The Grand Lodge of Scotland, the governing body of Scottish
Freemasonry, was formed in 1736, though there were masonic organisations in
Scotland before that time. Freemasonry
comes in a number of different forms, including Craft Masonry, Royal Arch
Masonry and Templar Masonry. All three
varieties existed in Aboyne during the 19th Century.
George, 5th Earl of Aboyne ( and from 1836 9th
Marquis of Huntly) was elected Grand
Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1802.
At least from 1808 there was a Masonic Lodge in Aboyne and Lord Aboyne
was the Master. He was still fulfilling
that role in 1820. The Royal Arch Lodge
existed from a similar date. This
variety of Masonry is considered to be complementary to Craft Masonry in that
it deals with man’s spiritual nature, as distinct from the more practical
matters. In 1818 there was a merger
between two Templar Encampments, the St George and the Aboyne to form the St
George Aboyne Encampment. However, this
Templar Encampment seems to have been an Aberdeen-based organisation, in spite
of its name. In 1919 over 100 Masons
assembled at Aboyne to celebrate a Masonic Centenary but precisely what
centenary is unclear.
In 1824 a Masonic Hall was built in Aboyne. It is likely that it was owned by the Aboyne
Gordons as part of their Aboyne estate. A notice was placed in the Aberdeen Journal on
May 1826, offering the “spacious and elegant hall belonging to the Aboyne Lodge
of Masons” for let for a year from June.
However, in December of 1826 the Lodge held its AGM in “their Hall”,
with a Ball in the evening, so perhaps no let was obtained. In 1827, another notice offered a “large
commodious house in the Village of Charleston belonging to the Charleston of
Aboyne Lodge of Freemasons will be let for 1 year from Whitsun first and will
be let for 1 year from Whitsun next.” In
1828 it was again offered for let “Mason Hall with 8 rooms a small garden and
pump well. Well worth the attention of a
innkeeper or merchant.”
The Aboyne Lodge of Freemasons appears to have run a
friendly society for its members from at least 1828, because they agreed a
resolution in that year to dissolve the society and to distribute the assets
amongst the members. The dissolution
appears not to have occurred because in 1844 dissolution was again moved but
was defeated. Again the matter was
considered in 1845, when it appears that the scale of benefits was
reduced. The option of dissolution was
further discussed in 1846, 1847, 1867, 1868 and 1873, when the Society was
finally discontinued on and from 1 November.
For some years expenditure had been higher than income, though at the
time of dissolution there was a sum of £560 available for distribution to
members.
For much of the 19th century, the Freemason lodge
at Aboyne was dominated by the Aboyne Gordons.
George Gordon, 5th Earl of Aboyne and, from 1836, 9th
Marquis of Huntly, was involved in a senior role, probably from its inception
about 1816 until his death in 1853. His
position was initially “Master” but was referred to as “Patron” from 1837, when
his son, Charles (then Earl of Aboyne but after 1853 10th Marquis of
Huntly) was elected to the position of RWG Master. In 1844 two other aristocrats became
involved, Hon CC Cavendish and Lord JFG Hallyburton, both took on the title of
Honorary Master. About 1854 Charles
Gordon, 10th Marquis of Huntly, was also elected as Provincial Grand
Master Mason for the West of Aberdeenshire.
He held the titles of President and RW Master of the Aboyne Lodge in
1856. After 1863 when the 10th
Marquis of Huntly died, Lord JF Hallyburton assumed the role of RW Master and
President. Lord Douglas Gordon, MP, a younger brother of Charles Gordon, 11th
Marquis of Huntly,MP appeared on the scene in 1877 and took up the role of PM
and in 1879 he assumed the role of RWM.
In 1883 he became PWM and in 1886 RWPM, but in 1888 he died at the age
of 36. Charles Gordon, the 11th
Marquis of Huntly, assumed the marquisate in 1863 at the age of 16 but he
appears never to have had any interest in, or involvement with the
Freemasons. After the passing of Lord
Douglas Gordon, the Aboyne Lodge appears to have been led by non-aristocrats,
starting with Duncan Calder in 1888, followed by Adam Burgess in 1890.
The Farquharsons of Invercauld were similarly associated
with the St Nathalan Lodge in Ballater.
In 1893 “the young laird” of Invercauld was initiated into “the
mysteries of the Masonic craft”. His
father had been RWM of the St Nathalan Lodge for many years.
For much of the 19th Century the Aboyne Lodge of
Freemasons, No 281, coexisted with the Royal Arch Chapter, No 57. There seemed to be large overlap of
membership between the two masonic lodges.
In 1853 Lord Hallyburton was the most senior member of the Royal Arch
chapter and carried the title “Most E, Principal Z”. The 10th Marquis of Huntly was an
adherent of both Craft Masonry and Royal Arch Masonry. For more than 20 years he was Provincial
Grand Master of Aberdeenshire (West) and for a similar period he was Provincial
Grand Superintendant of Royal Arch Masonry for the whole of Aberdeenshire. Other office-bearers were also members of both
codes.
The Craft Masonry Lodge at Aboyne held its AGM on, or close
to, St John’s Day, 27th December, preceded about a week earlier by
an initiation meeting for new members.
