St. Andrew's Lodge No. 469
Past Master's Jewel 1947
.
Obverse of Jewel
An unusual Past Master's Jewel.
An unusual Past Master's Jewel.
The Past Master's Jewel, which is silver, is actually centred on a sky blue ribbon, suspended from two silver gilt bars.
The Lodge crest is suspended from the ribbon, and comprises of the figure of St. Andrew, with the flag of St. Andrew behind him.
The Lodge crest is mounted on a silver gilt plinth which comprises of two thistles either side of the crest and beneath the crest the number and name of the Lodge "No. 469 St. Andrew Masonic Lodge". On top of the plinth appears to be a kneeling figure, with a sword in the left hand.
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The reverse of the Jewel bears the inscription :
"Presented to Bro: R. Montgomery by the Members of Masonic Lodge No. 469 1947" |
Short History of Warrant No. 469.
Warrant No. 469 issued to brethren in DROGHEDA, County Louth on the 7th July, 1769 and was cancelled by Order of Grand Lodge on the 7th October, 1813.
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Warrant No. 469 reissued to "Leinster Lodge" in WELLINGTON, New Zealand on the 5th October 1882. "Leinster Lodge" joined in forming The Grand Lodge of New Zealand on the 29th April 1890 becoming Lodge No. 44 of the New Zealand Constitution. Warrant No. 469 was returned to Grand Lodge on the 11th April, 1905. |
Evening Post, Wellington, Issue 129,
24th June, 1885, Page 3 |
[The above represents the barest of facts relating to Warrant No. 469 before same reissued to St. Andrew's Lodge No. 469 - the IRISH MASONIC RECORDS cd-rom gives a very full account of the Lodges who held Warrant No. 469 for the years set out above]
History of St. Andrew Lodge No. 469.
The Minutes of the Grand Lodge Board of General Purposes dated 29th September, 1919 show concerning Warrant No. 469 -
"29 September, 1919 - Read Memorial from Bros. Watt, Harris, Connell and others praying for a warrant to establish a Lodge in Belfast in the County of Antrim to be called the St. Andrew. Recommended."
The Recommendation of The Board was followed,as is shown in the Grand Lodge Minutes of 2nd October 1919 as "Confirmed".
Warrant No. 469 reissued to `St Andrew Lodge' in 16, DONEGALL SQUARE SOUTH, BELFAST on the 8th October 1919.
Series four Vol. 16 shown as Volume 4a of the extant Grand Lodge Registers shows -
"Warrant No. 469 to Belfast at “St. Andrew Lodge”, 8 October, 1919 - Robert Watt, Docker (258); John M. Harris, Commercial Traveller, (274) and John Connel, Ship-builder (51) registered along with fifteen others from various lodges, 8 October, 1919."
The Lodge was formed on Wednesday the 7th January 1920, when Wor. Bro. Dr. Rob Watt and seventeen other Scottish brethren were Constituted into St. Andrew's Masonic Lodge.
St. Andrew's Lodge No. 469 had one unusual bye law in that "Every member shall be of Scottish nationality by birth, or through a parent or grand-parent born in Scotland."
[Subequently amended - See Link below to "The Scottish Connection"].
The Constitution Ceremony was held in the Masonic Rooms of The Scottish Temperance Buildings in Belfast in the presence of Rt. Wor. Bro. J.H. Sterling, Provincial Deputy Grand Master of Antrim.
Series five Vol. 19 shown as Vol. 3 of the extant Grand Lodge Register commences with the registration of James Dorward, Master Queen’s University, registered 5th December 1923.
A total of 53 brethren registered up to 3rd October 1923. In most cases the dates when the issue of certificates is shown, together with the occupation of the brother.
A total of 94 brethren registered up to 1st April 1953. In most cases the dates when the issue of certificates is shown, together with the occupation of the brother.
Series six Vol. 22 of the extant Grand Lodge Register commences with the registration of David MCA. Hunter, Asst. Manager, registered 2nd December 1953.
A total of 45 brethren registered up to 5th October 1983. In most cases the dates when the issue of certificates is shown, together with the occupation of the brother.
Warrant No. 469 was removed to Freemasons' Hall, ROSEMARY STREET, BELFAST in 1956.
From 1984 the registration of members of ST. ANDREW'S LODGE No. 469 is held, in alphabetical order, in a computerised register by Grand Lodge, Freemasons’ Hall, 17 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2. The Registration of the Worshipful Master, Wardens and Secretary of Lodges are held in separate Registers, the first Volume covering the period 1983 to 1994 inclusive and the second Volume covering from 1995 to 2009.
With the closure of Freemasons' Hall, ROSEMARY STREET, BELFAST, Warrant No. 469 was removed to Freemasons' Hall, ARTHUR SQUARE, BELFAST in 2008.
In April 2009, Warrant No. 469, was surrendered and in May 2009, a new Lodge, St.Andrew Lodge of Harmony 111, formed by the amalgamation of Masonic Lodge of Harmony 111 and St.Andrew Masonic Lodge 469, held its first communication
"29 September, 1919 - Read Memorial from Bros. Watt, Harris, Connell and others praying for a warrant to establish a Lodge in Belfast in the County of Antrim to be called the St. Andrew. Recommended."
The Recommendation of The Board was followed,as is shown in the Grand Lodge Minutes of 2nd October 1919 as "Confirmed".
Warrant No. 469 reissued to `St Andrew Lodge' in 16, DONEGALL SQUARE SOUTH, BELFAST on the 8th October 1919.
