Characteristicks ; List of Exclusions, and List of Regular Chapters ; the same as in the Book herewith to You deliver’d, But you must Observe the Proper Officers of a Chapter are as Follows, and no more (To wit) The T.R.S.T.A., Deputy T.R.S.T.A., two Guardians and a Secretary being Five in the whole, and Each Chapter is to Keep a Regular Entry in such book, of the Names, Places of Abode, Professions, Character and N° of Class or Extra^e of each Advanct Brother,together with the Degrees of Advancement of Each Brother which they are to produce at the Grand Lodge for Your Inspection, Four times in each Year if Summon’d so to do, under the Penalties and Restrictions by Grand Laws Established.

4°      Your are to keep a Regular Entry in Your Own Book (from time to time) from the Books of the Chapters under Your Jurisdiction, of the Names, places of Abode, professions, Degrees of Advancement, &c: of Every Brother of the Order throughout the Seven United Provinces, and You are also to keep a Book in w^ch You must enter Duplicates of the Characteristicks belonging to Each Chapter, and the Names of such Brethren as are Fixed to any of them.

5°      Your Chapters should once a Quarter, or at Least once in a Year, pay in at Your Quarterly Grand Lodge, an Acknowledgment, to be Lodged in Your Hand or stock, in Your Grand Treasurer’s hands, for Charitable uses.

6°      Your Grand Lodge also, must (as You would Avoid Censure) make a proper Acknowledgment once a Year at Least, to the Grand Lodge from whence You hold Your Constitution, on some one of the Quarterly Grand Lodge Nights, which Remember are allways on the Fifth Sunday in such Months as have so many.

7°      You are not to Admit into Your Grand Lodge or into any of Your Chapters, any such person who you shall find on the List of Exclusions, without first having receiv’d Notice from me, or my Deputy, that he or they have work’d their Restoration, and Given a proper security for his or their future Good Behaviour, and this You are to Signifie to Your Chapters that they may Conform to the Same.

8°      You are Required (when ever You send Your Acknowledgments to the Grand Lodge in London) to send a List of the Names, places, of Abode, professions, Characteristicks, and Degrees of Advancement of all such persons as Belong to the Society under Your Jurisdictⁿ, and as are from time to Time Advanced at Your Grand Lodge or the Chapters under Your Care, and also a list of all Chapters under Your Constitution Expressing the place and Time of Forming, the time of Constitution, and the T.R.S.T.A.’s Name ; also an Account of all such persons (if any) who may happen to be Excluded Vertue of Your Authority ; with the Crimes they Committed to Occasion such their Exclusion.

9°      You are Not to Enter any Minute or other Laws or Rules in the Book herewith Deliver’d but such as You shall from time to time Receive from the Grand Lodge in London ; and You are to be Conformable in Every point to the Laws and Rules in the Book herew^h Deliver’d and to all such as You may from time to time have sent to be with the others Inserted therein.

10°    Whenever You sign any Patent or other A‘hority, You must write your Christian Name befor the Letters of Your Character^k on Account of Holding Your Authority from me, and my Characteristick, being the same as Yours.

By Command of the Prov^l Grand Master in London.

N.B.L.T.Y.

Grand Secret.

f).   The sealed ‘diploma’

Mitchell received a further document which is transcribed in a slightly different way by three Scottish writers who name it a Diploma or “Deploma”. This is Lindsay’s version : [40]

TO our Trusty, Wellbeloved, and Right Worshipful and Highly Honour’d Brother Sir William R.L.F. Kn^t of the Order of the R.Y.C.S.: Provincial Grand Master of the Seven United Provinces, &c.

KNOW YE that out of the Great Esteem and Brotherly Love I bear to You and being well Assured of Your Fidelity, I do hereby Impower You (with proper Assistance) to Advance to the Order of the R.Y.C.S. at Your Grand Lodge at the Hague or at any other Chapter to which You may Grant Constitution in any part of the Seven United Provinces, AND BE IT FURTHER KNOWN UNTO YOU, that if You are found Guilty of Acting Contrary to my will and Pleasure, making Breach of any of Your Constitutional Laws, Rules, Orders or Regulations, Appointed for Your Observance by Authority of the Grand Lodge where I preside and govern, You will be Render’d for the Future Incapable of Holding any Grand Office or Authority in the H.R.D.M. and also be Liable to be Exclude the Society for Contempt and Disobedience.