In the times of the 9th and 10th Marquises of
Huntly, the AGM was associated not just with the formal business of the Lodge,
such as examining the books and electing officials for the coming year, but
also with pomp and ceremony, drinking and eating and, accompanied by partners,
dancing the night away. The report in the Aberdeen Journal of January 1838
illustrates these features very well but also the sycophancy that tenants felt
obliged to exhibit towards the laird.
After the election of officers and the examination of the books, “The
Lodge then walked in full procession to the Castle of Aboyne and were received
by their Noble Patron, the Marquis, in a manner which will be long remembered;
no sooner was he appraised of their arrival, than a copious supply of real
“Lochaber” was served round, and quaffed to the health of the noble Cock of the
North. With his usual condescension, the
Marquis accompanied the bretheren to their hall, when another bumper was
dedicated to his health, with three times three and all the honours of
masonry. His Lordship returned thanks;
and in the evening the ball commenced, and was kept up with great glee – the
Marquis, as usual, leading the dance.”
On 27th December, 1855, shortly after the accession of the 10th
Marquis of Huntly, when the formal business was over, “The bretheren then, assuming their jewels and robes walked in
procession through the village and by the new approach to Aboyne Castle…..A
considerable party partook of an excellent dinner at the Huntly Arms, prepared
in Mrs Cook’s usual superior style….The Festival of St John has not been kept
with such spirit in this quarter for many a year, and never was more heartily
enjoyed.”
In the mid-19th
Century the Freemasons were often involved in ceremonies which did not have an
obvious or an exclusive masonic context.
In 1856 a ceremony was held to mark the laying of the foundation stone
of one of the principal bridges of the new turnpike from Aboyne to Braemar. Freemasons from both the Aboyne and Ballater
lodges attended, fully attired and partook in the pomp and ceremony. The stone bore the following inscription “The
foundation-stone of this Bridge was laid by James Ross Farquharson, Esq, of
Monaltrie, Captain in the Scotch Fusilier Guards, on 28th of November,
in the year of Masonry 5860, and of God 1856 and in the nineteenth year of the
reign of Victoria, Queen of Great Britain.
James Barron, Builder.”
Charles Gordon, 10th Marquis of Huntly, died in
1863 and a few years later plans were laid by his tenants and neighbours to
honour his memory by erecting a permanent monument. The “Bretheren of the Mystic Tie”, who took
the initiative in this venture because of Charles Gordon’s masonic role, agreed
with the Dowager Marchioness, Maria Antoinetta, to site the memorial on the top of the Hill of
Mortlich, about 2 miles north of Aboyne.
The monument took the form of a plain granite obelisk standing on a
pedestal. The overall height of the
structure was 60’ and it was designed by Mr GH Smith of London. On top of the obelisk stood an iron cross,
similar in shape to the Dagmar Cross of Denmark. Robert Dinnie, a local builder undertook
construction and the stone required was quarried close to the site. Eleven masonic lodges were represented at the
ceremony and on the day of the ceremony they processed, in full regalia, from
the Masonic Hall in Aboyne and up the hill, accompanied by the band of the 15th
Highland Depot Battalion and three pipers.
The climb proved to be rather taxing for some of the older Masons,
encumbered as they were with sashes, batons, aprons, pinafores and silver
insignia. At the monument site the party
formed a circle and their Chaplain, Rev Andrew Gray, gave a long prayer before
the foundation stone was lowered into place and ritually touched by the
plumb-line, level and square. It was
then anointed with a mixture of corn wine and oil from the cornucopia by the
Provincial Grand Master while pronouncing a benediction. After hearing a eulogy to the late 10th
Marquis the party returned to Aboyne and in the afternoon met again at the
Huntly Arms for dinner and, as was usual on such occasions, many toasts. Rev Andrew Gray gave a toast to “The Marquis
of Huntly” (ie the 11th Marquis, then a callow 20-year-old), clearly
expressing the hope that he would follow in the tradition of his forebears by
becoming a masonic leader. “He is a
young man who gives very good promise indeed to walk worthily in the footsteps
of his father; and if he does so, you will give testimony by what you have done
this day, that he will be following a good example. An excellent example has been set him by both
parents, and as he is already well-known and appreciated in this locality, I
hope his character will be only more appreciated when he assumes the full
management of his property.” Sadly for
Aboyne Masonry, the 11th Marquis appears to have shown no interest
in the Craft.
After the death of the 10th Marquis of Huntly,
Lord Hallyburton took the reins at Lodge 281.
His style seemed to follow that of the late Marquis with the traditional
merry-making as part of the celebrations of St John’s Day. However, in 1879, another Gordon, Lord
Douglas, a younger brother of the 11th Marquis was elected RWM and
an immediate change was apparent. After
the business meeting the bretheren assembled in the Masionic Hall with their
wives and sweethearts “and an excellent cup of tea partaken of”! This was not the usual way that the Aboyne
Freemasons enjoyed themselves but they had to endure the sober regime of “the
cup that cheers but not inebriates” until 1888 when Lord Douglas Gordon slipped
his mortal coil. Reporting on the 1890 AGM of the Aboyne Masonic Lodge, the
Aberdeen Journal noted that “The Bretheren supped in the Huntly Arms after the
business.” This return to a more
convivial regime also marked the start of a period when the Aboyne Lodge was
led and dominated by a comfortable, perhaps self-serving, coterie of the
village middle classes.
Don Fox
20150108donaldpfox@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment