Canadian Ritual History Series of messages off CANMAS in December 2003 Paul Miller wrote: PM> Brethren: PM> I found this a most interesting posting but the information for Newfoundland PM> and Labrador is somewhat outdated. <snip> PM> Of the eleven lodges holding of the GL of Scotland and PM> forming the District Grand Lodge of NL, eight use the "Standard PM> Ritual", two use versions of the "Modern Ritual" which they have PM> modified themselves, and one another ritual whose name escapes me PM> at the moment. <snip> That would be "D. M. Goudielock" with a few bits from "William Harvey" and maybe a touch or two from sources unknown. Ken Galbraith, WPM Assist. Sect., Lodge Anik 1707 SC The Formation of our Three Degrees. 1717 saw the formation of Speculative Masonry in England. The Legend of H.A.B. and the third degree. The legend may well go back to the 14 or 1500¹s, however, it does appear after the formation of the Premiere Grand Lodge of England in 1717. Researchers feel that man dislikes change and innovation so much that the third degree was formed by dissecting the first and second degrees and was not an overnight innovation. Very little was written down. In one instance a secretary wrote out the degree(s) in the lodge minute book. When his sucessor saw this he was mortified and promptly tore the pages out with the exception of the last page which was only half filled. It seemed that he didn't want to waste any paper. When Samuel Priichard printed his expose, this page was found to be word for word. It was then felt that his expose was correct. In 1730 Samuel Prichard who was a mason as well as a masonic scholar and who had access to the Grand Lodge library, published an expose called.³masonry Dissected.² It gave for the first time details of the third degree. It was so accurate that non masons were passing themselves off as masons and availing themselves of the General Charity Fund. To counter this problem no stranger was to be admitted into a lodge unless vouched for by a brother present in that lodge. I realize this doesn't come up with exact dates but it does give some idea to the time frames or how the degrees formed.
Bro. Barry D.Thom PM Lodge MacKay #1129 SC Bay Roberts, NL > It'd be interesting to know more about what the original ceremonies > of your lodge were like. Emulation purports to be the ritual that > was concocted at the Union (certainly it doesn't pre-date the Union) > in 1813. Some changes were obviously made about that time from what > was originally in use (like lodges had to rush out and buy a skirret). Actually, the Working approved by the Committee of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement for Master Masons, which commenced in 1823, is "believed" to be a correct record of the ritual put forward by the Lodge of Reconciliation, with the necessary adjustments to account for changes to certain portions as decreed by UGLE on several occasions. The same claim is made by the Taylor's Association and the other ten major ritual associations working in London, to say nothing of the literally hundreds of minor ritual associations, or perhaps I should say "smaller ritual associations". Emulation was actually late in entering the fray. I believe it is safe to say that no one really knows what the Lodge of Reconciliation actually produced. > As for the King's English, Dr. Cartwright exploded somewhat in his > 'Commentary on the Freemasonic Ritual' about grammatical errors in > the Emulation work. This book had some influence on BC's first > Ritual Committee when a 'Canadian' work for our jurisdiction was > officially approved in 1955. In contrast, neither UGLE nor the GL of Scotland have ever "approved" any ritual in the sense of saying "this is the only ritual to be used in...". Both GL's welcome many different ritual forms, some of which are quite different than anything most of us will have seen. What is the "accepted name" now for the ritual that BC&Y "approved" in 1955, and can anyone say "how close" it is to any specific English-derived ritual currently in use elsewhere in Canada? I am in one Lodge which uses a "living Emulation" under UGLE, and one which uses a version of Emulation which was fixed in the 1920's when the original dispensation was issued authorizing its use. My Mother Lodge uses "The Antient York Ritual" and in my old coded copy it is defined as "The Antient York Ritual as practised in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts". Given our trading connections in the 1800's, I can understand the choice. S & F, Doug Welsh, OGR
> The honour of introducing Freemasonry into what is now Canada > belongs to a British officer, Ensign Erasmus Philipps. He was commissione= d > as "Provincial Grand Master of Nova Scotia" and in 1738 founded a lodge > under a warrant issued by his mother lodge, St. John=B9s lodge of Boston, > Mass. He was the first Master of the newly formed lodge which was called > Annapolis Royal and located at Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. > This lodge still exists and when I visited the lodge I noted that they > opened in the third degree. I would assume (this is something that can be > dangerous to do) that this form was brought over from the Premiere Grand > Lodge of England prior to 1738 at which time it was established in Nova > Scotia. Could this be why today we see lodges opening in the third degree? >=20 Bro. Barry, the Lodge in Annapolis Royal today, Annapolis Royal Lodge # 33,=20 was instituted in 1862. There is now no direct trace to Bro. Philipps'=20 activities. The Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia uses a form of ritual based on t= he ritual=20 used in New York, in the USA. The choice of ritual was deliberate and,=20 depending on whose viewpoint, was chosen either to offend neither the Englis= h=20 Lodges nor the Scottish Lodges, or to offend them both equally. The practic= e of=20 Lodges working in the Third Degree came out of the Baltimore Conference in=20 Baltimore, Maryland, in 1843. It was adopted with the American ritual, in 1= 869. =20 Two Lodges under the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia and one UGLE Lodge in Halifa= x=20 use a form of Emulation Working. THe two GLNS Lodges only returned to=20 Emulation in the Twentieth Century, after working at least 50 years using th= e American=20 "Antient York" ritual. The UGLE Lodge uses Emulation today as it has from=20 sometime after 1823, when Emulation came into existence. All three Lodges w= ork=20 in the First. One Lodge in Nova Scotia uses what is called "Lester", except= =20 for those Brethren who call it "Irish Working". S & F, Doug Welsh, OGR PM L398 UGLE (founded 1815) MM L3 GLNS (founded 1782) Both now using "Emulation Working" >Actually, the Working approved by the Committee of the Emulation Lodge of
>Improvement for Master Masons, which commenced in 1823, is "believed" to be a >correct record of the ritual put forward by the Lodge of Reconciliation, with the >necessary adjustments to account for changes to certain portions as decreed >by UGLE on several occasions. The same claim is made by the Taylor's >Association and the other ten major ritual associations working in London, to say >nothing of the literally hundreds of minor ritual associations, or perhaps I should >say "smaller ritual associations". Emulation was actually late in entering >the fray. I believe it is safe to say that no one really knows what the Lodge >of Reconciliation actually produced. To make it even more confusing, Emulation Lodge did not permit the publication of a printed ritual claiming to be 'Emulation Ritual' until comparatively recently. For many years a number of different rituals were printed in England which claimed to be rituals for other jurisdictions (for example the Nigerian Ritual) but which were actually Emulation as learned by somebody and written down. So given that the Lodge of Reconciliation completed its work around 1817, and Emulation did not arrive until 1823, and then for nearly 150 years Emulation only passed on the work in a mouth-to-ear fashion, who can guess how close it is to the Reconciliation work. Even an analytical comparison of the 20 or so Rituals I have from the UK does not really allow us to synthesize something that might reasonably represent Reconciliation's output. In fact it has been suggested that Reconciliation did not actually produce a ritual at all. But went around the country and suggesting changes of local rituals to bring them into some conformity with the wishes of the new Grand Lodge. Thus it is plausible that many of the ritual associations that make a claim of descendancy from the Lodge of Reconciliation are quite correct! LoR effectively validating variations of the older rituals in many different places without ever producing a 'homogenous' ritual of its own. John Day PGStdB (UGLV Australia) Toronto > Thus it is plausible that many of the ritual associations that make a claim > of descendancy from the Lodge of Reconciliation are quite correct! LoR > effectively validating variations of the older rituals in many different places > without ever producing a 'homogenous' ritual of its own. Particularly when you consider that some of the differences cited by the varied Ritual Associations amount to a dispute over the use of "a" or "an", and other equally minor points. I will concede that there are also some large variations in some places. But for the most part (and most of us cannot claim to have our own rituals perfectly memorized at all times) the Lodges actual practices are more alike than they are different, and familiarity with "Emulation" would allow you to feel comfortable in most other UGLE Lodges.
S & F, Doug Welsh, OGR PM L398 UGLE Brethren: I found this a most interesting posting but the information for Newfoundland and Labrador is somewhat outdated. The author is quite correct in stating that the GL of Scotland does not have an "official" ritual which all lodges (or, in fact, any lodges) must follow. At the time of its erection each lodge may chose whatever ritual it wishes (or, for that matter, write its own,) as long as the ancient landmarks of the Order are preserved. Of the eleven lodges holding of the GL of Scotland and forming the District Grand Lodge of NL, eight use the "Standard Ritual", two use versions of the "Modern Ritual" which they have modified themselves, and one another ritual whose name escapes me at the moment. The situation in the 33 lodges of the GL of NL is similar. It is my understanding that all lodge rituals in use in its lodges were 'grandfathered' in on its formation in 1995. Former Scottish lodges continue to use the Standard or Modern rituals, many former UGLE a version of Emulation, while a few, I understand, have distinctive rituals of their own. I would note that most of these rituals are very similar and the most differences occur in the 3rd degree. This can sometimes cause some problems for brethren beonging to two or more lodges but guarantees an interesting experience when visiting another lodge. I understand that the GL of NL has developed an 'official' Ritual, copies of which have just been sent to its lodges. I have yet to see a copy. How this will fit in with the 'grandfathering' mentioned above I do not know. No doubt this will all seem very strange to brethren from Grand Lodges that control the uniformity of ritual in their lodges, but in practice it seems to cause few, if any problems. Paul Miller, WPM Substitute Master Lodge Conception No. 1679 Grand Lodge of Scotland Conception Bay South, NL Sr. Deacon Farnham Lodge of Research No. 33 Grand LOdge of Newfoundland and Labrador.
It was pointed out by a Bro. That there is no direct link between the original Annapolis lodge and the present day Annapolis lodge # 33 This is correct. Now it may be of interest to tell a more complete history. Erasmus James Phillips was born (1705) into a military family. In June 1738 he returned from Boston with a deputation from Henry Price to form a lodge at Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia and this he did. This lodge became the fifth in order of precedence of lodges chartered from Massachusetts. Another interesting point is that even today the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts does not number their lodges. As previously stated Erasmus became the first Wor. Master of Annapolis Royal Lodge (no number). In 1757 a warrant for a Provincial Grand Lodge was issued from the "ancients" and Erasmus Phillips, now a Major, became the first "Provincial Grand Master of Nova Scotia." In 1759 Major E. Phillips died suddenly of apoplexy. As the lodge was practically a Regimental Lodge it is not surprising to find the brethren of Phillips Regiment applying to the Grand Lodge of England (Ancient) in 1775 for a warrant. This was issued in that year and the lodge was numbered 42. No other information is obtainable from the English Grand Lodge records but it seems clear that the warrant of 1775 was merely a re-chartering of the old lodge established by Phillips in 1738. The lodge continued to be mentioned in the miutes of St. John's Grand Lodge, Boston between 1738 and 1767. The history of the lodge is more or less bound up with the history of the Regiment. Amoung the places they fought, or were moved to, were: Louisbourg (1757-8); Halifax; West Indies; American War and back to Halifax in 1782. The lodge apparently became dormant before 1810. In that year we find the brethern engaged in the Peninsular war in Spain. At that time they applied for and received an Irish Warrant # 204. From 1767 to 1788 Freemasonry in Annapolis Royal seems to be neglected but you must remember with the wars and harsh conditions it was a wonder that Masonry ever survived at all. Annapolis Royal Lodge #25 was formed 1795 and lasted for 32 yrs. Two Military Lodges of the 66th. Regiment also operated here around this time. They were numbered 538 & 580 both under the Irish Constitution. Masonry then again lapsed for a 24 yr period until 1851. Then after a short period Masonry in Annapolis Royal became dormant again. In 1863 the present Annapolis Royal Lodge was established as #1047 on the Registry of the Grand Lodge of England. The Lodge continued working under this warrant until 1869 when at the Union of all the lodges in the Province, it was renumbered 33 and it still active today. I trust you will find this small piece of the puzzle interesting. Bro. Barry D. Thom, P.M. Lodge MacKay #1129 SC Bay Roberts, NL