Chapter 24
D. K." referred to by Dr Knipe.
1 JS.g. The Christian names of Borthwick, Woodman, and Grey, though shortened by Ashmole to Rich., Will., and
Wm., respectively, are fully set out in the publication of 1774. This process, however, is reversed in the cases of Will.
Woodman and SamueU Taylour, so styled by the antiquary— the former beuomiug Wudman, and the latter losing the
final I of his Christian name in the repriut.
174 EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND.
ceremonial, is without a parallel — lias been quietly passed over, and, in fact, endorsed, by
commentators of learning and ability, by wliose successive transcriptions of a statement
originally incorrect, the original error has been increased, as a stone set rolling down hill
accelerates its velocity.^
It has been observed by De Quincey, that " the labourers of the mine, or those who dig up
the metal of truth, are seldom iitted to be also labourers of the mint — that is, to work up
the metal for current use." Of this aphorism, as it seems to me, Dr Knipe — whose dili-
gence and good faith I do not impeach— affords a conspicuous illustration. The paucity
and inaccuracy of Ashmole's biographers leave much to be desired. It is, therefore, the
more to be regretted, that the solitary " witness of history," whose contribution towards his
memoir was based on original documents, notably the " collection " of papers, or materials
for a contemplated work on Freemasonry, should have been unequal to the task of sum-
marising with greater minuteness, the conclusions of the eminent man whom he describes
as "our worthy brother," and by citing references that have now escaped us, have so far
widened the area over which research can be profitably directed, as to carry us back to a
period at least as far removed from Ashmole's time as the latter is from our own.
In his communication to the writer of Ashmole's life, Dr Knipe ignored the distinction
which should always exist between the historian, properly so called, and the contributor
or purveyor to history. " Those who supply the historian with facts must leave much of
the discrimination to him, and must be copious, as weU as accurate, in their information." -
From the facts collected and arranged by antiquaries, the history of past ages is in a great
measure composed. The services of this class of writers are invalualjle to the historian,
and he frequently applies and turns to account, in a manner which they never contem-
plated, facts which their diligence has brought to light.^
It has been well remarked that "we admire the strange enthusiast, who, braving the
lethargic atmosphere of the Academic library, ventures in, and draws forth the precious
manuscript from the stagnant pools, whose silent waters engulph the untouched treasures
collected by Bodley or Laud, Junius or liawlinson. Gale or Moor or Parker: yet fully as
new and important is the information obtained from the trite, well known, and familiar
authorities, wliich have only waited for the Interrogator, asking them to make the disclosure." *
If, then, either from a want of capacity on the part of Dr Knipe, or from the absence
of the critical faculty in Dr Campbell, the memoir of Ashmole in the " Biographia
Britannica" must be pronounced a very inferior piece of workmanship: let us, however,
see whether, whilst anything like a ;j?-^cis of his real views is withheld from our know-
' Cf. Lewis, On the Methods of Observation and Reasoning in Politics, vol. i., p. 227.
2 Hid., vol. i., p. 295, "It is useful to observe on a large scale, and to collect much authentic material, which
will afterwards undergo the winnowing process " (Ibid. ).
3 " It is difficult to draw the line between those facts which are important, and those which are unimportant to the
historian. A power of seizing remote analogies, and of judging by slight though sure indications, may extract a mean-
ing from a fact which, to an ordinary sight, seems wholly insignificant" (Lewis, loc. cit.).
4 Sir F. Palgrave, History of Normandy and of England, vol. i., 1851, p. 18 ; Cf. Guizot, Hist, de la Civilisation
en France, 27'enio le(;on, p. 63. " Facts pregnant with most signal truths have, until our own times, continued unin-
vestigated and unimproved ; though plain and patent, presented to every reader, fruitlessly forcing themselves upon our
notice, against which historians were previously constantly hitting theii- feet, and as constantly spurning out of their
path " ( I'algrave, loc. cit. ).
EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND. 175
ledge, we can extract any information from the references to authorities which, however
trite and familiar in the estimation of the two doctors, now derive what vitality they
may possess from the circumstance of filling up a casual footnote in a work of such high
reputation.
Among the references given by Dr Knipe, there are two upon which I shall slightly
enlarge. The first is to a " History of Masonry," the second a letter or communication from
" Dr W. to Sir D. N., June 9, 1687/' Taking these in their order — what is this " History of
Masonry," to which allusion was made in 1747 ? It is something quite distinct from the
histories given in the Constitutions of 1723 or 1738, and in the "Pocket Companions." The
pagination, moreover, indicated in the notes — viz., 3, 19, and 29 — not only shows that in the
work cited, more space was devoted to the account of English ]\Iasonry in the Middle Ages'
than we find in any publication of even date, with which it is possible to collate these refer-
ences, but by resting the allusion to the Papal Bulls on the authority of page 3, materially
increases the difficulties of identification. Dr Anderson fills sixty pages of his " Book of Con-
stitutions " 1 before he names the first Grand Master or Patron of the Freemasons of England,
and not untQ page 69 of that work do we reach Henry III., in connection, moreover, with
which king there appears (in the " Constitutions " referred to) no mention of the BuUs.^ The
" Pocket Companions " were successively based on the Constitutions of 1723 and 1738, and no
separate and independent " History of Masonry " was published, so far as I am aware, before
the appearance of " Multa Paucis " * in 1763-4. It is true that in the inventory of books
belonging to the Lodge of Relief, Bury, Lancashire— present No. 42 — in 1756, we find, " History
of Masonry (Price 3s.) ; " * but, as suggested by Hughan — and mentioned by the compiler m
a note — this was probably Scott's " Pocket Companion " and " History of Masonry " 1754.
One of the further references by Dr Knipe to the work under consideration, is given as his
authority for the statement, that Henry VII. used the Preemasons as spies — an item of Masonic
history not to be found in any publication of the craft with which I am acquainted. A friend
has suggested, that the " History " referred to, may have been that of Ashmole hunself in its
incomplete state. This, however, forcibly recalls the story of the relic exhibited as Balaam's
sword, and the explanation of the cicerone, when it was objected that the prophet had no
sword, but only wished for one, that it was the identical weapon he wished he had !
One expression, indeed, in the Memoir — " Book of Letters " — lets in a possible, though not,
in my judgment, a probable, solution of the difficulty. The " Book of Letters, communicated
by Dr Knipe " to the author of the life, may have been a bound or stitched volume of corre-
spondence, paged throughout for facility of reference, and labelled " History of Masonry " by the
sender. If this supposition is entertainable, it may be also assumed that the several letters
would be arranged in due chronological order — a view of the case which is not only consistent
with, but also to some extent supported by, the variation of method adopted by Dr Campbell
in citing the authority for Ashmole's alleged dissent from the conclusions of Dr Plot, as a letter
from Dr W. to Sir D. N., under a given date. As militating, however, against this hypothesis.
' Ed. 1738. ' Nuither Henry III. nor the Papal Bulls are mentioned in the Constitutions of 1723.
>Chap. XII., p. 37.
* E. A. Evans, History of the Lodge of Relief, No. 42, p. 24. The "History of Frocmasoniy " is unfortunately no
longer in the possession of the lodge.
