SCOTTISH FREEMASONRY 1725-1810 ... - Lodge Prudentia

the members of the Royal Arch and Knights Templar lodges continued their
illegal meetings.
Early Development of Scottish Lodges
Despite the problems of lodge diversity and the inevitable resistance to
such a sudden and extensive transformation, Kahler asserts that the Grand Lodge
of Scotland was the “catalyst in the transition of the Scottish lodges” from
operative to speculative masonry. 76 Although the advent of a Grand Lodge
system in Britain did facilitate growth and change, masonic development in
Scotland was somewhat more gradual and conservative than in England. 77
In England, where freemasonry was almost entirely speculative, being a
member of a lodge was fashionable and thus lent itself to continual masonic
expansion. And the English Grand Lodge effectively promoted the society, as
illustrated from the increasing number of lodges. By 1740, London alone
contained 113 lodges, compared with only six in Edinburgh. All told, by 1740
English lodges numbered 168, while Scotland had sixty-four. 78
Despite such initial disparities in numbers, Scottish lodges were
chartered with increasing speed and apparent enthusiasm for the association.
Closer examination of the data reveals that by 1766, the Grand Lodge of
76 Kahler, “The Grand Lodge of Scotland,” 112-114.
77 Stevenson explains that the English “did not, of course, passively adopt Scottish masonry
wholesale. Though they adopted so many Scottish practices they began immediately to adapt
them to suit their own needs. Here the fact that most English freemasons had no connection with
the operative craft became highly important…rituals were based on Scottish practices, but they
were soon elaborated and altered. The Scottish two degrees were extended to three, perhaps
hastening and completing an evolutionary practice begun in Scotland,” Origins, 231.
78 See Clark, British Clubs, 309-317 for a detailed analysis of English lodges. For a listing of
Scottish lodges, their inception dates and locations, see Grand Lodge of Scotland, Consolidated
List of All Lodges (Edinburgh), 1-6.
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