Series four Vol. 16 shown as Volume 4a of the extant Grand Lodge Registers shows -
"Warrant No. 469 to Belfast at “St. Andrew Lodge”, 8 October, 1919 - Robert Watt, Docker (258); John M. Harris, Commercial Traveller, (274) and John Connel, Ship-builder (51) registered along with fifteen others from various lodges, 8 October, 1919."
The Lodge was formed on Wednesday the 7th January 1920, when Wor. Bro. Dr. Rob Watt and seventeen other Scottish brethren were Constituted into St. Andrew's Masonic Lodge.
St. Andrew's Lodge No. 469 had one unusual bye law in that "Every member shall be of Scottish nationality by birth, or through a parent or grand-parent born in Scotland."
[Subequently amended - See Link below to "The Scottish Connection"].
The Constitution Ceremony was held in the Masonic Rooms of The Scottish Temperance Buildings in Belfast in the presence of Rt. Wor. Bro. J.H. Sterling, Provincial Deputy Grand Master of Antrim.
Series five Vol. 19 shown as Vol. 3 of the extant Grand Lodge Register commences with the registration of James Dorward, Master Queen’s University, registered 5th December 1923.
A total of 53 brethren registered up to 3rd October 1923. In most cases the dates when the issue of certificates is shown, together with the occupation of the brother.
A total of 94 brethren registered up to 1st April 1953. In most cases the dates when the issue of certificates is shown, together with the occupation of the brother.
Series six Vol. 22 of the extant Grand Lodge Register commences with the registration of David MCA. Hunter, Asst. Manager, registered 2nd December 1953.
A total of 45 brethren registered up to 5th October 1983. In most cases the dates when the issue of certificates is shown, together with the occupation of the brother.
Warrant No. 469 was removed to Freemasons' Hall, ROSEMARY STREET, BELFAST in 1956.
From 1984 the registration of members of ST. ANDREW'S LODGE No. 469 is held, in alphabetical order, in a computerised register by Grand Lodge, Freemasons’ Hall, 17 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2. The Registration of the Worshipful Master, Wardens and Secretary of Lodges are held in separate Registers, the first Volume covering the period 1983 to 1994 inclusive and the second Volume covering from 1995 to 2009.
With the closure of Freemasons' Hall, ROSEMARY STREET, BELFAST, Warrant No. 469 was removed to Freemasons' Hall, ARTHUR SQUARE, BELFAST in 2008.
In April 2009, Warrant No. 469, was surrendered and in May 2009, a new Lodge, St.Andrew Lodge of Harmony 111, formed by the amalgamation of Masonic Lodge of Harmony 111 and St.Andrew Masonic Lodge 469, held its first communication
St. Andrew's Lodge No. 469 ~ "The Scottish Connection"
by W.Bro. R. Stanley Maxwell.
This year St. Andrew Lodge 469 celebrated a heritage of seventy-five years within the Irish Constitution.
I am honoured to have been asked to present an abridged version of St. Andrew's background which I researched for our January installation dinner.
While I do not intend that this should be a history lesson let me stress that throughout the centuries our two countries have been cohesively and irrevocably linked. Even before the Gaelic colonisation of Scotland toward the end of the fifth century there was always a Scottish Connection.
It was from the little kingdom of Dal Riata in the Glens of Antrim that the first settlers crossed to Argyle (which incidentally means "eastern province of the Gael.") For more than a century territory on both sides of the North Channel formed one kingdom, ruled by a dynasty tracing its ancestry from Fergus Mor mac Ere.
As far back as 1580 Queen Elizabeth I's administrators had recurring nightmares of a coalition between the Catholic warriors of the Isles, Mary Queen of Scots, the French and the Irish. The constant influx of Highlanders and Islanders to obtain military service with the Ulster chiefs was always a genuine cause of anxiety. Indeed this Province was once thought of as a receptacle for all the savage beasts of the land. (Some would say little has changed.)
The success of Scottish settlement in North Down in the early 1600's cannot be denied, and by 1619 the great migration to Ulster had begun. The Scots were the most determined of the planters and, to quote one history book, "did every year send forth swarms". Most came from South West Scotland, Lanark, Renfrew and Sterlingshire. But the traffic was not all one way.
Following the 1641 massacre over five hundred Ulster colonists took refuge on the Isle of Bute and, in the presbyteries of Ayr and Irvine, some four thousand others were in danger of starving.
A Scots army was in action in the Province that same year which also saw the start of the English Civil War, when savage atrocities were perpetrated by both sides in Ireland. Even before the 1690 Williamite war was at an end Presbyterian Scots poured into Ulster. It was estimated that between 1689 and 1715, fifty-thousand Scots families came to the Province. In fact records show that the Presbyterian population doubled between 1725 and 1727 to reach its peak two years later. The famine brought a halt to this population expansion and Ulster's inhabitants fell by 374,000 between 1841 and 1857, a drop of 15%.
The Scottish industrial and commercial connection began in earnest in 1855 when Edward J Harland, who had already helped design eleven iron steamers when employed by J & G Thomson at Govan and the Upper Clyde, completed his first ship in Belfast. Harland had been joined by Gustave Wolff a few years earlier.
There is no doubt that the arrival of Harland in Belfast encouraged many workers within the Scottish shipbuilding industry to further their careers by making the short journey across the Irish sea. And it was some of the children and grandchildren of just such men who eventually formed the Province's [Antrim] first "clannish" Masonic Lodge just 75 years ago.
