SCOTTISH FREEMASONRY 1725-1810 ... - Lodge Prudentia

view ignores the fact that the lodges composing the nascent Grand Lodge did
not foresee the future expansion and popularity of Scottish freemasonry, nor did
they consider the finer details of the style and content of masonic government.
In any event, the invitations for the Grand Election which were sent on
20 October suggest that there was a deliberate attempt to defend their unilateral
decision to impose a structural and organizational hierarchy upon Scottish
lodges. Kahler proposes that the founding four not only omitted other
freemasons from the planning process, but they also failed to invite every known
Scottish lodge. 53 The apparent justification for selective inclusion is that only
“regular lodges” were to be included in the proceedings. 54 A mere twenty two
days were allowed for the delivery and subsequent return of the invitations, thus
reducing the number of lodges that might attend and possibly reject the idea of
the Grand Lodge. 55 By 11 November 1736, only seven lodges had responded to
the invitation. 56
Four other lodges with surviving minutes for the year 1736 – No. 1(3)
Aberdeen, No. 3 Scoon & Perth, No. 8 Journeymen Edinburgh, and No. 25 St
Andrew – do not refer to the invitation or the subsequent formation of the Grand
Lodge. Taking into consideration the relative non-existence of inter-lodge
contact and the inefficiency of the eighteenth-century postal system, this lack of
53 Kahler, “The Grand Lodge of Scotland,” 94.
54 Ibid, 95. Kahler claims that the term “regular” is intentionally ambiguous and “it is possible
that the lodges may have used it as an excuse to avoid inviting lodges they did not want to
include,” Ibid.
55 Acknowledgment of the invitation was expected by 11 November 1736.
56 These lodges were Glasgow, Lanark, Greenock, Jedburgh, Melrose, Journeymen, and St
Bride’s at Douglas. Ultimately, thirty-three lodges were present at its inception, although it is
unclear as to how many of these actually received or acknowledged the invitation.
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