176 EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND.
it has been shewn that -whilst Dr Campbell's references to the " History of Masonry " range from
page 3 to page 29 of that work or volume, the entire subject-matter which their authority
covers, is contained within the limits of a single letter — a letter, moreover, plainly
replying to such questions as we may imagine the compiler of the memoir would have addressed
to some Oxford correspondent, and which is only reconcilable with any other view of the facts
by assuming that two other persons of lost identity — but the result of whose labours has happily
been preserved — severally 'preceded Campbell and Knipe in the collection and i^reparation of
materials for a similar biography of Ashmole.^
The letter or communication, which is made the authority for Ashmole having expressed
disapproval of the statements in Plot's " Natural History of Staffordshire," is equally enigmatical,
and I have quite failed to identify either the Dr W. or the Sir D. N., cited as the writer
and recipient respectively of that document. Doctors Wilkins, Wharton, and Wren were aU
on friendly terms with Ashmole ; but Wilkins died in 1672, Wharton in 1677, and Dr, became
Sir Christopher Wren in 1674 The only trace of Sir D. N. I can find occurs, as previously
stated,^ in a note to Lilly's autobiography, which, as all the notes were professedly written by
Ashmole, though not printed until after his death (1715), may point to the identity of what in
these days would be termed his literary executor, with the individual to whom was addressed
the letter of June 9, 1687.
The solution of these two puzzles I leave, however, to those students of our antiquities who,
diverging from the high road, are content to patiently explore the by-paths of Masonic history,
where, indeed, even should they find in this particular instance nothing to reward their research,
their labours cannot fail to swell the aggregate of materials, upon which the conclusions of
future liistorians may be as safely founded, as I shall venture to hope they will be gratefully
recorded.
With the exceptions of the allusion to " the wise Henry VII.," the statement that Ashmole
contemplated writing a History of the Craft, and the so-called " opinion " of the antiquary
respecting the Papal Bull granted in the reign of Henry III., there is nothing in the memoir
which we cannot trace in publications of earlier date. A great part of it is evidently based
on Eawlinson's preface to the " Antiquities of Berkshire," * of which the words, " Kings them-
selves have not disdain'd to enter themselves into this Society," are closely paraphrased by
Dr Knipe, though the term " Emperors " — unless a free rendering of " Kings " — I take to be
the coinage of his own brain. The view expressed with regard to the introduction of Free-
masonry into England, is apparently copied from the Constitutions of 1738 ; whilst the allusions
to Henry VI. and Edward IV.* are evidently based on the earlier or original edition of tlie
same work
• The second edition of the " Biograpliia Biitatinica," vol. i., 1778, contaiiieil a reprint of the article "Axhmok;"
and as readers generally consult a work of reference in its latest form, the allusion to a " History of Masonry " in 1778,
when not only " Multa Faucis" (ante, p. 37), but also several editions of Preston's "Illustrations," were in general
circulation, would be devoid of the significance attaching to a like reference in the edition of 1747. Plot's parchment
volum, or History of the craft, and Knipe's " History of Masonry," each allude to Hen. VI., but differ as to the origin
of the Society. The words, moreover, " ex rotulo numbranaceo," etc., are used by the latter doctor to describe some-
thing quite distinct from the " History."
» Ante, p. 173, note 4. ' Ante, Chap. XII., p. 17.
* In the Constitutions of 1738, p. 75, we read: — "A Record in the Reign of Edw. IV. says, the Company o/ Masons,
leing otherwise termed Free Masons, of Auntient Staunding and good Reckoning, by means of affable, and kind Meetings
EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND. 177
To what extent, it may now be asked, does this memoir of Ashmole by Dr Campbell add
to the stock of knowledge respecting the former's connection with our Society, and the condi-
tions imder which Freemasonry either flourished, or was kept alive during the first half of the
seventeenth century ? I am afraid very little. It generally happens that different portions of
a mythico-historical period^ are very unequally illuminated. The earlier parts of it will
approximate to the darkness of the mythical age, while the later years will be distinguished
from a period of contemporary history by the meagreuess, rather than by the imcertainty of
the events.^ This is precisely wliat we find exemplified by the annals of the Craft, of which
those most remote in date, are based to a great extent upon legendary materials, whilst later
ones — extending over an epoch commencing with early Scottish Masonry in the sixteenth
century, and ending with the formation of an English Grand Lodge in 1717 — though closing
what in a restricted sense I have ventured to describe as the pre-historic or mythico-
historical period,^ really deal with events which come within the light of history,
although many of the surrounding circumstances are still enveloped in the most extreme
darkness.
If, indeed, the extent to which ^lasonic archaeology has been a loser, through the non-
publication of Ashmole's contemplated work, can be estimated with any approach to accuracy,
by a critical appraisement of the fragment given in his memoir — the worthlessness of the latter,
regarded from an historical point of view, may well leave us in doubt, whether, except as to
circumstances respecting which he could testify as an eye or ear witness, the history designed
by " our worthy brother," would have fulfilled any other purpose, than reducing to more exact
demonstration the learned credulity of the writer.
If Ashmole really expressed the opinion which has been ascribed to him, with regard to
the Papal Bull in Henry III.'s time being confirmative only, and if the " collection " dipped
into by Dr Knipe gave chapter and verse for the statement, the exhumation of the lost
Ashmolean documents would seem a thing very greatly to be desired.
Yet, on the other hand, it is quite possible that if we could trace opinions to their actual
sources, and assuming Ashmole to have really expressed the belief which has been ascribed to
him, it might be found to repose upon no more substantial foundation, than the reveries of
those philosophers who, to use the words of the elder Disraeli, " have too often flung over the
gaping chasms, which they cannot fill up, the slight plank of a vague conjecture, or have
dyvcrse tymes, and as a loving Brotherhood use to do, did freqilent this mutual Assembly in the tyme of Henry VI., in the
twelfth year of his Most Graeious Reign, viz., a.d. 1434, when Henry was aged thirteen years." Dr AnJerson's authority
for this statement is probably the following: — "The Company of Masons, being otherwise termed Free-masons, of ancient
standing and good reckoning, by meanes of affable and kinde meetings divers times, and as a loving Brotherhood should
use to doe, did frequent this mutuall assembly in the time of King Henry the fourth, in the twelfth yeere of his most
gracious Reigne" (Stow, The Survey of London, 1633, p. 630. In the earlier editions of 1603 and 1618, the compiler
observes of the Loudon Guild of Masons, — " but of what autinuitie that Company is, I haue not read "). Cf. ante,
pp. 144, 149, 158.
^ I.e., The transition period between fable and contemporary history. Niebuhr observes : — " Between the com-
pletely poetical age, which stands in a relation to history altogether irrational, and the purely historical age, there
intervenes in all nations a mixed age, which may be called the mythic-historical" (History of Rome, 3d edit., translated
by Archdeacon Hare and Bishop Thirlwall, 1837, vol. i., p. 209).
^ Cf. Lord Bacon, De Sapicntia Veterum, prwf. (Works, edit. Montagu, 1825, vol. xi., p. 271) ; and Lewis, On the
Methods of Observation and Keasoning in Politics, vol. i., p. 282.