ST ANDREW LODGE No 469.
The date was Wednesday 7th January 1920 and election fever gripped the city of Belfast; one hundred and forty three candidates were contesting sixty municipal seats. This mattered little to the eighteen foundation members of St Andrew Lodge 469 as they set off from their individual homes to participate in the constitution and dedication of their new masonic lodge.
One can only surmise that it was the signs of strife in Ireland in 1918, and the result of the December election - won by the revolutionary Sinn Fein party with an enormous majority - which elicited the formation of St Andrew 469. Why else would it have such a carefully drawn up bye-law which resolved that "every member shall be of Scottish nationality by birth or through a parent or grandparent born in Scotland."
Those early brethren must have felt themselves seriously threatened by the strident voice of Irish Nationalism to have taken such sequestered action. Very much aware of the evil dividing the community into hostile sections they approached Provincial Grand Lodge in February 1919 and put forward the case for "Scottish-made Masons ordinarily resident in Ireland but initiated in Scotland."
Realising that Britain had resigned itself to Irish independence, and honestly believing themselves to be in a state of siege, these expatriate Scots hastened their plans to make the best they could of a very serious situation. In no time at all they created a "hame frae hame" behind the closed porch doors of their own Masonic Lodge.
The preliminaries to constituting the St Andrew Lodge in January 1920 paralleled a bitter interval of terrorism and civil disorder. In December of that first year, before Foundation W.M. Br. Dr. Robert Watt had completed his term of office, Lloyd George finally forced through Westminster the Home Rule Bill which provided for two separate Irish Parliaments and Governments.
A careful search through the first St Andrew minute book reveals just how little the politics of the day impinged upon the working of this infant lodge. With the exception of two occasions peace, love and harmony prevailed within this "haggis haven" throughout the first year.
The September meeting of 469 in 1920 was an Emergency in every sense of the word. Because of weeks of protracted rioting it was held on Monday the 19th, instead of Wednesday 2nd. During this period, in one day alone, one-hundred-and-eighty major fires caused one million pounds worth of damage.
Despite this intense violence throughout Belfast eighteen St Andrew members and three visiting brethren attended the re-arranged September meeting which eventually had to close early "owing to the condition of the city."
In December, the last meeting of the year, a gathering of twenty-seven brethren of the lodge and three visitors (one of them from Scotland) agreed to "hold future meetings at the earlier hour of five o'clock because of the curfew."
But, I digress, let us get back to the night of the Constitution and Dedication. The R.W. Br. J.H.S. Stirling, Provincial District Grand Master of the Masonic Province of Antrim waited upon the new lodge at the Masonic Rooms, Scottish Provident Buildings, Belfast.
Acting Secretary Br. Robert Veitch PM read the Warrant and passed it to the Presiding Officer who then submitted the roll of Officers and Members and a copy of the Constitution and Bye Laws of the Lodge.
In his address the Provincial Grand Master expressed his pleasure at constituting a lodge which gave promise of being an asset, not only to the Masonic Province of Antrim, but to Irish Freemasonry in general.
The St Andrew Warrant 469 was first issued to Coagh in 1769 and remained there until 1805. From 1807 till 1859 it was in Cookstown and from 1882 till 1890 it was in Wellington, New Zealand.
It will interest our Scottish Brethren to hear the names of the Foundation Officers. Who knows there may well have been some of their ancestors attending that very evening.
W.M. was Br. Dr. Robert Watt PM;
Installing P.M., Br. Thomas C. Sherriff;
Senior Warden, Br. John M. Harris P.M.;
Junior Warden, Br. John Connel;
Treasurer Br. Robert Veitch P.M.;
Secretary, Br. James Stormonth P.M.;
Senior Deacon Br. Joseph H. McCrackin;
Junior Deacon Br. John Mackie;
Inner Guard, Br. Andrew Webster
Director of Ceremonies Br. Thomas Forbes.
Other Foundation members were Bros. William Adam, W.D. Keldie, Thomas Hetherington, James Buchannan, C. Arthur Cieland, William McGregor, Hugh Brown and William Hunter.
Six additional brethren were put forward for affiliation to the new lodge and seven other names submitted for initiation.
The Installation dinner at Thompson's Restaurant was attended by fifty-six brethren and the account came to £33-19-6. It is interesting to note that the Grand Lodge Warrant cost 10/- plus 18/6 for framing. Jewels for all the lodge officers cost £11-7-6, crest for the lodge die £2-15-0 and a rubber seal was 7/6.
THE FORMATIVE YEARS.
While no record was kept of what dress was worn at the launch of Belfast's first "Scottish" lodge there is little doubt that the ceremonial kilt and tartan were very much in evidence. More than half the foundation members had family names which currently feature in the "Surnames of Scotland" directory.
Twenty-two lodges were represented that evening in addition to the Provincial officers. W. Br. Robert Veitch was the lodge's first secretary and his minutes of the occasion, although brief and to the point, are penned in copy-book handwriting.
The secretary's. main job during the first year was to ensure that as many new members as possible were initiated. He rivalled Henry Ford as an organiser, and the end result of his production line was thirty-two degree ceremonies and ten Master Masons.
Just think about it. To put his achievement into its true perspective one has to allow for the two holiday months, the January installation, balloting in February plus a September meeting which had to close early because of the Troubles.
It was a mammoth task, and all carried out from within the lodge itself. The five Foundation brethren who conferred the degrees required four Emergency meetings.
The following degree achievement is worthy of a mention in the Masonic Book of Records.
MARCH: Two Firsts at an Emergency Meeting and, the same evening, five Firsts at the Stated Communication.
APRIL: Two Firsts at an Emergency Meeting and seven Seconds later.
MAY: One Third and one First at an Emergency and two Thirds later.
MAY 26th: Four Thirds at an Emergency.
JUNE: Three Seconds at an Emergency.
OCTOBER: Three Thirds at Stated Communication.
NOVEMBER: One Second at Stated Communication.
DECEMBER: One First at Stated Communication. The popularity of the St Andrew lodge was no doubt due to its Scottish connection but, during this period of time, there was an equal influx of candidates into many other lodges throughout Ireland.
Why else would Grand Lodge amend one if its bye laws at this juncture? Surely it was not just because of the mass production of Master Masons by a newly constituted lodge in Belfast? Whatever the cause, a circular was issued by Provincial Grand Lodge of Antrim, dated 7th December 1920 adding a clause to Grand Lodge Law No 138: Part Two. This limited to three the number of First and Third Degrees that could be conferred by a lodge at any one Communication.
A postscript to the letter stressed that this meant a "total" of three Degrees (being First or Third, or both) and the amendment should not be read in the sense that three Firsts and three Thirds might be given.
During the first year ten brethren were also welcomed to St. Andrew on affiliation. Initiation fees were £8-8-0 (immediately raised to £10-10-0), affiliation fees £3-3-0 and the annual dues £2-2-0.
The lodge received £159-2-6 in its first year and finished with a deficit of £7-1-3. A total of £21-12-3 was collected for charities.
After the excitement of 1920 the following year could well have been an anticlimax. But with the foundation secretary W. Br. Robert Veitch in the chair such was not the case. The installation dinner, which now included the piping in of, and address to, the haggis, was attended by thirty-three members who were joined by thirteen visiting brethren. The average attendance at meetings in 1921 was forty.
The tradition of presenting the Past Master with a jewel bearing an enamelled St. Andrew Cross began in 1923.
The initial cost was £4-4-0 each and, when compared with present day prices, three similar jewels purchased last year cost £638.00
St. Andrew, no doubt because of its Scottish influence, gained a reputation which attracted many visitors and there is written evidence from this period which records it was one of the best managed lodges in the Province.
Its reputation for ritual was also recognised when W. Br. John H. Harris was appointed Assistant Instructor to the Provincial Grand Lodge of Antrim. Stormont, home of Northern Ireland's Parliament, was opened in November 1932 by the Prince of Wales and the Thirties was a decade of consolidation for St. Andrew. The flood of candidates had dried up and, although the lodge membership was fifty, there was not one initiation or affiliation in 1930.
W.Bro. William Macnab, the present "father of the lodge", still a regular attender in his nineties, was proposed in April 1934 but, because he had not been living long enough in the district, the ballot was held over for three months. He became a Master Mason in April 1935.
In February 1936 a notice of motion before the lodge to rescind the "nationality" clause restricting membership was withdrawn.
In 1938 numbers were down to thirty-seven, with no initiations at all the previous year. Brethren were requested to encourage some of the many Scotsmen who had recently come to work in the city to join. This was immediately successful.
With the outbreak of war in 1939 brethren adapted themselves to the contingency of wartime regulations. Meetings were held at seven p.m. and dress made "informal" for the installation dinner.
The Province shared the burdens of war with the rest of the United Kingdom and Empire, being only three hours flying time from Germany. Despite this fact, it was not until April 7th and 8th, 1941 that the Nazi bombers made the first of what was to be a number of raids on Belfast.
This was four months after St Andrew celebrated its 21st anniversary by endowing two commemorative chairs to the Masonic Charities.
Some fifty brethren attended a special musical programme which was presented at a March dinner to mark the lodge's coming of age.
Then the Province was reminded that the phoney war was over. An unexploded bomb, dropped during an air raid on Belfast closed the city centre and meant the postponement of the May meeting.
On Sunday May 4th, during a three and a half hour period after midnight, Luftwaffe bombers dropped
95,992 incendiaries and 237 tons of high explosive on Belfast.
Surprisingly, the death toll was only 191, but by now 53% of Belfast's housing stock had been destroyed or badly damaged. The ensuing Harland and Wolff claim of three million pounds for bomb damage was the largest single amount sought by any firm in the United Kingdom during the war.
Not to be outdone, because of the war risk St. Andrew lodge insured its regalia and jewels for £100.
Despite the war situation the lodge had fifty-one members and managed to continue with its social activities.
In 1945 the June meeting was changed to September and at this time the proposed new Belfast headquarters at Rosemary Street was the main topic of conversation. St. Andrew agreed to an annual levy of 4/- per member toward the appeal.
There was a record number present at the 1949 installation dinner when the account for food was £22-15-0 and the drink bill was £13-9-10.
In 1950 the lodge sustained a great loss with the passing of its first Worshipful Master W. Br. Dr. Robert Watt.
This was a healthy period in the lodge's history. A minute, recorded in November 1952, reports a membership of seventy and, on the strength of this, it was decided to buy 12 Master Mason aprons at £1-2-6 each, plus an officer's apron at £2.
The Covenant Scheme for Charities was started in 1953 and W.Br. Murchison, a St. Andrew member, was the first brother in Ireland to join. (Who said Scottish brethren are tight with their money?)