Given at London, under my hand and Privy Seal             N.A.S.I.

this 22^d day of July 1750, A.D. 1750 A.M.H. 5753       R.L.F. (L.S.)

and in the Ninth Year of my Authority.                           President.

Enter’d in the Grand Register

By Command of the Pro^l. Grand Master

this 22^d day of July 1750 : 5753.

N.B.L.T.Y.

Gr^d Sec^y

Lindsay remarks : “The seal is the same as that on the Patent, but above it is written ‘N.A.S.I.’ and below it ‘President’.”

g). The ‘Records of the H.R.D.M.’

Lastly, Mitchell was given “a thin parchment-bound ledger [41] entitled in ink on the outside of its front cover Records of the H.R.D.M.”.[42] Besides copies of the petition, of the docket and of the patent stitched with the Instructions (numbered i-iii in the Records), it included ten further documents only mentioned by name by Lindsay with the exception of Documents iv, v, x, xi, xii which are summarized or commented upon but not quoted. Lindsay merely reproduces the (vi) “List of Regular Chapters according to Seniority.” [43]

iv.     The Manner of Constituting a New Chapter [Both Grand Wardens sit in the West, the SGW nearest to the North Column, the JGW nearest to the South Column].

v.       A List of such as are Excluded the Society [two names quoted]

vi.     List of Regular Chapters according to Seniority [reproduced next page]

vii.    Copy of a Citation to a Brother charged with Crimes.

viii.  The Order to be observed at the solemnizing the Funeral of a Deceas'd and of Returning from the Grave.

ix.     The Proper Titles belonging to a Pro^l. Grand Master, a Deputy Pro^l Gr^d M^r and to a Senior Gr^d Warden.

x.       Records of the Christian & Surnames of the Brethren of the H.R.D.M. Belonging to The Hague & Alphabetically Digested, together with their Places of abode, Degrees of Advancement and house list to which each Brother's Characteristicks belongs also The Nine Classical and Additional or Extra Characteristicks of the Grand Chapter (called the Grand Lodge) and all the Petty Chapters of the Order in the Seven United Provinces and with a List of the Grand Officers. &c.

xi.     Laws, Rules and Orders establish'd at Grand Lodge for Regulating & Governing the same. Also to be observed and Obeyed by all T.R.S.T.A.s and Officers of Chapters and the Brethren belonging thereto or Attendant thereon.

xii.    “On a blank page numbered 109 some one has written in red ink ‘The names of Brethren who are members of the Royal Chapter at Edinburgh’”.

xiii.  List of the Classical and Extra Characteristics of the Order.

Lindsay added to the remark he appended to document xii :

The most interesting thing in the List is a note in the margin opposite Mitchell’s name as the date of joining the Order, viz., “In France & England the years 1749 and 1750.” This suggests that even after he had taken the two degrees of the Order in London,[44] Mitchell still believed that his French Rose Croix amounted to the same thing, and therefore, that he was only re-introducing the Rose Croix Degree into Scotland [which] was unknown in Scotland until about the first decade of the 19^th Century.

3. William Mitchell in The Hague

Murray Lyon thought that Mitchell had not returned to The Hague from London :

From a report [50] which in 1843 was prepared at the instance of the Grand Lodge [of the Order], we find [...] that it is reported as ‘doubtful’ if he [William Mitchell] ever returned to Holland after obtaining his patent in 1750. That he did not do so, and that he settled in Scotland, is also evident from the fact that he continued to act as Grand Master until July 1767.[51]

Which however Lindsay showed to be wrong :

Thanks to the information [...] kindly supplied by Bro. Cruiset van Uchelen, Librarian and Museum Curator to the Grand Orient of the Netherlands [...] it is now certain that Mitchell returned to The Hague. His name appears in the Minutes of the first meeting of a new Lodge of Adoption at The Hague, called La Loge de Juste.[52]

In July 1994, the present writer asked Bro. Evert Kwaadgras, Archivist, Librarian and Curator to the Grand East of the Netherlands, if he could ascertain which information his predecessor had provided Lindsay with. He replied :