2 Chaps. I. and XIL, p. 2.
VUL. II. Z
1/8 EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND.
constructed the temporary bridge of an artificial hypothesis : and tlius they have hazarded
what yiekls no sure footing." ^
Having, however, sufficiently placed on record my belief, that the seed of the tradition or
fable of the Bulls, is contained in the early history of the Friars,- 1 shall not waste time over a
minute dissection of possible causes which may have influenced the judgment of Elias
Ashmole. Ex pede Herculem. From tlie fragment before them, I shall leave my readers to
form their own conclusions with regard to the measure of indebtedness, under which we should
have been placed by Dr Knipe, had his labours resulted in presenting us with the entire
history, executed as well as designed by the eminent antiquary, of whose collection of papers,
or materials for a work on Freemasonry, we, alas, know nothing beyond what may be gleaned
from the scraps of information which have found their way into the pages of the " Biographia
Britannica."
Having duly considered the actual testimony of the antiquary, as well as the opinions
which have been somewhat loosely attributed to him, let us proceed to another part of our
subject. I am in doubt whether to call it the next, for in examining seventeenth century
Masonry as a whole, the parts are so connected, and so intimately dependent on each other,
tliat it is not only impossible to separate them completely, but extremely difficult to decide
in what order they should be taken.
First of all, however, it may be necessary to explain, that in deferring untU a later stage,
the general observations which have yet to be made, on the character of the Freemasonry
into which Ashmole was admitted, I am desirous of placing before my readers all the evidence
which may tend, either directly or even remotely, to clear away a portion of the obscurity still
surrounding this early period of Masonic history.
Although the only contemporary writer (in addition to those already named), by whom
either the Freemasons or their art, are mentioned in the last quarter of the seventeenth
century, is Eandle Holme * — yet the existence of several metropolitan lodges at this period
was subsequently affirmed by Dr Anderson, who, in his summary of Masonic history, temp.
WiUiam and Mary, states : — " Particular Lodges were not so frequent and mostly occasional in
the South, except in or near the Places where great Works are carried on. Thus Sir Rohcrt
Clayton got an occasional Lodge of his Brother Masters to meet at St Thomas's Hospital,
Southivark, A.D. 1693, and to advise the Governours about the best Design of rebuilding
that Hospital as it now stands most beautiful ; near wliich a stated Lodge continued long
afterwards."
' Disraeli, Amenities of Literature, 1841, vol. iii., p. 360.
' Chap. XII., pp. 32, 33. It is possible, that iu the opinion of some persons, the story of the Bulls will seem to
have no ground or origin, as the authorities afford no explanation of the way by which it came into existence. How-
ever this may be, its pedigree, if it has one, must, in my judgment, be sought for outside the genuine traditions of the
Society. Tradition will not supply the place of history. At best, it is untrustworthy and short-lived. Thus in 1770
the New Zealanders had no recollection of Tasman's visit. Yet this took place in 1643, less than one hundred and
thirty years before, and must have been to them an event of the greatest possible importance and interest. In the
same way the North American Indians soon lost all tradition of De Soto's expedition, although by its striking incidents
it was so well suited to impress the Indian mind. Cf. Sir J. Lubbock, Pre-historic Times, 4th edit., p. 294; Dr J.
Hawkesworth, Voyages of Discovery iu the Southern Hemisphere, 1773, vol. ii., p. 3SS ; and H. K. Schoolcraft,
History of the Indian Tribes of the United States, 1853-1856, vol. ii., p. 12.
3 AnU, p. 167.
EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND. 179
" Besides tliat and the old Lodge of St Paul's, there was another in Piccadilly over against
St James's Church, one near Westminster Abby, another near Covcnt-Garden, one in Eolhorn,
one on Toioer-Hill, and some more that assembled statedly." ^
The value, however, of the preceding passages from the " Book of Constitutions," is
seriously impaired by the paragraph which next follows them, wherein Anderson says — " The'
Kirig was privately made a Free Mason, approved of their Choice of G. Master Ween, and
encourag'd him in rearing St Paul's Cathedral, and the great New Part of ?i?ampton--Crourt in
the Augustan Stile, by far the finest Royal House in England, after an old Design of Inigo
Jones, where a bright Lodge was held during the Building." ^
A distinction is here drawn between occasional and stated lodges, but the last quotation,
beyond indicating a possible derivation of the now almost obsolete expression, " bright Mason,"
is only of importance because the inaccuracies with which it teems render it dif3Eicult, not to
say impossible, to yield full credence to any other statements, unsupported by no better source
of authority.
Evelyn,^ it may be incidentally observed, and also Ashraole * himself, were governors of
St Thomas's Hospital, but in neither of their diaries, is there any allusion from which it might
be inferred, that the practice of holding lodges there, was known to either of these persons.
Ashmole's death, however, in the year preceding that in which Sir Robert Clayton is said to
have assembled his Lodge, deprives the incident of an importance that might otlierwise have
attached to it, very much after the fashion of the precedent, afforded by the decease of Sir
Eobert Moray prior to the Masonic meeting of 1682, from which his absence, had he been
alive, equally with his attendance, would have been alike suggestive of some curious
speculation.^
We now come to the evidence, direct and indirect, which is associated with the name of
Eandle Holme, author of the celebrated " Academie of Armory," which has already been
briefly referred to. The third Eandle Holme, like his father and grandfather before him, was a
herald and deputy to the Garter King of Arms, for Cheshire, Lancashire, Shropshire, and North
Wales. He was born December 24, 1627, and died March 12, 1699-1700. In the " Academie
of Armory," which I shall presently cite, are several allusions to the Freemasons. These, even
standing alone, would be of great importance, as embodying certain remarks of a non-operative
Freemason, a.d. 1688, in regard to the Society. For a simple reference, therefore, to this
source of information, which had so far eluded previous research, as to be unnoticed by
Masonic writers, Eylands would deserve the best thanks of his brother archasologists. But he
has done far more than this, and in two interesting papers, communicated to the Masonic
Magazine,^ which conclude a series of articles, entitled, " Freemasonry in the Seventeenth
' Constitutions, 1738, pp. 106, 107. lu tlie siwlljng, as well as in the use of capitals and italics, the original is
closely followed.
"Ibid., p. 107. » Diary, Sept, 5, 16S7.
* " 1631 — March 5. — 11 Ilor. ante merid. A green staff was sent me by the Steward of St Thomas's Hospital, with
a signification that I was chosen one of the governors " (Ashraole, Diary).
• Ante, p. 98.
' See W. H. Rylands, {"reeraasonry in the Seventeenth Century, Chester, 1650-1700 (Masonic Magazine, January
and Februaiy 1882). In tliis sketch, as well as in his notes on the Warrington meeting, a.d. 1646 (ante, p. 141, note
3), to which it is a sequel, the indefatigable research of the writer has been liappily aided " by a species of fox-hound
instinct, enabling him to scent out that game which, unearthed by previous sportsmen," still lurks in or between th«
i8o EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND.
Century," we are presented with a more vivid picture of Masonic life, at a period distant some
two centuries from our own, than has hitherto been limned by any artist of the craft.
This has been accomplished, by research in the library of the British Museum, by piecing
together all the items of information relating to the general subject lying ready to his
hand, by instituting a careful search among the wills in the Chester Court of Probate,
and lastly, by adding a facsimile of the material portions of an important manuscript, showing
their original state in a manner which could never have been effected by printing types.^
Eandle Holme is the central figure, around which a great deal is made to revolve ; and it
will become a part of our task to examine his testimony, of which, some more than the rest,
may be said to be undesignedly commemorative of former usages — in the threefold capacity
of text- writer, Freemason of the Lodge, and transcriber of the " Old Charges." In the two
latter, he supplies evidence which carries us into the penultimate stage of our present
inquiry, viz., the examination of our manuscript Constitutions, and of the waifs and strays
in the form of Lodge records, from which alone it is at all possible to further illuminate
the especially dark portion of our annals, immediately preceding the dawn of accredited
history, wherein we may be said to pass gradually from a faint glimmer into nearly perfect
light.
