Page 19 - Montana Freemason Magazine November 2013
P. 19
Montana Freemason November 2013 Volume 89 Number 5
(5) Neglect of the Catechisms attached to each Degree. and measson”. Dr. Anderson was educated at the
University of Aberdeen, went to London and in 1710
AMtahsoolnl sMwashoicnhs - This is a popular term for the Ancient became Minister of the Scottish Presbyterian Church
originated from the fact that dukes in Swallow Street, Westminster. He was a member
of Atholl were Grand Masters from 1771 to 1781 and of the original No. 4 Lodge that met at the Rummer
from 1791 to 1813 when the Ancients became united and Grapes Tavern., and is now No. 4 on the United
with the Moderns. register, the Royal Somerset House and Inverness
Lodge. In his first “Constitutions” he introduced
The third Duke of Atholl became Grand Master terms derived from Scottish operative masonry, such
in 1771 and his nephew, John Murray, succeeded him as “Entered Apprentice” and “FellowCraft”.
both in temporal title and Masonic rank after his
death in 1774. The fourth Duke created something LFraeuermenacsoenDewrhmoottwa(s172s0tr-o9n1)glyA remarkable Irish
of a record in Masonic advancement in 1775, when opposed to the
he was initiated, passed and raised, installed Master “Moderns”. He wrote a Book of Constitution for the
of the Grand Lodge (No. 1 today) and elected Grand “Ancients” with the peculiar title of “Ahiman Rezon”,
Master - all in four days. Twenty-four days later he which could be very roughly translated from the
was installed as Grand Master and he remained in Hebrew to mean “A help to a Brother”. Dermott was
that office till 1781. Ten years later he was re-elected. installed Master of a Dublin Lodge (No. 26) in 1746
Lodges under the Ancient Constitution also became and then went to England, where he worked as a
known as “Atholl Lodges”. commercial painter. He later became Grand Secretary
of the “Ancients” and one record describes him as
“the most remarkable Mason that ever existed”. He
uUpnoinoninof DGercaenmdbLeord1g8e1s3-bAentwaecetnoftuhneioGnrawnads agreed was a man of considerable education, and progressed
Lodge from painting to prosperity as a wine merchant.
of England (called “The Moderns” est. 1717) and the But meanwhile he “improved” upon his Book of
Grand Lodge according to the Ancient Institutions Constitutions and put forward four editions during
(known as the “Ancients” est. 1751). After separate his lifetime. Apart from being Grand Secretary, he was
existences lasting sixty years they were finally united Deputy Grand Master of the “Ancients” for several
under the Duke of Sussex the first Grand Master of years.
the United Grand Lodge of England.
cAohnismtitauntiRoneszo(tnhe-reAwpeerecuselivaerratilt)lewgriitvteenn to books of
uAnrittiecdletsheoftwUonriiovanl - This was the agreement that by Laurence
Grand Lodges of England in 1813. Dermott, an Irishman, who was a staunch supporter
The articles were signed on 25th November by H.R.H. of the “Ancients” in early English Freemasonry as
the Duke of Sussex, Grand Master of “The Moderns” opposed to the “Moderns”. It is not known for certain
and H.R.H. the Duke of Kent, Grand Master of what the two words stood for, but it is believed they
“The Ancients”. The latter Masons-mainly Irish and meant “A Help to a Brother”, worked out very loosely
Scottish had formed a rival Grand Lodge of England from Hebrew. Another translation was “Faithful
in 1751 because they objected to certain changes in the Brother Secretary”. Dermott, a commercial painter,
ritual, and customs, that the Moderns had thought was made Master of a Dublin Lodge in 1746 and
fit to introduce. For more than sixty years they were came to England two years later. He became Grand
bitter opponents to the original Grand Lodge formed Secretary of the “Ancients” and then wrote his first
in 1717. The Act of Union was finally accepted at Book of Constitutions under the odd title quoted
a joint meeting of both bodies on 27th December, above. Several issues of “Ahiman Rezon” were
1813 (St. John the Evangelist’s Day) and “The United published right up to the Union of the two Grand
Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons Lodges in 1813.
of England” came into being-and has remained the
sole controlling jurisdiction of English Freemasons
ever since.
kDnro. wJanmiens lAatnedr eyrseoarns (1684-1739) – Dr. Anderson,
as “The Father of Masonic
History” was the author of the two first official Reprinted by permission of the Grand Lodge
publications of the Grand Lodge of England. They are AF&AM of Iowa
the “Book of Constitutions” issued in 1723 and 1738.
He was the son of James Anderson, a member of the Page 19
Aberdeen Lodge in 1670 and described as a “glassier