Bro. Croiset van Uchelen told me that his information to Lindsay was no other than what the author states himself, viz. that Mitchell was at The Hague in 1751, since his name appears on documents pertaining to the lodge of adoption de Juste. Lindsay mentions minutes, in fact a year account of the lodge, reporting reception of seven florins, one florin each (not seven each, but seven total; Lindsay is mistaken here) from the founding members, sept freres, qui ont donné principe a la loge it says. This happened on 28 January, 1751. The Livre de constitutions, which is extant in our archives (Portefeuille Adoptieloges, D2, No. 1, 160B) opens with an act by which the members of the lodge of adoption recognise Joost Gerrit baron van Wassenaer (1716-1753, Grand Master of the 'regular' masons 1749-52; Lindsay misspells his name rather badly) as their Grand Master, 1 May, 1751. Under this act we find Mitchell's signature; the signatures of the Soeurs under the same leave us in no doubt that this was an adoption lodge, and the rest of the records confirm this very fully. I include a xerox of the act discussed. [53]

When I looked at the copy which Bro. Kwaadgras was kind enough to send me and which is reproduced above , I doubted that Mitchell’s signature was affixed to its end, since the last four names on the left as well as the seven ones on the right appear to have been written by the same hand.

4. Two further newspaper’s announcements

On 1 August 1750, which is ten days after Mitchell’s appointment, the following announcement appeared in a London newspaper :

R.L.F.                                                                                                    P.G.M. in S.B.

The Brethren of the H.R.D.M. are desired to take notice, that the Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter of the Order are removed from the White Swan in Great Portland-Street, near Oxford-Market, to Brother Fields, the Thistle and Crown in Chandos-Street, near St. Martin's Lane. Note, The Grand Chapter meets on the first, and the Grand Lodge on the fifth Sunday in each Month, at Six in the Evening. By Command of the P.G.M., N.B.L.T.Y. Grand Secretary.

It was mentioned before that both the Old Lodge at the Apple-Tree and the Brethren of the Heredom met at The Swan since 1742-1743. Grand Lodge Minutes show the Lodge still meeting there in May 1749, but having moved to the Fish and Bell in Charles Street by June 1750. Could it be more than a coincidence that after going to The Swan at about the same time, both the Lodge and the Heredom bodies left the same meeting-place within a matter of weeks ?

The following newspaper announcement appeared on 17 November 1753 : [54]

On Wednesday next, being the third Wednesday of the Month, will be held the Grand Chapter of the Order H.R.D.M. at the Crown and Ball, in Playhouse-Yard, Black-Fryars,[55] where the Brethren of that Order are desired to attend. Yours, W.S.                                                                                 G^d T.R.S.T.A.

It was the last-known manifestation of the Order in London. We don’t know why.[56]

2.

The Order in Scotland after 1753

The beginnings (1753-1794) of the Scottish period of the Order’s history nearly coincide with the presence of William Mitchell in Edinburgh where he died, aged sixty-five, on 17 May 1792. Between 1753 and 1765 he visited several times Lodge Canongate Kilwinning from Leith [57] in the Minutes of which he is described on 12 September 1753 as “The Most Worshipful Br. Mitchell Grand Master of the Seven United provinces and provincial Grand Master from London Kilwinning over all Europe Brittain excepted in his proper Cloathing and Jewells”.[58]

Four brethren entered into the Order in Scotland between 1754 and 1762, a further ten in 1763 and about fifty more until 31 October 1766. From that date, (as yet unpublished) Minutes of a Chapter of the Order at Edinburgh are extant. Laws of the Royal Heredom were adopted 5 January 1767 and seventeen Office-bearers were elected on the following 4th of July.[59] Scottish historians do not quite agree on the part played by Mitchell in Edinburgh :

From a report [...], we find that Mr. Mitchell sat at various meetings of the Chapter there between 1766 and 1777, both years inclusive [...] The minutes of the Order between 1754 and 1766 not having been preserved, if they ever existed, it does not appear whether Mr. Mitchell attended any earlier meetings; but there is every probability that he did so, and admitted the earlier Brethren. His name does not appear in the Edinburgh Directory. (Murray Lyon) [60]

From 31st October 1766 to 4th July 1767, none of the Minutes [of the Order’s Chapter] are signed and William Mitchell is not recorded amongst those present at the Meetings. Yet there is no doubt that he was the executive head of the Order in Scotland and of its Edinburgh Chapter until 4th July 1767, when, on its elevation of itself into the Grand Lodge of the Order, he retired from all office but continued to attend occasional meetings up to 23^rd February 1787. (Lindsay) [61]

There are no records of William Mitchell ever having presided at any meeting of the Edinburgh Chapter and it is consequently impossible to say whether or not he ever held the position of Deputy Grand Master of the Order. It is unlikely — for, when he did attend, his presence is recorded as an ordinary member of the Order. (Draffen) [62]

After 4 July 1794, the Order did not meet until 10 May 1802. It experienced then a state of semi-dormancy – a few meetings are recorded between 1802 and 1805, three in 1813, a single one on 6 November 1819 – followed with another full lapse until 1839.

