Lodge St Peter No.120

A Short History of the Lodge

AN HISTORICAL SKETCH

By BROTHER A. W. H. MACDONALD, P.M.

Like most of its contemporaries Lodge St Peter emerged unobtrusively on the Masonic scene, the reasons being tactfully expressed in its Charter in the following terms: —

‘To All and Sundry to whose knowledge these presents shall come Greeting in God Everlasting Whereas upon application to the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Mafons for the Kingdom of Scotland by Wm. Smith Esqre. of Forret Alexander Melvill John Caird & Charles Strachan Members of the Ancient Lodge of Montrose & David Scott from St Ninnians at Brechine in their own name and in names of others residing in and about Montrofe Setting Furth that they were much concerned to promote the honour & Interest of Masonry in General and more particularly where they reside and being at a distance from their Mother Lodges they were desirous to be by Charter from the Grand Lodge constituted into a regular Lodge by the Stile & Title of St Peter’s Montrose and they proposed the said Wm. Smith Esqre, for Master Mefsrs. Alexr. Melvill and John Caird for Wardens Mr David Scott Treasurer & Mr Charles Strachan Secretary and praying that it might please the Grand Lodge to grant them a Charter of Erection in the usual form—which Petition having been considered by the Grand Lodge of Scotland with a Certificate of the Petitioners being Master Masons, they authorised the Under Written Patent of Constitution and Erection to be expede in the petrs. favours . . . ’

The reasons given were certainly true as far as W. Smith was concerned for at that time he was studying at Edinburgh University, and his Mother Lodge, not Montrose Kilwinning No. 15 as implied in the Charter, but the Lodge of Holyrood House (St Luke) No. 44. The story of his spectacular career is told in elaborate detail in R. S. Lindsay’s admirable History of that Edinburgh Lodge. Brother Smith’s impact on Lodge St Peter was more negative, however, for he failed to occupy the Chair and some years later gave the Montrose Brethren cause for a complaint to Grand Lodge that he was making Masons in Montrose on ‘behoof of his Lodge of St Luke’, of which Lodge he was Right Worshipful Master. Both Murray Lyon and Lindsay show, however, that Wm. Smith was able to satisfy Grand Lodge, and the characteristic tolerance of Lodge St Peter is indicated by the fact that three of those clandestinely-made Masons were afterwards accepted as members.
Of the other founders the only one who might excite general interest has been identified as John Caird, farmer, Denside of Dunottar, who, by his marriage with Elspet Burnes became an uncle of Robert Burns, and likewise also associated with a family subsequently linked with the Lodge through four more generations, producing no fewer than five of its Masters, and providing it with much of historic interest. Burns, in a letter to his cousin ‘Mr James Bumess, Writer, Montrose’ from Lochlea, and dated 21st June 1783, wrote: — ‘My brother writes to John Caird, and to him I must refer you for the news of our family This James Burness was already a member of the Lodge, the same cousin to whom the Poet addressed his death-bed appeal.

The initial handicap of an absentee Master having been overcome, the Lodge began its long career. Till 1878 it met in various taverns or hotels, more often than not unnamed and unidentified except through the name of its ‘Grand Steward’ who was usually a vintner. Despite its all too frequent change of meeting place the Minute Books have been preserved, as also the original Bye-Law Book. The latter was introduced at a meeting held on the 3rd September 1770 in these words: — ‘The Bye-Laws and Regulations of the Lodge being publickly read were approven of and signed by all the members present’. There is no evidence that these laws were ever approved by Grand Lodge. The signing of this book is traditionally maintained.