Eeserving, therefore, for its proper place an explanation of the grounds upon which I deem
the evidence of the " Old Charges " to form an essential preliminary to our passing a final
judgment upon the scope and character of Freemasonry in the seventeenth century, I shall
proceed to deal with Eandle Holme, and the various circumstances which concur in rendering
him so material a witness at the bar of Masonic history.
The following is from the " Academic of Armory : " —
" A Fraternity, or Society,- or Brotherhood, or Company ; are such in a corporation, that
are of one and the same trade, or occupation, who being joyned together by oath and covenant,
do follow such orders and rules, as are made, or to be made for the good order, rule, and
support of such and every of their occupations. These several Fraternities are generally
governed by one or two Masters, and two Wardens, but most Companies with us by two
Aldermen, and two Stewards, the later, being to receive and pay what concerns them." ^
On page 111, in his review of the various trades, occurs: "Terms of Art used by Free
Masons-Stone Cutters ; " and then follows : " There are several other terms used by the Free-
Masous wliich belong to buildings. Pillars and Columbs."
Next are described the "Terms of Art used by Free-Masons;" and at page 393,* under
the heading of " Masons Tools," Eandle Holme thus expresses himself : " I cannot but Honor
the FeUoship of the Masons because of its Antiquity ; and the more, as being a Mcniber of
close cover.s of parish registers. Both essays merit a careful perusal, and in limiting my quotations from them, I
reluctantly acquiesce in the dictum of Daunou, that minute antifiuarian discussions ought to be separated from actual
history (Cours d'Etudes Historiques, 1842-47, torn, vii., p. 560).
' In cases of this kind, facsimiles of manuscripts are much more than mere specimens of palEeograjihy ; they are
essential elements for the critical knowledge of history. Cf. Palgrave, History of Normandy and England, vol. i.,
p. 749.
» The manner in which Randle Holme employs these terms, in 1688, may be usefally borne in mind when the
passage is reached relating to his own membership of the Society. Cf. Chap. II., p. 68 (23) ; and Chap. XIV., p. 149.
» Bk. III., chap, iii., p. 61.
* IMd., chap. ix.
EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND. i8i
tlmt Society, called Free-Masons. In being conversant amongst them I have observed the use of
these several Tools following some whereof I have seen born in Coats Armour." ^
Later he speaks of " Free Masons " and " Free Masonry " tools ; and, in his description of
the " Use of PiUars," observes : " For it is ever a term amongst Work-men of the Free Masons
Science, to put a difference between that which is called a Column, and that which they term a
Pillar, for a Column is ever round, and the Capital and Pedestal answerable thereunto." ^ He
continues : " ISTow for the better understanding of all the parts of a Pillar, or Columh, . • . I
shall in two examples, set forth all their words of Art, used about them ; by which any
Gentleman may be able to discourse a Free-Mason or other workman in his own terms." »
In Harleian MS. 5955, are a number of engraved plates, intended for the second
volume of the " Academie of Armory," which was not completed. On one of these is the
annexed curious representation of the arms of the Masons, or ffree INIasons.
"The arms of this body," says Kylands, "have been often changed, and
seem to be enveloped in considerable mystery in some of its forms." In
the opinion of the same authority, the form given by Eandle Holme is the
first and only instance of the two columns being attached to the arms as
supporters. " It is also worthy of remark," adds Kylands, " that he figures
the chevron plain, and not engrailed as in the original grant to the Masons' Company of
London. The towers are single, as in his description, and not the old square four-towered
castles. The colours are the same as those in the original grant to the Company of
Masons."
Eandle Holme describes the columns as being of the " Corinthian order," and of Or, that
is, gold. Two descriptions, differing in some slight particulars, are given, in the second or
manuscript volume of the " Academie," of the plate, fig. 18, from which the facsimile, the same
size as the original, has been taken, and placed at my service for insertion above, liy the friend
to whose research I am indebted for these quotations from the work of Piaudle Holme. One
runs as follows, and the other I subjoin in a note : " He beareth, Sable, on a cheueron betweene
three towers Argent : a paire of compasses extended of the first w* is the Armes of the Pught
Honored & Right WorshipfuU company of ffree = Masons : whose escochion is cotized (or rather
upheld, sustained, or supported) by two columbes or pillars of the Tuscan, or Dorick, or
Corinthian orders." *
We now approach the consideration of Harleian MS. 2054, described in the catalogue,
"BibliothecEe Harleiana;," as "a book in folio consisting of many tracts and loose papers
.-. .-. by the second Eandle Holme and others .". .-. and the third Eandle Holme's
Account of the Principal Matters contained in this Book."
Among the " loose papers " is a version of the " Old Charges " (12), which has been already
' In the use of Italics, I here follow Rylantls, who observes of the above paragraph that it caused him to put
together the notes, forming the essay to which I have previously referred. He adds, "It appears to have never before
been noticed, and I need hardly call attention to its importance."
2 Bk. III., chap, xiii., p. 400.
3 2bid., p. 466.
* Harleian WS. 2035, p. 66. Masons, or ffree Masons, S. on a cheueron bctw. 3 towers A, a paire of compasses
extended S (of olde the towers were triple towered), " the crest on a "Wreath, a Tower A, the Escochion is cotized with
two columes of the corinthion Order 0. Motto is, In the Lord is all our Trust ; the free Masons were made a company,
12. H. IV." (Ibid., p. 204, verso).
i82 EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND.
analysed with some particularity in an earlier chapter.i xhis copy of the " Constitutions " was
transcribed by the tliircl Pandle Holme. I arrive at this opinion, in the main, from the general
character of the handwriting, which is evidently identical with that of the person who wrote
the table of contents prefixed to the volume. In the index of the younger Holme "-■ are the
words :— " Free Masons' Orders & Constitutions," which are repeated, almost as it were in fac-
simile, at the top of folio 29, the only difference being, that in the latter instance the word
" the " begins the sentence, whilst the " & " is replaced by " and." The heading or title, there-
fore, of the MS. numbered 12 in my calendar or catalogue of the " Old Charges," ^ is, "The
Free Masons' Orders and Constitutions." The letter / and the long s, which in each case are
twice used, are indistinguishable, and the final s in " Masons," " Orders," and " Constitutions,"
at both folios 2 and 29 is thus shown :— Ordei-g .
I have further compared the acknowledged handwriting of the younger Holme (fol. 2)
and that which I deem to be his (fol. 29), with another table of contents from the same pen,
given in a separate volume of the Harleian Collection.* The chirography is the same throughout
the series, and it only remains to be stated, that in setting down the transcription of the Masonic
Constitutions, given in the Harleian MS. 2054, to the third Eandle Holme, I find myself in
agreement with Kylands, to whose minute analysis of Freemasonry at Chester in the seven-
teenth century, I must refer the curious reader who may be desirous of pursuing the subject
to any greater length.^
As there were two Eandle Holmes he/ore the author of the "Academie," as well as two after
him, it has seemed desirable on all grounds to disentangle the subject from the confusion which
naturally adheres to it, through the somewhat promiscuous use by commentators, of the same
Christian and surname, without any distinctive adverb to mark which of iha Jive generations
is alluded to.