Since 1753, the Order had not created one single body in Scotland but it disseminated abroad. On 6 September 1785, Jean Matheus [63] petitioned the Order requesting a Patent or Charter to erect the Rose Croix Chapter grafted on his Lodge at Rouen into a Chapter of H.R.D.M. A Council held in Edinburgh on 1 May 1786 [64] granted his request and approved of a Charter allowing Matheus “to act as Provincial Grand Master of the Order in France”. The ritual of the Order was sent to Matheus who translated it in French in 1788.[65] Several manuscript copies of Matheus’ translation are extant in French libraries and in the Edinburgh archives.

Until 1811, twenty-seven Chapters of the Order were founded through Matheus in Paris, in Savoy (Chambéry), on the territory of the French Empire (Tournai, Courtrai, Livorno) and in the French colonies (La Martinique and St Domingo).[66] The eldest Chapter of the Order in Paris, the Chapitre de Heredom de Kilwinning du Choix, was warranted 4 October 1786. Claude-Antoine Thory was its Thirsata since 6 November 1807.[67] A Scottish Freemason, Dr Charles Morison of Greenfield, became a member in 1822 and a Thirsata as well.[68]

3.

The Order since 1839 and its ritual

The Order ‘resuscitated’ in Edinburgh on 11 November 1839 after a lapse of twenty years. Five members were summoned, three did not show.[69] The meeting was attended by Houston Rigg Brown (1776-1857) admitted into the Order on 10 May 1802 and promoted four days later, and Hamilton Pyper admitted 27 June 1813 and promoted on the following 16 July. Brown had been out of Edinburgh for a long period and lived in Langley (Buckinghamshire).[70] During the meeting, Brown handed over various papers and documents connected with the Order, but “the documents did not include a Ritual”.[71] In December 1841, Dr George Arnott wrote in a letter : “they were so deplorably ignorant that when they admitted me [last month] they were obliged to dispense with all ceremonies except the obligation”.

Shortly afterwards, a ritual was composed “apparently from the memory of Houston Rigg Brown alone”, which is known as the ‘1843 ritual’ or ‘Revised Version’. [72] Lindsay notes that “the official reprints of the Ritual down to the present time have been versions of the 1843 Ritual”.[73] When Morison died in Paris, 4 May 1849,[74] his widow bequeathed his library to the (Craft) Grand Lodge of Scotland.[75] Among many highly valuable manuscripts, it included the ritual used by the Chapter du Choix in Paris as translated by Matheus. When it was compared with the ‘Revised Version’ of 1843, it was “wrongly asserted that where the French Ritual varied from the 1843 Ritual, the French Ritual was inaccurate”,[76] which should be kept in mind when reading the opinion of Norman Hackney :

I hope to produce evidence that this [the present Official Ritual, as issued from Edinburgh by Grand Lodge in 1950] is the same as the Original used in London in 1741, and, perhaps a little earlier [...] All of this means that we may accept it as being reasonably certain that the Ritual of today is the same as that supplied to William Mitchell in 1750; and there are strong grounds for believing that this (1750) is the same as the Original Ritual of the “Royal Order of Heredom of Kilwinning”.[77]

Note

The present paper is especially meant for Scottish Rite Brethren who may be unaware of the importance of the Order as one of the earliest system of additional degrees.

It is also of a preliminary character for a later one in which I intend to discuss the possibility that some letters which were written in English and received by von Hund in Germany toward the end of 1753, might have been sent by members of the Order. I shall also quote from little-known manuscript documents pertaining to the Order’s existence in the West Indies and in the United States toward the turn of the 19^th Century, which show that the Order may have had some influence upon the early years of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. And if I feel brave enough, I may go as far as to tackle the old problem of the Order’s ritual and of the Harodim.

APPENDIX I.