The Laws remained in operation, with minor alteration, until the 1880’s when the Provincial Grand Lodge of Forfarshire commenced its annual visits. It was then pointed out that most of the Laws no longer conformed to the Book of Constitutions. They were twenty-seven in number and provide the Masonic student with an insight into eighteenth century practice in a provincial Lodge far removed from supervision. Without going into detail, the following points seem worthy of notice: — Members bound themselves to attend Lodge unless prevented by sickness, if living within four miles and to pay 6d. sterling at each meeting; fines not exceeding 6d. and/or censure were inflicted on absentees; an Entrant paid a guinea to the Lodge, a shilling to the ‘Officer’ and a shilling for ‘cloathing’. Passing cost 10s.6d. with another shilling to the ‘Officer’, but no dues were demanded for Raising; that strictest order and decency should be observed in the Lodge, and that ‘any Brother that break or disturb the Peace and Harmony by cursing, swearing, uttering prophane or obscene Expressions towards the Chair’ should be rebuked, and if he persisted should be subject to a penalty not exceeding 6d.; that ‘Examinators’ should be appointed at each meeting to test visitors; and that free entries should be confined to ‘Clergymen, any ingenious Artists and all Musicians’. The method of choosing the Master is described thus: — ‘That the Election of Master and other Officers of the Lodge shall be held upon St Andrew’s Day yearly, and for preventing Disputes thereanent the following rules shall be observed, viz., The Master and Wardens for the Time shall make a Leet of Two they shall judge most worthy of the office of Master and shall report their Names next meeting immediately preceeding [sic] St Andrew’s Day and that the Master for the Time shall at making such Report have the privilege of making known the Gentleman he chuses by taking him by the Hand, and lastly, that at the Time of Election in case the Brethren are not for either of the two proposed they shall proceed by Balloting or voting as they shall incline ’. In practice, the Brethren usually made a choice of their own and the hand-shaking ceremony soon fell into desuetude.

Although membership showed a cross-section of the community, merchants predominated, and as, until the close of the century, Montrose was a thriving port, as might be expected, seafarers— particularly shipmasters—are among the frequent entries, even Continental ports being represented.

During those final three decades of the eighteenth century the Minutes record an assortment of incidents of more than passing interest but too numerous to mention. However, the meeting of 9th December 1790 provides an unusual occurrence. It was proposed and seconded “That H.R.H. George Augustus Frederick, Prince of Wales, being now Grand Master of England, should be assumed a member of this Lodge, and That a Diploma should be sent him with the Seal of the Lodge appended, in a Gold Box with a proper device thereupon and a suitable Address on the occasion.” This was agreed and duly carried out, but whether H.R.H. accepted the ‘honour’ is open to doubt. The Keeper of the Royal Archives at the Round Tower, Windsor, when approached recently, could find no trace. About this time, Ben. Lumsden, a well-known goldsmith and silversmith whose silverware still occasionally appears in the locality, had been admitted a member, and his services were utilised on this occasion. He was subsequently responsible for engraving a plate for the Lodge Diploma, which previously had to be laboriously hand-written. He has also been identified as the anonymous donor of what is known as the Lodge Jewel. This was worn by the Master, and the tradition maintained well into the nineteenth century, when the pieces fell apart and the Jewel discarded and forgotten. It was a handsome gold locket with an intricate design of enamelled Masonic symbols. Some months ago, it was skilfully restored by Brother W. S. Dunnett, and the tradition revived by Brother Wm. Weir, Provincial Grand Master of Forfarshire, who, at the Festival of St John, held in March 1960, ceremonially invested the Master with this ancient Jewel.

The Lumsden family was responsible for another relic, as, in 1793 Ben. Lumsden, Sr., an Aberdeen Brother, handed over ‘an ancient Highland broadsword for the use of the Tyler’. It has remained in use ever since.
The wearing of regalia in public is extremely rare today but in those early years it was a frequent occurrence. The Festival of St John provided one excuse, particularly towards the close of the eighteenth century, when attendance at the Episcopal Church of St Peter was involved. The laying of foundation stones gave another opportunity. The ceremony is too well- known to elaborate, but some unusual features present themselves occasionally. One such occurred on 27th February 1815, when Montrose Academy began building. A week earlier a Brother Wm. Smith (no relation to the Charter Master), of Lodge St John Operative, No. 92, Banff, was affiliated, and informed the Brethren that he had contracted with the Magistrates to erect an Academy on the Links and that ‘he wished to have the countenance and support of his Masonic Brethren that the Stone might be laid by them in proper form, and requested that the Right Worshipful Master would dis¬charge the duties on that occasion of Master Mason’.

The subsequent ceremony was minuted in great detail, including this excerpt: ‘Mrs Ford, accompanied by Lady Ramsay, Mrs Carnegie of Craigo and several ladies of distinction had in the meantime arrived in their carriages at the gate, whither the Provost of Montrose and the Master of St Peter’s Lodge now returned to receive them and conduct them into the circle. The Master of St Peter’s (Brother James A. Burnes) officially as Grand Master then invested Mrs Ford with the insignia of the Order; and the Brethren testified their joy by giving all the Honours of Masonry’.
The usual articles, in a glass container sealed in a leaden casket, were deposited with the stone. In recent years, alterations to the Academy have been made, and early in 1959 the pneumatic drill of a workman rudely disturbed the foundation stone and its casket. The contents are now on display at the Academy, and the parchment document discloses an unusual error — it gives the Lodge number as 134, whereas its number on the roll at that period was 154.

