Mark Coleman Wallace PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

and diverse population from which to recruit, lodges often assumed identities of
their own based solely on exclusivity of profession, elite members, or
overlapping membership with other clubs or societies. The Roman Eagle lodge
is a good example, as it was composed almost entirely of doctors and, until
1794, its minutes were recorded entirely in Latin. Another example is No. 2
Canongate Kilwinning lodge, as many of the leading literati, political figures,
and gentlemen of Edinburgh joined, making it the most elite and prominent
lodge in the capital. Much like lodges in England, membership and character
varied, manifesting an assortment of occupations and social complexions. As
Clark notes,
To a considerable extent, then, the composition of eighteenth-century
freemasonry conforms to the broad pattern of social banding [prevalent]
in other types of associations. But it also had a pluralistic character,
reflecting both the slow and confused pace of class formation and the
commercial and institutional realities of organizing lodges at the local
level. 67
Multiple Membership and Continual Clubbing
From the 1740 until the late 1780s, Scottish freemasonry expanded
territorially, socially, and culturally. Provincial Districts in Scotland and abroad
illustrated an over-arching desire of the Grand Lodge to clearly establish
masonry as a world-wide movement. As Districts differed in size and
composition, so too did lodge memberships and occupations, which often
defined its overall cast and nature.
However, it was in Edinburgh where freemasonry made its most
impressive showing. Not simply an idiosyncratic society possessing supposed
67 Ibid, 325.
98