The Order’s seals

1. The seals affixed upon the 1750 documents

·        The Instructions did not bear the same seal as the Patent and the ‘Diploma’ quoted above.[78] Both Hughan and Lindsay described the seal affixed upon the latter documents :

The seal on the diploma, or personal patent, as Prov. G. M., has been destroyed, but on the charter granted to the Prov. Grand Lodge and Chapter, the seal remains, which, however, is such a simple affair as not to call for reproduction. The design includes a bridge of five arches, enlarging towards the centre one and above, — the letter Z is prominently depicted. The first figure is suggestive of the bridge, with the letters “L.O.P.,” familiar to members of the 16° of the “Ancient and Accepted Rite,” and is certainly peculiarly appropriate for the attesting of Royal Order documents. The presiding officer signed by his characteristic “R.L.F.,” the words “Prov^l Gra^d Mas^r” being above, and those of “In So. B.” below the seal. A fac-simile of this seal may be found in Brother Lyon’s history of the “Lodge of Edinburgh” (p. 309), and is rather perplexing in character. (Hughan) [79]

The seal on the Diploma [when Hughan saw the document, its seal was destroyed] is the same as that on the Patent but above it is written ‘N.A.S.I.’ and below it ‘President’. The letters represent the Hebrew word for Prince, which was the title of the President of the Great Sanhedrim of the Jews. [80] [...] This [Seal] consisted of a hump-backed bridge of five circular arches over a stream of water. Between the parapet of the bridge over the central arch and the top edge of the zeal was the letter Z. (Lindsay) [81]

·        The starting-point of the mysterious story about the seal attached to the Instructions is described in a short Lindsay paper, ‘William Mitchell, Provincial Grand Master at The Hague, 1750’, included in the Report and Historical Survey issued by the Royal Order in 1960 :

In 1950 Bro. G.S. Draffen, M.B.E. (the present Senior Grand Warden of The Grand Lodge of the Order) noticed that one of Mitchell’s London documents of 1750 (a copy) was sealed with armorial bearings, which were assumed to be those of Sir Robert Relief, granter of the Charter, and which, if traced, might identify this Provincial Grand Master of The Order for South Britain, who held that office since 1741. As Sir Robert Relief was probably English, enquiries were made of The College of Heralds in London. In 1951 Portcullis [82] declared, most unexpectedly, that the armorial bearings were those of the Scottish family of Livingston of Parkhall, just over the border of Stirlingshire from Linlithgow. From this it appeared possible that William Mitchell might have supplied his ring to reproduce on the copy document a seal which had been appended to the original. If so, what was the connection between Mitchell and the family of Livingston of Parkhall, which has a genealogy going back to 1381 ? [83]

Lindsay then described the genealogy of the Livingston family – which, as far as Mitchells are concerned, begins when Alexander Mitchell married Alison Livingston of Parkhall in 1713 and became a son christened William born about 1716 who died unmarried in 1774 – and ended by suggesting that the William Mitchell who came to London in 1750 “was probably the son of William (Livingston) Mitchell, born ‘on the wrong side of the blanket’”.

When Lindsay’s book edited by Milborne was issued in 1972, all the information it included about that seal was :

To what intent is not clear; but attached to the bottom left hand corner of the Instructions is a short length of pink silk ribbon bearing a red wax seal. At the request of Bro. G. S. Draffen, the seal was examined by Portcullis of the College of Heralds in England, and he identified its armorial bearings as being those of Livingstone of Parkhall.[84]

In a footnote Milborne, as Editor, added an ominous remark :

The author refers to the wholly suppositious connection of William Mitchell with the Livingstone family, which he more particularly set out in the Royal Order’s Report and Historical Survey for 1960. [...] Recent investigation shows clearly that William Mitchell, Teacher of French, died [...] on 17^th May 1792 aged 65 years. [...] He was, therefore born in 1727 which effectively disposes of the suggestion that his father was William (Livingstone) Mitchell. [...] No explanation has been found for the possession or use of the seal. The author’s speculations have therefore been deleted.

Draffen went over the seal question again in his book issued in 1977, one year after Milborne’s death :

In the original Manuscript of Lindsay’s Royal Order of Scotland the author dealt at some length with William’s Mitchell supposed connection with the family of Livingstone of Callendar.[85] [...] Lindsay’s theory was  based upon the fact that the red wax seal [...] attached to the “Instructions” of 1752 [sic !] carries the impression of the Livingstone family. How that seal came to be used is still unexplained [...]. [86]

I fail to understand the reasoning of all three historians concerned. Why should the seal affixed on the copy of the Instructions have been in possession of the William Mitchell who came to London in 1750 (which seems to have been Lindsay’s second idea) ? Why should it be relevant to stress that there was no family tie between that Mitchell and the owner of the seal, as Draffen did in 1977 ? Since the Instructions document – whether a copy or not – is sealed with the arms of the Livingston of Parkhall, wouldn’t it be simpler to keep by the idea that the Provincial Grand Master of the Order in London in 1750 belonged to that family and try to identify him ?