The third Eandle Holme cannot, indeed, in the present sketch, be confused with his later
namesakes, but it is of some importance in this inquiry to establish the fact— if fact it be— that
the author of the "Academie of Armory," the Freemason of the Chester Lodge, and the copyist
to whose labours we are indebted for the form of the " Charges " contained in the Harleian MS.
2054, was one and the same person.
In the first place, it carries us up the stream of Masonic history by easier stages, than if,
let us say, the scco7id Eandle Holme either transcribed MS. 12, or was the Freemason whose
name appears in connection with it.
To make this clearer, it must be explained that the first Eandle Holme, Deputy to
the CoUege of Arms for Cheshire, Shropshire, and North Wales, was Sheriff of Chester in 1615,
Alderman in 1629, and Mayor in 1633-4. He was buried at St Mary's-on-the-Hill at Chester,
January 30, 1654-5. His second son and heir was the second Eandle Holme, baptized July 15,
1601, and became a Justice of the Peace, Sheriff of Chester during his father's Mayoralty, and
was himself Mayor in 1643, when the city was besieged by the Parliamentarians. With his
father, he was Deputy to Norroy King of Arms for Cheshire, Lancashire,. and North Wales.
He died, aged sixty-three, September 4, 1659, and was also buried at St Mary's-on-the-Hill.
His eldest son and heir, by his first wife, Catherine, eldest daughter of Matthew Ellis of Over-
1 II., p. 64. ■' Harleian MS. 2054, fol. 2, line 7. ^ O'-'I'- H-
* " Tlie third Randle Holme's List of the things of principal Note in this Book " (H.nkian M.S. 2072, fol. 1).
5 Masonic Magazine, January and February 1882.
EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND. 183
legh, CO. Chester, gent., was the third Eandle Holme.^ It is therefore evident, that if the
I\Iasonic papers iu Harleian IMS. 2054 point to the father instead of to the son, their evidence
must date from a period certainly not later than 1659; whereas, on a contrary view, the entry
referring to the membership of a, Eandle Holme, and the transcription of the " Legend of the
Craft," will be brought down to the second half of the seventeenth century.
Although by Woodford * the date of the Harleian MS. 2054 — i.e., the Masonic entries — has
been approximately fixed at the year 1625, and by Hughan^ following Mr Bond* at 1650, it must
be fairly stated that the evidence on which they relied, has crumbled away since their opinions
were severally expressed. It is possible, of course, that the author of the "Academic " may
have made the transcript under examination so early as 1650, when he was in his twenUj -third
year ; but apart altogether from the improbability of this having occurred, either by reason of
his age ^ or from the unsettled condition of the times, a mass of evidence is forthcoming, from
which it may safely be inferred that the Ust of Freemasons, members of the Chester Lodge,
was drawn up, and the Constitutions copied, at a date about midway between the years of
transcription of manuscripts numbered 13 and 23 respectively in Chapter II. That is to say,
the gap between the Sloane MS. 3848 (13), certified by Edward Sankey in 1646, and the
Antiquity (23), attested by Eobert Padgett in 1686, is lessened, if not entirely bridged over,
by another accredited version of the "Old Charges," dating circa, 1665. The evidence, upon the
authority of which this period of origin may, in my judgment, be assigned to Harleian MS.
2054 (13), will be next presented ; and at the conclusion of these notes on Eandle Holme and
the Chester Freemasons, I shall more fully explain the design of which the latter are slightly
anticipatory, and, connecting the " Old Charges " of more recent date with the actual living
Freemasonry which immediately preceded the era of Grand Lodges, I shall foUow the clue they
afford to our earlier history, as far into the region of the past as it may with any safety be
relied upon as a guide.
In the same volume of manuscripts as the transcript of the Constitutions by Eandle
Holme, and immediately succeeding it, is the following form of oath, in the same handwriting —
" There is seu''all words & signes of a free Mason to be revailed to y" w^i" as y° will ausw : before
God at the Great & terrible day of ludgm* y" keep Secret & not to revade the same to any
in the heares of any pson w but to the M" & fellows of the said Society of free Masons so
helpe me God, xc."
This is written on a small scrap of paper, about which Eylands observes, "as it has
evidently been torn off the corner of a sheet before it was used by Eandle Holme, pro-
bably it is a rough memorandum."
The next leaf in the same volume contains some further notes by Eandle Holme. These
evidently relate to the economy of an existing Lodge, but some of the details admit of a varied
' W. H. Rylands, Freemasonry in the Seventeenth Century, Chester, 1650-1700.
- The " Old Charges " of British Freemasons, 1872 (preface, p. xi).
' Ihid., p. 8 ; Masonic Sketches and Reprints, 1871, part ii., p. 23.
* Letter, dated June 8, 1869, from Edward A. Bond, British Museum, to W. P. Buchan (Freemasons' Magazine,
July 10, 1869, p. 29).
° The "General Regulations" ori721 (Grand Lodge of England) enact, that no man under the age of twenly-five
is to be made a Mason. Unless, however, this law was a survival of a far older one, it has no bcaiing on the point
raised in the te.\t.
1 84
EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND.
interpretation. Facsimiles of this page, and of the fragment of paper on which the " Oath "
is written, are given by Eylands, but in each case I have preferred transcribing from the fair
copy which he prints of these MSS.^ The following are the entries relating, it is supposed,
to the Chester Lodge : —
William Wade w'- giue for to be a free Mason.
I
Willm Harvey.
Mich Holden—
Pet downhani—
Tho ffoulkes
Will Hughes-
Jo ffletcher
Seth Hilton
Ean Holme
Eic Taylor
Eic Eatcliffe—
WUl Woods
Jo Parry
Tho Morris
Tho May
Will Eobinsou-
James Mort —
Jo Lloyd
Geo Harvey —
Will Jackson —
Eobt Harvey —
John Madock—
-20
-20
-20
-10
-10
-15
-10
-10
-20
_5
-10
-10
-10
-20
-20
-20
-20
-10
-20
-10
20s. Eobert Morris
10 Willm Street Aldm
15 John Hughes.
5 Sam Pike taylor
S Willm Wade
for 1 li-
for 10s..
for 15s._
for 5 s.-
for 8s..
' The Masonic entries in Ilarleian MS. 2054, Were printed by Huglian in his "Masonic Sketches and Eei)rints,"
Pt. ii. , II. 46. Those, however, giving the names of Wade and others, have never been -accurately reproduced except
in the/acsM)H7c prefixed to Rylands' essay. The fuller extract I have collated, both with the /acsimifc and the actual
MS., but as regards tho "Oath "must express my indebtedness to Kylauds, for deciphering interlineations which I
print above on his authority.
EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND. 185
Commenting upon these items, Eylands observes : " The reason for the difference in the
amount of the entrance fees paid, as given in the analysis at the end of the list, is not easy to
explain. Why, it may be asked, are the first five names separated from the others, and given
in different form ? Are they superior officers of the Fellowship, and are we to understand the
marks occurring before their names as recording the number of their attendances at the lodge,
the number of votes recorded at some election, or the pa}Tnent of certain odd amounts ? "
It is not, however, so clear as to be reduced to actual demonstration, that the various sums
enumerated in the analysis at the foot of the list represent the entrance-money paid by the
initiates or " newly made " brethren. The irregular amounts (if not old scores) might just as
well stand for the ordinary subscriptions of the members, since there would be nothing more
singular in the custom of a graduated scale of dues, than in that of exacting a varying sum at
the admission of new members or brethren.