That familiar landmark of Montrose, the steeple of the Old Church, is a reminder of the skill of the same Master Builder, Brother Wm. Smith, although he was not the original contractor. Officials who were to take a prominent part in the stone-laying ceremony on 1st August 1832, were made Masons with unseemly haste a week or so earlier, an action which did not apparently meet with Divine approval since the builder, a member of a South Queensferry Lodge, abandoned the project after part of the steeple had been erected. Bailie Smith remedied the unpleasant situation by demolishing what had been done, deepening the foundations another six feet (thereby disclosing an ancient burial place), and starting the project all over again, this time without Masonic ceremonial.
The decade now reached provided the Lodge with its most glamorous period. One of the entrants for the ceremony mentioned above was the local M.P., Horatio Ross of Rossie, godson of Lord Nelson, and son of Hercules Ross. The last-named, an eighteenth-century tycoon who had made a fortune in ‘sugar and tobacco’ in the West Indies, became friendly with Nelson during that period. On retiring, Hercules Ross (who claimed descent from Robert Bruce) bought the estate of Rossie and built a pseudo-Gothic castle there. He joined Lodge St Peter as a fellowcraft from a Lodge in Jamaica and later became Right Worshipful Master on two occasions. When his son Horatio became a member in 1832 the Lodge already had another M.P. on the roll, Sir James Duke, Bt., a former Lord Mayor of London. Although the two never met in Lodge, they certainly met at Westminster as both were in favour of the passing of the First Reform Act, 1832.

The Minutes of 14th February 1834 are regrettably brief, for on that occasion Brother Sir Alexander Burnes, the distinguished traveller and diplomat, addressed the Lodge on becoming an Honorary Member. In the course of this apparently eloquent address he referred to finding traces of Masonic symbols in the remotest parts of Asia, thus providing one of those rare occasions when a verbatim report would have been of the utmost value to posterity. Present at this meeting were his father Brother Provost James A. Burnes and his older brother Adam.
In August of 1834 the three remaining sons of Provost Burnes entered the Lodge — Dr James, Dr David and Charles. The last-named, along with his distinguished brother Sir Alexander, was destined to meet a tragic end in Kabul in November 1841 when both were butchered by Afghan dissidents, an event which prompted a rarity in Masonic annals—an obituary in the Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge.

Note: In his Travels into Bokhara Sir Alexander Burnes made one Masonic reference only. While in Kabul in 1832 before proceeding into Turkestan he was the guest of Nawab Jubber Khan, brother of Dost Mohammed, and on one occasion stated: — “The good man declared that he must have some of our knowledge in return for what he told so freely. I informed him I belonged to a sect called Freemasons and gave some account of the Craft, into which he requested to be admitted without delay. But. as the number of the Brethren must be equal to that of the Pleiades, we put it off- to a convenient opportunity. He confidently believed that he had at last got scent of magic in its purest dye; and had it been in my power, I would willingly have initiated him.

Dr James Burnes, the eldest of the five brothers, is probably the best known Masonically for he was later instrumental in introducing Scottish Freemasonry into India. From 1834 until he returned to India in 1837 as Provincial Grand Master, Western Provinces, India, he enjoyed a wider variety of Masonic experience and gained a more profound knowledge of the subject than most achieve in a lifetime.
The Lodge possesses two relics associated with him — the V.S.L. he presented on vacating the Chair in 1836, and a gilded teak gavel.