This was the period when Rosemary Street Headquarters was being built and in 1956, when it was formally opened, St. Andrew was allocated Lodge Room A on the first floor.
In 1959 Gordon Thomas Crabbe was proposed for initiation. Still an active member W.Br. Crabbe is the third generation of his family to enjoy the fellowship of St. Andrew. His grandfather W.Br. Veitch was the lodge's first secretary and his father, who also joined in 1920, was W.M. in 1929 and treasurer from 1930 until his death in 1961.
During the Sixties period finance permanently occupied the mind and a "precarious" money situation developed at 469. In 1965, the night W.Br. Jack Macdonald was installed, the death of W.Br. Tom Forbes, the last remaining foundation member of St. Andrew, was recorded.
It was just a few months after Lodge 469 was constituted that an aeroplane flew the Atlantic for the first time and now, as the lodge celebrated its 50th birthday, the Americans had just landed a man on the moon.
But the year 1970 was anything but a Golden one for Northern Ireland. In the wake of the world student protest the "troubles" erupted into vicious civil rights violence which further polarised the sectarian divisions.
As usual none of this political conflict intruded on the workings of St. Andrew when W.Br. Michael Dow was installed at the Golden Jubilee communication in January 1970.
In 1971, although some brethren pressed for an early decision to be made regarding birth qualification for intending lodge members, the matter was not finalised until 1972 when W. Bro. Gordon Crabbe occupied the chair.
While acknowledging the weak state of lodge membership, and recognising the need to broaden the terms of the restricting lodge bye law, many brethren were reluctant to lose St. Andrew's unique Scottish identity.
Finally, after much heart searching and discussion, it was W.Br. Willie Macnab who proposed that the introduction of the word "preferably" in the appropriate place within the bye law might be the best compromise. This was seconded and passed.
The amended bye law, still operative to-day, now reads: "Every candidate for membership, shall be, preferably, of Scottish nationality either by birth or through parent or grandparent born in Scotland or be the son of a member of the lodge."
Many of the present brethren joined the lodge after 1975. W.Br. John McIlwaine (the current secretary) received his Third in September 1981.
In 1983 the lodge piper W.Br. John Shepherd was made an honorary member of St. Andrew and in 1984 W.Br. Robert McCracken, the Junior Warden, started the St. Andrew tradition of inviting visiting brethren to the Festive Board in rhyme.
The same brother's installation in 1986 was a memorable occasion. The then Provincial Grand Master of Antrim Rt. W. Br. Robert L. Orr was the distinguished guest and he presented a 50 year jewel and a 10 year bar to W.Br. Andrew Baron and a 50 year jewel to W.Br. Willie Macnab.
In October the same year the present W.M. W.Br. Jack Grundie was proposed for membership.
To paraphrase our own Rabbie Bums "the troubles were still making countless thousands mourn" when the final decade of this century opened.
But now let me bring this all too brief record up-to-date for the next historian with the task of recording the St. Andrew Centenary. The lodge has forty-five members and present dues are £40 for Full members, £11 for Country members and £25 for Retired brethren. Annual subscription toward the Jewel fund is £4. Initiation fee is £50 and Affiliation is £30. In 1994 the lodge gave £800 to Masonic Charities.
I must say that researching and writing “The Scottish Connection” has given me great pleasure and been a labour of love.
To-night, as I present this abridged version, the Province, probably for the first time in St. Andrew's history, is at peace. Who can tell if this will be permanent or whether, as the lodge moves ever closer toward its centenary, we shall once again become hostage to the terrorist bomb and bullet?
But whatever may be in store for us we can be certain that this Ulster Lodge, with its Scottish Connection, shows little evidence of slowing down. Rest assured that it will long continue to create friendships and encourage Brotherhood through the common fraternal interest of Freemasonry.
Let me conclude with some verse which I have written especially to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of St. Andrew Lodge 469. It is in the style of, and with apologies to, Scotland's National Poet, Brother Robert Burns.
I am honoured to have been asked to present an abridged version of St. Andrew's background which I researched for our January installation dinner.
While I do not intend that this should be a history lesson let me stress that throughout the centuries our two countries have been cohesively and irrevocably linked. Even before the Gaelic colonisation of Scotland toward the end of the fifth century there was always a Scottish Connection.
It was from the little kingdom of Dal Riata in the Glens of Antrim that the first settlers crossed to Argyle (which incidentally means "eastern province of the Gael.") For more than a century territory on both sides of the North Channel formed one kingdom, ruled by a dynasty tracing its ancestry from Fergus Mor mac Ere.
As far back as 1580 Queen Elizabeth I's administrators had recurring nightmares of a coalition between the Catholic warriors of the Isles, Mary Queen of Scots, the French and the Irish. The constant influx of Highlanders and Islanders to obtain military service with the Ulster chiefs was always a genuine cause of anxiety. Indeed this Province was once thought of as a receptacle for all the savage beasts of the land. (Some would say little has changed.)
The success of Scottish settlement in North Down in the early 1600's cannot be denied, and by 1619 the great migration to Ulster had begun. The Scots were the most determined of the planters and, to quote one history book, "did every year send forth swarms". Most came from South West Scotland, Lanark, Renfrew and Sterlingshire. But the traffic was not all one way.
Following the 1641 massacre over five hundred Ulster colonists took refuge on the Isle of Bute and, in the presbyteries of Ayr and Irvine, some four thousand others were in danger of starving.