The first five names could hardly be those of superior oflicers of the Fellowship, except
on the supposition that WiUiam Wade received promotion at a very early stage of his
Masonic life. The marks, indeed, are placed before the names of the five — and on tliis
point I shall again offer a few remarks — but between the two, is a row of figures, denot-
ing sums of money varying in amount from twenty to five shillings. The strokes
or dashes can hardly be regarded as a tally of attendances, except — to bring in another
supposition — we imagine that the twenty-one members whose names appear in a sepa-
rate column, stood somehow on a different footing in the lodge, from the five, which
rendered a record of their attendances unnecessary ? Lastly, as to the payment of odd
amounts, this is a feature characterising the entire body of entries, and therefore nothing can
be founded upon it, which is not equally applicable to both classes or divisions of members.
Yet, if we reject tliis explanation, what shall we offer in its place ?
Can it be, that the amounts below the words " William Wade w* give to be a free Mason,"
were received at the meeting, of which the folio in question is in part a register, and that the
five names only are the record of those who attended ? On this hypothesis, the clerk may
have drawn the long horizontal lines opposite specific sums, and the crosses or vertical Unes
may represent the number of times each of these several amounts passed into his pocket. Tlie
column headed by the name of William Harvey, may be an inventory of the dues owing
by absentees, and in this view, there were present, 5, and absent, 21, the total membership
being 26. Those familiar with the records of old Scottish lodges will be aware, that
frequently the brethren who attended were but few in number compared with those who
absented themselves, the dues and fines owing by the latter being often largely in excess
of the actual payments of the former.^
There is one, however, of Eylands' suggestions, to which it is necessary to return. He
asks — may not the marks before the five names be understood as recording the number of
votes at some election ? That this is the true solution of these crossed lines, I shall not be so
rash as to affirm, though, indeed, it harmonises with Masonic usage," and is supported by some
' It may bo wortli remarking that excluding the two names, Hughes and Woods {Ss. and 5s.), tlie number of those
having 10s. and more attached to their names amounts to 19— exactly the number of scratches opposite the five names
commencing the page ; also no account is taken of the five names in the summary of amounts, which only accounts for
the twenty-one entries. Further, Handle Holme could not have been both scribe and absentee !
'Chap. VIII., p. 395; and Freemasons' Magazine (Mother Kilwinning), Aug. 8, 1863 p 96
VOL. II. 2 A
1 86 EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND.
trustworthy evidence respecting the ancient practice at elections dehors the lodges of Free-
masons.
The records of the Merchant Tailors, under the year 1573, inform us that at the election
of Master and Wardens, the clerk read the names, and every one " made his mark or tick "
against the one he wished to be chosen. " In the case of an equal number of ticks " (to quote
directly from my authority), " the master pricks again." ^
In the " Memorials of St John at Hackney," ^ are given some extracts from the Minutes of
the Select Vestry, among which, under the date of September 6, 1735, it is stated that the
Vestry agreed " to scratch for the ten petitioners, according to the old method," which they
did, and it is thus entered —
Hannah England, aged GG years, i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i . . . 16
Elizabeth Holmes, aged 71 do., i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i . . IS
Mary North, aged 59 do., i . 1
Elizabeth Stanley, aged 60 do., i i i i i i i i 8
Having followed in the main, the beaten track of those commentators who have preceded
me in an examination of the Masonic writings, preserved in volume 2054 of the Harleian MSS.;
it becomes, however, at this stage, essential to point out, and, as it were, accentuate the fact,
that, standing alone, and divested of the reference to William Wade, folio 34 of the MS. would
contain nothing from which a person of ordinary intelligence might infer, that it related to the
proceedings, or accounts, of a lodge or company of Masons or Freemasons. The names and
figures would lend themselves equally weU to the establishment of any other hypothesis
having a similar basis in the usages of the craft guilds. But although the words " William
Wade w' giue for to be a free Mason," are brief— not to say enigmatical — the very brevity of
the sentence which is given in Harleian MS. 2054, at the commencement of folio 34, if it does
not prove the sheet to have been only a memorandum, suggests that it may be the continua-
tion of a paragraph or entry from a previous folio, now missing.
It unfortunately happens, that dates, which might have aided in determining this point,
are wholly wanting; but we are not without compensation for this loss, inasmuch as the bald-
ness of the entries which are extant, induced Eylands to make the Holme MS. the subject of
minute research, from which we get ground for supposing, that as at Warrington in 1646, so
in Chester in 1665-75, and in the system of Freemasonry practised at both these towns, the
speculative element largely preponderated. Also, that all the notes of Eandle Holme, glanced
at in these pages, were connected with the Lodge at Chester and its members, is placed beyond
reasonable doubt ; and that more of the latter than William Wade, were entitled to the epithet
free Mason, by which he alone is described, will more clearly appear when the several
occupations in life of tlie greater number of those persons whose names are shown on folio
34 of the Holme MS. are placed before my readers.
It may be remarked, however, that even prior to the exhumation of the Chester Wills by
Rylauds, the fact that the names of Eandle Holme, author, herald, and son of the Mayor of
' Herbert, Companies of London, vol. i., p. 194.
•" By R. Simpson, 1882, p. 133.
EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND. 187
Chester, William Street, alderman, and Samuel Tike, tailor, are included in the list, shows
very clearly that the Lodge, Company, or Society was not composed exclusively of operative
masons.
Eylands has succeeded in tracing twenty out of the twenty-six names given in the list, but
whether in every, or indeed, in any case, the persons who are proved by accredited documents
to have actually existed at a period synchronising with the last thirty-six years of Eandle
Holme's life (1665-1700), are identical with their namesakes of the Chester association or
fellowship, I shall, as far as space will permit, enable each of my readers to judge for himself.
The names of William Street, alderman, Michael Holden, Peter Downham, Seth HUton,
Eandle Holme, John Parry, Thomas Morris, Thomas May, and George Harvey, do not appear
in the index of wills at Chester ; but William Street and George Harvey are mentioned in
the wills of Eichard Eatcliffe and Eobert Harvey respectively, which, for the purposes of
their identification as persons actually living between the years 1665 and 1700, is quite
sufficient.
It will be seen that namesakes of Holden, Downham, Hilton, Parry, Tliomas Morris, and
May, have not been traced ; and if we add to this list the names of John and William Hughes
— of whom Eylands observes — " I am only doubtful if in either of the documents here printed
under the name of Hughes we have the wills of the Freemasons," there will then be — in the
opinion of the diligent investigator who has made this subject pre-eminently his own — only
seven persons out of the original twenty-six, who still await identification.