The inscription on the cover of the V.S.L. reads: —‘From the R. W. Brother James Burnes, the third Master in descent of that name and family of St Peter’s Lodge, Montrose, as a token of affection to his Brethren, A.D.1836, A.L. 5836’. Inside is a hand-written inscription, as follows: — ‘The Grand Master readily complies with the request made to him by his R. W. and valued Bro. Burnes, to inscribe his name on this page. In doing so he avails himself of the opportunity to congratulate the Lodge St Peter, Montrose, in selecting as their Master a Brother so distinguished for his unwearied zeal and Masonic ardour. The Grand Master has learned with peculiar pleasure from the inscription on this volume, the long connection which has subsisted between the family of that Brother, and St Peter’s Lodge; and he trusts that the tie may long remain unbroken. For himself, the third Grand Master in descent of his name and family, he knows and can appreciate the feeling of increased interest and mutual affection which so prolonged a connection is calculated to produce. The Grand Master cannot on this occasion lay down his pen without conveying to the Lodge St Peter, his sincere good wishes for their future welfare and prosperity, and he believes that the Brethren of that Lodge will not value this expression of goodwill the less, that it comes from the Grandson of the Grand Master whose name stands upon their Charter of Constitution. (Sgd.) Ramsay, G. M. Ed. Dec. 2nd. A.L. 5836.’

Significantly, many years later, when Lord Ramsay, now the Earl of Dalhousie, arrived in Bombay as Governor General of India, he received a deputation from Lodge ‘Rising Star of Western India’, No. 342, and accepted their ‘Founders’ Jewel’, which depicted the effigy, struck by Wyon, of his old friend the Chevalier Dr James Burnes, first Master of that Lodge.
The gavel referred to was used by Dr Burnes when, in 1843, he laid the foundation stone with Masonic ceremonial of the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy Hospital in Bombay. It is on permanent loan to the Lodge by courtesy of the Montrose Antiquarian Society.
The family connection continued when Brother Adam Burnes, Notary Public, followed his brother James in the Chair, and the next generation was represented by Commander Albert W. Whish, R.N., whose mother was a daughter of Provost Burnes. He took office at a critical moment in the history of the Lodge, but under his effective leadership it recovered something of its former glory.
Other relics of historic interest include a pair of handsome swords originally intended for the Tylers but now used by the Sword-bearers. They were presented in 1854 by a Brother Lieut. Robert Scott Hunter of the Scots Greys who, as Captain, later commanded a troop of the Greys at Balaclava, Inkerman and Sevastopol. Housed in a mahogany case they were despatched from Loughborough Barracks, Leicestershire, prior to the departure of the Regiment for the Crimea. The letter of thanks followed him and his response came thus: —

‘Balaklava, Crimea, Russia.
Dec. 26th 1854.

Dear Sir and Brother,
I need not say how gratified I was at the receipt of your letter (dated Dec. 7th.) annexed as it was to a very flattering testimony of the good wishes of the Members of St Peter’s Lodge towards me.
Afsure them that I look forward with as much pleasure to my next meeting with them, as to any which await me, if I am spared to return to my country.
I hope you will excuse my writing a more formal acknowledgment of your letter, as in the field there is but little time for correspondence. I beg you to tender to the R.W. Master, and to the Wor. the Wardens and Brethren my sincere thanks for their kindness and appreciation of the honour they have done me. Wishing you all the compliments of the Season.

Believe me Dear Sir and Brother,
Yours very sincerely and fraternally,
(Sgd.) Robert Scott Hunter,
2nd. Dragoons—Scots Greys.’

During the rest of the nineteenth century many other distinguished names appear on the roll, and the present age has also produced its quota. Of these, mention must be made of a Brother whose public career must be familiar to all. In November 1917, Captain William Shepherd Morrison, M.C., R.F.A., was admitted. His sojourn in Montrose was brief but, unknown as he then was, he endeared himself to the Brethren of the period. Whilst Speaker of the House of Commons he took out Life Membership and presented a photograph of himself in his robes. Later, as Viscount Dunrossil and Governor General of Australia, his filial regard remained unabated, and another photograph followed depicting him in the uniform of his new exalted position.
The roll would not be complete without including the name of Brother Captain Thomas Lyell, M.C., P.M., who held the office of Provincial Grand Master of Forfarshire, 1929-34.
Thus, the Lodge, whilst pursuing its normal duties of Craft Masonry in modest and unspectacular fashion, can justifiably claim, through the dis¬tinguished careers of a considerable number of its past Members, a niche of its own in Scottish Freemasonry.
No formal crest, with appropriate motto, was ever adopted. Instead, the Brethren of the present era have chosen to use the design, in all its crudity, of the original ‘Common Seal’ of the Lodge, and to live up to the motto suggested by its own patron Saint: —

‘Honour All Men—Love the Brotherhood’.

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©Research by Iain D. McIntosh