A Scots army was in action in the Province that same year which also saw the start of the English Civil War, when savage atrocities were perpetrated by both sides in Ireland. Even before the 1690 Williamite war was at an end Presbyterian Scots poured into Ulster. It was estimated that between 1689 and 1715, fifty-thousand Scots families came to the Province. In fact records show that the Presbyterian population doubled between 1725 and 1727 to reach its peak two years later. The famine brought a halt to this population expansion and Ulster's inhabitants fell by 374,000 between 1841 and 1857, a drop of 15%.
The Scottish industrial and commercial connection began in earnest in 1855 when Edward J Harland, who had already helped design eleven iron steamers when employed by J & G Thomson at Govan and the Upper Clyde, completed his first ship in Belfast. Harland had been joined by Gustave Wolff a few years earlier.
There is no doubt that the arrival of Harland in Belfast encouraged many workers within the Scottish shipbuilding industry to further their careers by making the short journey across the Irish sea. And it was some of the children and grandchildren of just such men who eventually formed the Province's [Antrim] first "clannish" Masonic Lodge just 75 years ago.
ST ANDREW LODGE No 469.
The date was Wednesday 7th January 1920 and election fever gripped the city of Belfast; one hundred and forty three candidates were contesting sixty municipal seats. This mattered little to the eighteen foundation members of St Andrew Lodge 469 as they set off from their individual homes to participate in the constitution and dedication of their new masonic lodge.
One can only surmise that it was the signs of strife in Ireland in 1918, and the result of the December election - won by the revolutionary Sinn Fein party with an enormous majority - which elicited the formation of St Andrew 469. Why else would it have such a carefully drawn up bye-law which resolved that "every member shall be of Scottish nationality by birth or through a parent or grandparent born in Scotland."
Those early brethren must have felt themselves seriously threatened by the strident voice of Irish Nationalism to have taken such sequestered action. Very much aware of the evil dividing the community into hostile sections they approached Provincial Grand Lodge in February 1919 and put forward the case for "Scottish-made Masons ordinarily resident in Ireland but initiated in Scotland."
Realising that Britain had resigned itself to Irish independence, and honestly believing themselves to be in a state of siege, these expatriate Scots hastened their plans to make the best they could of a very serious situation. In no time at all they created a "hame frae hame" behind the closed porch doors of their own Masonic Lodge.
The preliminaries to constituting the St Andrew Lodge in January 1920 paralleled a bitter interval of terrorism and civil disorder. In December of that first year, before Foundation W.M. Br. Dr. Robert Watt had completed his term of office, Lloyd George finally forced through Westminster the Home Rule Bill which provided for two separate Irish Parliaments and Governments.
A careful search through the first St Andrew minute book reveals just how little the politics of the day impinged upon the working of this infant lodge. With the exception of two occasions peace, love and harmony prevailed within this "haggis haven" throughout the first year.
The September meeting of 469 in 1920 was an Emergency in every sense of the word. Because of weeks of protracted rioting it was held on Monday the 19th, instead of Wednesday 2nd. During this period, in one day alone, one-hundred-and-eighty major fires caused one million pounds worth of damage.
Despite this intense violence throughout Belfast eighteen St Andrew members and three visiting brethren attended the re-arranged September meeting which eventually had to close early "owing to the condition of the city."
In December, the last meeting of the year, a gathering of twenty-seven brethren of the lodge and three visitors (one of them from Scotland) agreed to "hold future meetings at the earlier hour of five o'clock because of the curfew."
But, I digress, let us get back to the night of the Constitution and Dedication. The R.W. Br. J.H.S. Stirling, Provincial District Grand Master of the Masonic Province of Antrim waited upon the new lodge at the Masonic Rooms, Scottish Provident Buildings, Belfast.
Acting Secretary Br. Robert Veitch PM read the Warrant and passed it to the Presiding Officer who then submitted the roll of Officers and Members and a copy of the Constitution and Bye Laws of the Lodge.
In his address the Provincial Grand Master expressed his pleasure at constituting a lodge which gave promise of being an asset, not only to the Masonic Province of Antrim, but to Irish Freemasonry in general.
The St Andrew Warrant 469 was first issued to Coagh in 1769 and remained there until 1805. From 1807 till 1859 it was in Cookstown and from 1882 till 1890 it was in Wellington, New Zealand.
It will interest our Scottish Brethren to hear the names of the Foundation Officers. Who knows there may well have been some of their ancestors attending that very evening.
W.M. was Br. Dr. Robert Watt PM;
Installing P.M., Br. Thomas C. Sherriff;
Senior Warden, Br. John M. Harris P.M.;
Junior Warden, Br. John Connel;
Treasurer Br. Robert Veitch P.M.;
Secretary, Br. James Stormonth P.M.;
Senior Deacon Br. Joseph H. McCrackin;
Junior Deacon Br. John Mackie;
Inner Guard, Br. Andrew Webster
Director of Ceremonies Br. Thomas Forbes.
Other Foundation members were Bros. William Adam, W.D. Keldie, Thomas Hetherington, James Buchannan, C. Arthur Cieland, William McGregor, Hugh Brown and William Hunter.
Six additional brethren were put forward for affiliation to the new lodge and seven other names submitted for initiation.
The Installation dinner at Thompson's Restaurant was attended by fifty-six brethren and the account came to £33-19-6. It is interesting to note that the Grand Lodge Warrant cost 10/- plus 18/6 for framing. Jewels for all the lodge officers cost £11-7-6, crest for the lodge die £2-15-0 and a rubber seal was 7/6.
