Mark Coleman Wallace PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

two primary witnesses from the Grand Lodge Trial – William Hamilton and
Quintin Stewart.
The testimonies of both Hamilton and Stewart, however, were
completely unlike those previously given under sworn oath at the Grand Lodge
of Scotland. Lyon writes that they “made a sweeping disclosure of what were
alleged to be the secret ceremonies” of Royal Arch and Knights Templar
degrees. 131 Whereas Andrew and Ramsay had declined to reveal the substance
of the oaths administered during the ceremonies at No. 264, Hamilton and
Stewart readily disclosed the details of the rituals. 132 Incredibly, they “suffered
a remarkable resurgence of memory after the Masonic trial,” 133 offering
specifics that were otherwise omitted from the Grand Lodge proceedings.
Hamilton gave the following detailed description of his admission ceremony
into Lodge Royal Arch Maybole:
222
A pistol was fired and some person called out, ‘Put him to death.’ He
was blindfolded first when brought into the room, and the covering being
afterwards taken from his eyes, he was shown a stone jug in the corner of
the room, and a candle burning in it. He was told by the panel that it was
the representation of God Almighty in the midst of the burning bush.
Andrew was Master of the Lodge, and was reading the third chapter of
Exodus. The witness was desired to put off his shoes, as it was holy
ground he stood on; the covering was put down again on the witness’s
face, and he was led under an arch, and, passing under the arch, he was
desired to find the Book of the Law; it was taken up by some other
person in the Lodge, who was called High Priest, and who said he would
explain it. The witness was desired to put money on the book to pay for
explaining it to him; the book, he was told, was the Bible. The witness
put money on the book as desired, and John Andrew made observations
on the chapter as he read it, but the witness does not positively remember
any of them. Recollects that part of the chapter where the children of
131 Lyon, Mary’s Chapel, 327.
132 Several records, testimonies and verdicts cited by Lyon and Wartski are not available in the
collections at the NAS, most notably Hamilton’s description of the admission ceremony.
133 Wartski, “Secret Societies,” 70.