The following table, which I have drawn up from the ajjpendix to Ejdands' essay, places
the material facts in the smallest compass that is consistent with their being adequately
comprehended. It is due, however, to an antiquary who finds time, in the midst of
crraver studies, to exercise his faculty of microscopic research in the elucidation of knotty
problems, which baflle and discourage the weary plodder on the beaten road of IMasonic
history — to state, that whilst laboriously disinterring much of the forgotten learning that lies
entombed in our great manuscript collections, and bringing to the light of day, from the
obscure recesses of parochial registers, many valuable entries relating to the Freemasons — his
efforts do not cease with the attainment of the immediate purpose which stimulated them into
action. Thus, in the papers, upon which I am chiefly relying for the present sketch of Eandle
Holme and the Freemasons of Chester, we are given, not only the details sustaining tiie
argument of the writer, but also those, which by any latitude of construction can be held to
invalidate the conclusions whereat he has himself arrived. Indeed, he goes so far as to
anticipate some objections that may be raised, notably, that in the wiUs he prints, the title
" Mason," and not " Freemason" (as in the will of Eichard Ellom,i 1667), is used; also that
since in foiir only, the testator is even described as " Mason," it may be urged that the
remainder " are not, or may not, be the wills of the persons mentioned in the MS. of Eandle
Holme."
The names shown in italics are those of persons, with whose identification as Frccmasoiis,
Eylands entertains some misgivings.
' AiUe, p. 111.
EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND.
List of Names from the Chester Eegister of Wills.
Name.
Robert Morris
William Street »
John Hugli.es
John Hufjhes
Samuel Pyke
WiUiam Wade
William Harvey-
Thomas Foulkes
William Hwjhes
John Fletcher »
Eandle Holme ^
Richard Taylor, jun.
Richard Tayler'^
Richard Eatcliffe
William Woods *
William Roljinson
James Mort
John Lloyd
George Harvey '-
William Jackson
Robert Harvey
John Maddock
Residence,
Chester
Chester
Chester
Chester
Chester
Chester
Chester
Chester
Holt, CO. Denbigh
Chester
Chester
Chester
Chester
Chester
Handbridge, co. Chester
Chester
Chester
Chester
Chester
Chester
Chester
Chester
Occupation.
Glazier
Alderman
Slater
Husbandman
Tailor
Mason
Alderman
Carpenter
Gentleman
Clothworker
Herald
Merchant
Button Maker
Gentleman
Mason
Labourer
Mason
Mason
Bricklayer
Tanner
Alderman
Alderman
Will Dated.
1708
1683
1708
1698
1716
1684 2
17123
1693
1665
1693
1710
1683'
16999
1680 >»
1684"
1675
1677
1669
1680
The above list comprises all the names which Eylauds has succeeded in tracing. Those
of the three Hughes — corresponding with the huo persons of that name in Holme's MS. — and
' Appears as a legatee in the will of Richard RatclilTe, Jan. 1681.
" Proved, 1687. ^ Proved, 1713.
* If the will of John Fletcher above be accepted as that of the Freemason, the date of Kandle Holme's list cannot
be later than 1665.
^ The monument and epitaph of the third Handle Holme in the church of St Mary's, Chester, are described by
Rylands, who cites Ormerod's " History of Cheshire," edit. 1875-6, p. 335.
« "Of the wiUs of Richard Taylor, merchant, and Richard Tayler, button maker, I should select the former"
(Rylands). This opinion, in my judgment, is borne out by the will of John Maddocke, whose son-in-law and executor,
a Richard Taylor, woidd appear to have been the merchant of that name. Amougst his residuary legatees the testator
names "Ann Taylor and Elizabeth ray daughter's children." Richard Taykr, from his will, could have had only one
daughter {Mary) living in 1710. The children of the merchant are not named, but his wife was an Elizaheth.
' Proved, 1685.
8 Rylands observes, " The name of Peter Bostock, Mason, is recorded as one of the executors of the will of William
Woods, dated 1699. This date may perhaps help us in deciding the date of the document left by Randle Holme, as,
had Peter Bostock been a mason when the list was compiled, his name ought, we may suppose, to have been included."
With deference, this conclusion must be wholly demurred to. We have seen that the proposal or admission of William
Wade, also a mason, formed the subject of a special entry by Randle Holme, and unless on the supposition that it
represents the taking up, or desire to take up, tha freedom of his trade, it must be held, I think, to plainly signify — as
in the analogous case of William Woodman, and William Wise, of tlie Masons' Company, London {ante, p. 143) — that a
mason of a guild or company was something very distinct from a Freemason of a Lodge.
^Proved, 1706. '» Proved, 1685. " Proved, 1685.
''- A remainderman under the will, and doubtless a relative, of the Robert Harvey whose name occurs next but one
on the list.
EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND. 1S9
of Eichard Tayler, button-maker, may, however, be left out of consideration. This reduces
the original twenty-six to twenty-four, from which, if we further deduct the names of Holden,
Downham, Hilton, Parry, Thomas Morris, and May, there will remain eighteen, some of which,
no doubt, and it may be all, were identical with those of the Freemasons, members of the
Chester fellowship. In his classification or arrangement of the wills, Eylands has printed
them in the same order as the testators' names are given by Holme. This, of course, was the
most convenient method of procedure ; but in dealing with an analysis of their dates,
which is essential if a correct estimate of their value is desired, it becomes necessary to make
a chronological abstract of the period of years over which these documents range.
For the purposes of this inquiry, I shall make no distinction between the fifteen persons
whose wills have been printed and the three whose identification has been otherwise deter-
mined. To the former, tlierefore, I shall assign the dates when their respective wills were
executed, to William Street and George Harvey tliose of the wills in which they are mentioned,
and to Eandle Holme the year 1700. This method of computation is doubtless a rough one;
but, without assuming an arbitrary basis of facts, I am unable to think of any other which so
well fulfils my immediate purpose, viz., to arrive at an approximate calculation with regard to
the dates of decease of the eighteen. Thus we find that five die (execute, or are named in
wills) between 1665 and 1677; six in 16S0-1684; three in 1693-1699; and four in 1700-
1716.
Now, Eandle Holme was iu his thirty-eighth year in 1665, the farthest point to which we
can go back, if we accept the will of John Fletcher, clothworker, as that of the Freemason.
If we do — and on grounds to be presently shown I think we safely may — the span of Holme's
life will afford some criterion whereby we may judge of the inherent probability of his
associates in the lodge, circa 1665, having succumbed to destiny in the same ratio as the
testators whose wills have been examined. Holme died before he had quite completed his
seventy-third year. Some of the Freemasons of A.D. 1665 must have been older, some
younger, than himself. Among the latter we may probably include William Wade, who, as
he outlived the herald a period of about sixteen years, it is possible that this nearly represented
the difference between their ages — a supposition to which colour is lent by the character of the
entry respecting him in the Holme MS. It would thus appear that he had not advanced
beyond his twenty-second year when proposed for or admitted into the fellow.ship of Free-
masons ; and indeed, from this circumstance, I should be inclined to think either that the
Holme MS. must be brought quite down to 1665, the date of John Fletcher's death, or that
the disparity of years between Holme and Wade is not adequately denoted by the period of
time separating the deaths of these men.
A material point for our examination is the trade or calling which is to be assigned to
each of the eighteen.
Aldermen and Masons predominate, being four and four. There are two^ gentlemen
(including Holme), a merchant,^ clothworker, glazier, tailor, carpenter, tanner, bricklayer, and
labourer.
It will be seen that only four were of the Mason's trade, thus leaving fourteen (not to speak
' Three, if we accept William Huglies of Holt as the Freemason.
• Au ambiguous term ; in Scotland, rctiiil dealers are often called "Merchants " at this day.
