Mark Coleman Wallace PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

Service;” 177 the rather pusillanimous justification of its actions suggests that the
lodge may have expected reprisals for its refusal. Other lodges were dissatisfied
with the ruling. In a letter dated 7 August 1780, St James’ Lodge in Edinburgh
“entreated the Grand Lodge to allow their lodge and all Operative Lodges in
Scotland to adhere to the previous admission fee [of two shillings six pence].” 178
Although Grand Lodge had previously allowed operatives to pay other costs at a
reduced rate – namely tickets for the St Andrews Day Feasts – it resolutely
stated that the new entrance fee was to be strictly observed by everyone. 179 As a
conciliatory gesture, however, a circular was sent to solicit opinions over the
proposed (and at this stage unilaterally-imposed) increase. Apparently, only
thirty-two letters were sent, and the Grand Secretary reported that “fourteen
Lodges were for adhering to the resolution of the Grand Lodge, that nine were
against it, and nine…took no notice of the resolution.” 180 Unimpressed by the
bureaucratic posturing of the Grand Lodge, over half of the surveyed lodges
either opposed the resolution or simply did not respond.
Clearly, however, the letter from the Grand Lodge outlining the
mandatory entrance fee of one guinea and threatening non-compliant lodges
with expulsion points to organisational and bureaucratic shifts in the central
governing body. Just as the Modern Grand Lodge of England had “managed to
assert its authority over most local lodges” 181 by the mid-1780s, the Grand
177 Ibid, 13 November 1780.
178 Grand Lodge of Scotland Minutes, 7 August 1780.
179 On 18 November 1767, Grand Lodge stated that operatives should pay only one shilling for
tickets, while all other masons would pay the full price of two shillings.
180 Grand Lodge of Scotland Minutes, 5 February 1781.
181 Clark, British Clubs, 342.
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