2. The 1777 seal

The previous seal got lost, as showed by the Minutes of a Chapter Meeting held on 31 January 1777 :

the Chapter Authorized the Grand Clerk to cause make a new seal for the Order the old one being lost & to get a Sketch of one made out to be shown to the following Committee for their approbation [...].

Which brings Lindsay to makes the following comment : “The Minutes do not refer again to this new Seal but it may be reasonable to suppose that the design of it resembled as closely as possible that of the old Seal which had been lost”.[87]

c) The 1807 seal

Lindsay then describes the seal which stays in “the book containing the Ritual and other documents of the Chapter du Choix at Paris compiled in 1807 for its T.R.S.T.A. Claude Antoine Thory.” :[88]

It shows an equilateral triangle surrounded by an outer circular margin containing the words “x VIRTUTE ET SILENTIA x SIGIL.” Within the outer margin, along the outer sides of the equilateral triangle, reading from left to right and with the third upside down, are the words “ZEAL SECURES REWARD” with a thistle flower between the two leaves pointing outwards above the center of each of these three words. Occupying the whole of the equilateral triangle is a narrow battlemented tower of three storeys, having on its top a pillar ending on a globe on which rests an open book. The tower rests on a wider base of Mason work forming a lower apartment with a door in the centre. On the left, sun sideways on, a flight of steps leads up to the left hand base of the tower. On the right, in the background, and at right angles to the apartment on which the tower proper rests, is a bridge across a stream. The bridge ends after two rounded arches, above the second of which is a raised draw-bridge.

d) The 1797 seal

I doubt however that the seal of 1807 was identical with the new seal made in 1777 : in The American Addenda to Gould’s History of Freemasonry, Charles T. McClenachan quotes the following from an old manuscript in the Carson Collection and had the good idea to reproduce that seal he found in it (reproduced below) :

3 December 1797, at New York City, was founded a Sovereign Chapter of Rose Croix of Harodim of Kilwinning in Scotland, under the distinctive title of ‘La Triple Union,’ by Illustrious Bro. Huet La Chelle (Wisdom), Grand Provincial Master, from the Petit Goave St. Domingo, under the old Scottish Rite of Heredom of Kilwinning, and the auspices of the Provincial Grand Royal Scottish Lodge of Kilwinning of Edinburgh (the Royal order of Robert Bruce of Scotland), sitting at Rouen in Normandy, established there by Edinburgh, on the first day of May, 1786. [...]

This organization had no connection whatever with the Sublime Masonry of the Rite of Perfection of twenty-five degrees, or with the Ancient and Accepted Rite. [...] Its ritualistic ceremonies were entirely different from those of the Rose Croix, eighteenth degree [...] It had a a particular seal as follows: A square castle with battlements, flanked by four turrets, surrounded with a moat. The draw-bridge down, the portcullis raised. To the right a sun. Exergue: Virtute et Silentio.[89]

APPENDIX II.

Craft lodges founded in Edinburgh until 1751

1. 1598 (before). Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary’s Chapel). Present N° 1.

2. 1677. Canongate Kilwinning. Planted in Edinburgh by the Lodge of Kilwinning. Present N° 2.

1.1. 1688. Canongate and Leith, Leith and Canongate. Founded by members who separated from the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary’s Chapel). Present N° 5.

1.2. 1709. Journeymen Masons. Founded by members who separated from the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary’s Chapel). Present N° 8.

3. 1729, 14 February. Kilwinning Scots Arms. Earliest speculative Lodge in Edinburgh (expulsed 1771).

4. 1734, 4 December. Holyrood House. May 1761 took the name St. Luke’s. Present N° 44.

2.1. 1736. Kilwinning Leith. Founded by members who separated from Canongate Kilwinning (extinct by 1770).

2.1.1. 1738, March. Canongate Kilwinning from Leith. An offshoot from Kilwinning Leith. 1764 took the name St. David. Present N° 36.

1.1.1. 1741, 15 May. [Admiral] Vernon Kilwinning. Founded by members from Canongate and Leith, Leith and Canongate. Took the name St Giles (dissolved in 1779).

5. 1745, 2 April. Scots Lodge in the Canongate. ~1760, took the name St. Andrew’s. Present N° 48.

1.1.2. 1751, August. Thistle Lodge. Founded by members from Canongate and Leith, Leith and Canongate (extinct 1823).

APPENDIX III

1. The Petition

2. The Diploma