THE FORMATIVE YEARS.
While no record was kept of what dress was worn at the launch of Belfast's first "Scottish" lodge there is little doubt that the ceremonial kilt and tartan were very much in evidence. More than half the foundation members had family names which currently feature in the "Surnames of Scotland" directory.
Twenty-two lodges were represented that evening in addition to the Provincial officers. W. Br. Robert Veitch was the lodge's first secretary and his minutes of the occasion, although brief and to the point, are penned in copy-book handwriting.
The secretary's. main job during the first year was to ensure that as many new members as possible were initiated. He rivalled Henry Ford as an organiser, and the end result of his production line was thirty-two degree ceremonies and ten Master Masons.
Just think about it. To put his achievement into its true perspective one has to allow for the two holiday months, the January installation, balloting in February plus a September meeting which had to close early because of the Troubles.
It was a mammoth task, and all carried out from within the lodge itself. The five Foundation brethren who conferred the degrees required four Emergency meetings.
The following degree achievement is worthy of a mention in the Masonic Book of Records.
MARCH: Two Firsts at an Emergency Meeting and, the same evening, five Firsts at the Stated Communication.
APRIL: Two Firsts at an Emergency Meeting and seven Seconds later.
MAY: One Third and one First at an Emergency and two Thirds later.
MAY 26th: Four Thirds at an Emergency.
JUNE: Three Seconds at an Emergency.
OCTOBER: Three Thirds at Stated Communication.
NOVEMBER: One Second at Stated Communication.
DECEMBER: One First at Stated Communication. The popularity of the St Andrew lodge was no doubt due to its Scottish connection but, during this period of time, there was an equal influx of candidates into many other lodges throughout Ireland.
Why else would Grand Lodge amend one if its bye laws at this juncture? Surely it was not just because of the mass production of Master Masons by a newly constituted lodge in Belfast? Whatever the cause, a circular was issued by Provincial Grand Lodge of Antrim, dated 7th December 1920 adding a clause to Grand Lodge Law No 138: Part Two. This limited to three the number of First and Third Degrees that could be conferred by a lodge at any one Communication.
A postscript to the letter stressed that this meant a "total" of three Degrees (being First or Third, or both) and the amendment should not be read in the sense that three Firsts and three Thirds might be given.
During the first year ten brethren were also welcomed to St. Andrew on affiliation. Initiation fees were £8-8-0 (immediately raised to £10-10-0), affiliation fees £3-3-0 and the annual dues £2-2-0.
The lodge received £159-2-6 in its first year and finished with a deficit of £7-1-3. A total of £21-12-3 was collected for charities.
After the excitement of 1920 the following year could well have been an anticlimax. But with the foundation secretary W. Br. Robert Veitch in the chair such was not the case. The installation dinner, which now included the piping in of, and address to, the haggis, was attended by thirty-three members who were joined by thirteen visiting brethren. The average attendance at meetings in 1921 was forty.
The tradition of presenting the Past Master with a jewel bearing an enamelled St. Andrew Cross began in 1923.
The initial cost was £4-4-0 each and, when compared with present day prices, three similar jewels purchased last year cost £638.00
St. Andrew, no doubt because of its Scottish influence, gained a reputation which attracted many visitors and there is written evidence from this period which records it was one of the best managed lodges in the Province.
Its reputation for ritual was also recognised when W. Br. John H. Harris was appointed Assistant Instructor to the Provincial Grand Lodge of Antrim. Stormont, home of Northern Ireland's Parliament, was opened in November 1932 by the Prince of Wales and the Thirties was a decade of consolidation for St. Andrew. The flood of candidates had dried up and, although the lodge membership was fifty, there was not one initiation or affiliation in 1930.
W.Bro. William Macnab, the present "father of the lodge", still a regular attender in his nineties, was proposed in April 1934 but, because he had not been living long enough in the district, the ballot was held over for three months. He became a Master Mason in April 1935.
In February 1936 a notice of motion before the lodge to rescind the "nationality" clause restricting membership was withdrawn.
In 1938 numbers were down to thirty-seven, with no initiations at all the previous year. Brethren were requested to encourage some of the many Scotsmen who had recently come to work in the city to join. This was immediately successful.
With the outbreak of war in 1939 brethren adapted themselves to the contingency of wartime regulations. Meetings were held at seven p.m. and dress made "informal" for the installation dinner.
The Province shared the burdens of war with the rest of the United Kingdom and Empire, being only three hours flying time from Germany. Despite this fact, it was not until April 7th and 8th, 1941 that the Nazi bombers made the first of what was to be a number of raids on Belfast.
This was four months after St Andrew celebrated its 21st anniversary by endowing two commemorative chairs to the Masonic Charities.
Some fifty brethren attended a special musical programme which was presented at a March dinner to mark the lodge's coming of age.
Then the Province was reminded that the phoney war was over. An unexploded bomb, dropped during an air raid on Belfast closed the city centre and meant the postponement of the May meeting.
On Sunday May 4th, during a three and a half hour period after midnight, Luftwaffe bombers dropped
95,992 incendiaries and 237 tons of high explosive on Belfast.
Surprisingly, the death toll was only 191, but by now 53% of Belfast's housing stock had been destroyed or badly damaged. The ensuing Harland and Wolff claim of three million pounds for bomb damage was the largest single amount sought by any firm in the United Kingdom during the war.
Not to be outdone, because of the war risk St. Andrew lodge insured its regalia and jewels for £100.
