Mark Coleman Wallace PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

direct, impact on provincial developments in other areas,” as groups – including
the freemasons – migrated from traditionally urban capitals to regional towns
and cities. 21
Such evolution and progress can be attributed to active recruitment from
artisans and the middle class. As shown by the analysis of Dundee No. 47, the
lodge embraced a wide variety of occupations, although the majority of its
members were either tradesmen or seafaring men. Stonemasons were poorly
represented, corroborating Clark’s assertion that the increased proclivity of
British clubs and societies to recruit members from artisans and middling social
groups “stemmed in part from the declining importance of older organizations
like the gilds.” 22 In Scotland and Britain, the elitist voluntary associations of the
early 1700s no longer dominated the club scene. Ultimately, social needs, the
locations of towns, and the growing importance and role of artisans and
tradesmen affected the demographic and geographic division of masonic lodges.
The distribution of freemasonry “seems to have been affected both by
institutional and external factors.” 23 According to Clark, two of the major
factors shaping lodge growth were the establishment of a Grand Lodge system
and the creation of Provincial Grand Lodges and Provincial Districts. By 1740,
the Grand Lodge of Scotland recognized that the geographic distribution of old-
established lodges and the inevitable establishment of new lodges required more
21
Clark, British Clubs, 67.
22
Ibid, 83.
23
Ibid, 318.
73