1 90 EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND.
of the missing six), wliose occupations in life, unless perhaps we except the brickla_ver, and
possibly the carpenter and glazier, had nothing in common with the operations of the stone-
masons.
It is certain that a large number — and I should be inclined to say all the persons traced
by Ey lands as actually residing in the city or county of Chester between 16G5 and 1716 —
must be accepted as the Freemasons with whose names their own correspond. In the first
place, it may fairly be assumed that some at least, if for the present we go no further, of
Holme's brethren in the fellowship were of a class with whom he could, in the social meaning
of the term, associate. Indeed, this is placed beyond doubt by the MS. itself. William
Street, alderman, falls plainly within this description. William and Robert Harvey and John
Maddock, also aldermen, though their identification with the Freemasons depends u]>on
separate evidence, must, I think, be accepted without demur as the persons Holme had in his
mind when penning his list. Next, if regard is had to the fact tliat the inde.K of the Chester
Wills,^ in two cases only, record duplicate entries of any of the twenty-six names in Holme's
list,^ it is in the highest degree improbable that in either of the remaining instances, where
namesakes of the Freemasons are mentioned in the documents at the Probate Court, the
coincidence can be put down as wholly fortuitous. If, moreover, the wills printed by
Eylands are actually examined, the fact that many of the testators (and Freemasons) were so
intimately connected with one another, as these documents make them out to have been,
whilst strengthening the conviction that the men were members of the lodge, will supply, in
the details of their intimacy and relationship, very adequate reasons for many of them being
banded together in a fraternity.^
Here I part company, at least for a time, with Eandle Holme. The evidence which his
writings disclose, has been spread out before my readers. To a portion of it I shall return ; *
but it will be essential, first of all, to explain with some particularity the channel of evidence
upon which I shall next embark.
As already stated, the preceding disquisition on Chester Freemasonry has been to some
degree anticipatory of a few observations on our old manuscript Constitutions, in their
collective character, which will next follow.
A passage in the interesting volume, which narrates the adventures of the French
Lazarists, MM. Hue and Gabet, in the course of their expedition through Mongolia into
Thibet, tends so much to illustrate the value of the " Old Charges " as historical muniments,
connecting one century with another, and bridging over the chasm of ages, that I am induced
to transcribe it.
' /.c, of persons described as " of Chester." Cf. Masonic Magazine, Feb. 1882, pp. 309-319.
'^ Jolin Hugbcs aud Ricbard Taylor, or Taylcr.
' Particularly William, Robert, and George Harvey ; Richard RatclifTe and William Street ; and John Maddocke
and Richard Taylor. In the last example, Maddocke by his will makes his " son-in-law, Richard Taylor," executor,
and an inventory of his goods was taken by Rich. Taylor, Senior. As the other Richard Taylbr is styled Jun. in his
own will, this is a little confusing, though it doubtless identifies either father or son as the Freemason. For the
reasons already expressed, I incline to the latter view. lii the will of the fourth Randle Holme (1704), are
named a niece, Barbara Lloyd, a cousin, Elizabeth, daughter of Peter flbulks, and a brother-in-law, Edward Lloyd,
gentleman.
* I.e., to the " Academic of Armory," ante, pp. 180, 181.
EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND. 191
" On the third day we came, in the solitude, iipon an imposing and majestic monument of
antiquity, — a large city utterly abandoned. . • . . • . Such remains of ancient cities are of no
unfrequent occurrence in the deserts of Mongolia ; but everything connected with their origin
and history is buried in darkness. Oh, with what sadness does such a spectacle fill the
soul ! The ruins of Greece, the superb remains of Egypt,— all these, it is true, tell of death ;
all belong to the past ; yd when you gaze upon them, you know what they are ; you can retrace,
in memory, the revolutions which have occasioned the ruins and the decay of tlie country
around them. Descend into the tomb, wherein was buried alive the city of Herculaneum, —
you find there, it is true, a gigantic skeleton, lid you have within you historieal associations
tvhcrewith to galvanize it. But of these old abandoned cities of Tartary, not a tradition
remains ; they are tombs ivithout an ejntajih, amid solitude and silence, uninterrupted except
when the wandering Tartars halt, for a while, within the ruined enclosures, because there the
pastures are richer and more abundant." '
The language of metaphor is not, in this instance, inconsistent with the language of
fact. What is faith to one man is but fancy to another, or, to vary the expression, what is
dross to one person, to another is precious ore. Thus, our old manuscript " Constitutions "
will be variously regarded from the different points of view of individual inquirers. To
the superficial observer, indeed, they may appear as "tombs without an epitaph;"'^ but
the thoughtful Freemason, looking "upon them, will know what they are,"^ nor will it be
necessary to receive by induction an inkling of the speechless past. The vital spark of
tradition has been handed on without being extinguished. " Like the electric fire, transmitted
through the living chain, hand grasping hand," * there has been no break, the transmission
has gone on.
The laxity which notoriously exists with respect to the history of antiquity— a laxity
justified to some extent by the necessity of taking the best evidence which can be obtained—
has caused it to be laid down by a great authority, that "where that evidence is wholly
uncertain, we must be careful not to treat it as certain, because none other can be procured." ^
On the other hand, it is necessary to bear in mind that " historical pyrrhonism may become
more detrimental to historical truth than historical credulity. We may reject and reject till
we attenuate history into sapless meagreness,— like the King of France, who, refusing all food
lest he should be poisoned, brought himself to death's door by starvation." •*
I adduce the preceding quotations, because the views to which I am giving expression,
> E. R. Hue. Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and Cliina, translated by W. Hazlitt, 1852, pp. 71, 72.
= " A mythology, when regarded irrespective of the manner in which it may have been understood by those u-ho first
reduced it into a system, is obviously susceptible of any interpretation that a writer may choose to give it. Hence wo
have historical, ethnological, astronomical, physical, and psychological or ethical explanations of most mythological
systems" (Mallet, Northern Anticiuitics, p. 477).
» "Original historical documents, such as inscriptions, coins, and ancient charters, maybe compared with the
fossil remains of animals and plants, which the geologist finds embedded in the strata of the earth, and from which,
even when in a mutilated state, he can restore the extinct species of a remote epoch of the globe" (Lewis, On the
Methods of Observation and Reasoning in Politics, vol. i., p. 202). Cf. Lyell, Principles of Geology, Bk. I., chap. i. ;
and Isaac Taylor, Process of Historic Proof, p. 83.
* Palgrave, History of Normandy and England, vol. i., p. 6.
' Lewis, Intpiiry into the Credibility of the Early Roman History, vol. i., p. 16.
« Palgiave, History of Normandy and England, vol. i., p. 533.
192 EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY— ENGLAND.
with respect to the value of the "Old Charges" as historical evidence, carrying back the
ancestry of the Society to a very remote period, may not remain unchallenged — and apart
from the estimation in which these "muniments of title" are regarded by myself, it has
seemed desirable to justify on broader grounds their somewhat detailed examination at this
advanced stage of our research.
I shall next gi-oup the several versions of the old Masonic Constitutions in six classes or
divisions. The Halliwell (1) and Cooke (2) MSB., as they stand alone, and do not fall properly
within this description, will be excluded, whilst three manuscripts recently brought to light,
and therefore omitted from my general list in Chapter II., will be included in the classification,
under the titles of the " Lechmere " ^ (14«), the Colne No. 1 (22a), and the Colne No. 2 (25a).