Despite the war situation the lodge had fifty-one members and managed to continue with its social activities.
In 1945 the June meeting was changed to September and at this time the proposed new Belfast headquarters at Rosemary Street was the main topic of conversation. St. Andrew agreed to an annual levy of 4/- per member toward the appeal.
There was a record number present at the 1949 installation dinner when the account for food was £22-15-0 and the drink bill was £13-9-10.
In 1950 the lodge sustained a great loss with the passing of its first Worshipful Master W. Br. Dr. Robert Watt.
This was a healthy period in the lodge's history. A minute, recorded in November 1952, reports a membership of seventy and, on the strength of this, it was decided to buy 12 Master Mason aprons at £1-2-6 each, plus an officer's apron at £2.
The Covenant Scheme for Charities was started in 1953 and W.Br. Murchison, a St. Andrew member, was the first brother in Ireland to join. (Who said Scottish brethren are tight with their money?)
This was the period when Rosemary Street Headquarters was being built and in 1956, when it was formally opened, St. Andrew was allocated Lodge Room A on the first floor.
In 1959 Gordon Thomas Crabbe was proposed for initiation. Still an active member W.Br. Crabbe is the third generation of his family to enjoy the fellowship of St. Andrew. His grandfather W.Br. Veitch was the lodge's first secretary and his father, who also joined in 1920, was W.M. in 1929 and treasurer from 1930 until his death in 1961.
During the Sixties period finance permanently occupied the mind and a "precarious" money situation developed at 469. In 1965, the night W.Br. Jack Macdonald was installed, the death of W.Br. Tom Forbes, the last remaining foundation member of St. Andrew, was recorded.
It was just a few months after Lodge 469 was constituted that an aeroplane flew the Atlantic for the first time and now, as the lodge celebrated its 50th birthday, the Americans had just landed a man on the moon.
But the year 1970 was anything but a Golden one for Northern Ireland. In the wake of the world student protest the "troubles" erupted into vicious civil rights violence which further polarised the sectarian divisions.
As usual none of this political conflict intruded on the workings of St. Andrew when W.Br. Michael Dow was installed at the Golden Jubilee communication in January 1970.
In 1971, although some brethren pressed for an early decision to be made regarding birth qualification for intending lodge members, the matter was not finalised until 1972 when W. Bro. Gordon Crabbe occupied the chair.
While acknowledging the weak state of lodge membership, and recognising the need to broaden the terms of the restricting lodge bye law, many brethren were reluctant to lose St. Andrew's unique Scottish identity.
Finally, after much heart searching and discussion, it was W.Br. Willie Macnab who proposed that the introduction of the word "preferably" in the appropriate place within the bye law might be the best compromise. This was seconded and passed.
The amended bye law, still operative to-day, now reads: "Every candidate for membership, shall be, preferably, of Scottish nationality either by birth or through parent or grandparent born in Scotland or be the son of a member of the lodge."
Many of the present brethren joined the lodge after 1975. W.Br. John McIlwaine (the current secretary) received his Third in September 1981.
In 1983 the lodge piper W.Br. John Shepherd was made an honorary member of St. Andrew and in 1984 W.Br. Robert McCracken, the Junior Warden, started the St. Andrew tradition of inviting visiting brethren to the Festive Board in rhyme.
The same brother's installation in 1986 was a memorable occasion. The then Provincial Grand Master of Antrim Rt. W. Br. Robert L. Orr was the distinguished guest and he presented a 50 year jewel and a 10 year bar to W.Br. Andrew Baron and a 50 year jewel to W.Br. Willie Macnab.
In October the same year the present W.M. W.Br. Jack Grundie was proposed for membership.
To paraphrase our own Rabbie Bums "the troubles were still making countless thousands mourn" when the final decade of this century opened.
But now let me bring this all too brief record up-to-date for the next historian with the task of recording the St. Andrew Centenary. The lodge has forty-five members and present dues are £40 for Full members, £11 for Country members and £25 for Retired brethren. Annual subscription toward the Jewel fund is £4. Initiation fee is £50 and Affiliation is £30. In 1994 the lodge gave £800 to Masonic Charities.
I must say that researching and writing “The Scottish Connection” has given me great pleasure and been a labour of love.
To-night, as I present this abridged version, the Province, probably for the first time in St. Andrew's history, is at peace. Who can tell if this will be permanent or whether, as the lodge moves ever closer toward its centenary, we shall once again become hostage to the terrorist bomb and bullet?
But whatever may be in store for us we can be certain that this Ulster Lodge, with its Scottish Connection, shows little evidence of slowing down. Rest assured that it will long continue to create friendships and encourage Brotherhood through the common fraternal interest of Freemasonry.
Let me conclude with some verse which I have written especially to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of St. Andrew Lodge 469. It is in the style of, and with apologies to, Scotland's National Poet, Brother Robert Burns.
St. Andrew, far kend and noted is thy name,
Great is thy glory an' endless thy fame.
To the emigre Scot thou hast ay been a hame,
For five an' seventy years.
May the Brithers' own Patron for ever remain,
Guiding their Labour as the guid Lord ordain,
An ae let His peace, love and harmony reign,
Through the Lodge’s hundred years.
Great is thy glory an' endless thy fame.
To the emigre Scot thou hast ay been a hame,
For five an' seventy years.
May the Brithers' own Patron for ever remain,
Guiding their Labour as the guid Lord ordain,
An ae let His peace, love and harmony reign,
Through the Lodge’s hundred years.
