The Royal Order of Scotland ( English Royal Order of Scotland ) - one of the orders located within the framework of British Freemasonry. Membership in the order is granted to freemasons by invitation. The headquarters of the Grand Lodge of the Royal Order of Scotland is in Edinburgh , and it unites and manages 88 provincial grand lodges in several places throughout Britain and in several countries around the world [1] .
Content
History
The Order dates back to 1741, according to archival records of the Great Lodge, demonstrating the activities of the Order in London, with another charter, granted in 1750 to receive a degree in The Hague. The owner of this order, William Mitchell, moved to Edinburgh around 1752/3, using the charter to create a great lodge there. In 1767, this organization became known as the Great Lodge of the Royal Order of Scotland [2] .
Over time, activity began to fall and the order approached its disappearance in the early 19th century, but a new stage of revival began with the creation of additional provincial grand lodges by 1843.
The legends of the order date back to the beginning of the reign of King David I in the XII century in the degree of Heredom, and the degree of rose and cross arose in 1314 after the Battle of Bannockburn [1] [3] .
Organization
The Order prescribes that the King of Scots be a hereditary great master. The Deputy Master and Governor of the Order is currently Sir Archibald Donald Orr-Ewing, 6th Baronet (December 20, 1938). Orr-Ewing is the eldest son of Sir Ronald Archibald Orr-Eving, 5th Baronet, and was educated at Gordonston and Trinity College in Dublin. He was a great master of the Great Lodge of the ancients, free and accepted masons of Scotland , until November 27, 2008, a position he held since 2005. Previously, he held this position from 1999 to 2004, being the only person who held this position twice. July 3, 2009, he was appointed deputy great master and governor (administrator) of the Royal Order of Scotland in Edinburgh. During periods of absence of the King of Scots, the deputy great master and governor is the world leader of the order [2] .
Each provincial grand lodge has a provincial grand master, who usually manages it for a number of years in a row. The provincial grand master annually appoints provincial officers [3] .
The order’s uniqueness lies in the fact that, unlike Freemasonry, the Royal Order of Scotland has no local (or “private”) lodges, and the provincial grand lodge has the lowest level of organization and activity. New members are allowed in the provincial grand lodge or even in the grand lodge in Edinburgh [2] .
In London (but not elsewhere in England), the order is governed at the provincial level by the Order of Masters Masters of the Mark , and the officers of the Provincial Grand Lodge of London and metropolitan counties are chosen mainly from the senior members of various other orders [1] [3] .
Degrees and Ceremonies
The Royal Order of Scotland, the Grand Lodge and the Provincial Grand Lodges assign two degrees:
- Hered Kiluininga
- Knight of the rose and cross
Ceremonies are usually studied and rehearsed without scripts, and they include a significant number of rhymed verses. Elements of many other Masonic degrees and orders are included in or referred to in the ceremony of the Royal Order of Scotland [3] .
Membership
Essential and universal qualification for applicants is membership in three degrees of Freemasonry, five years or more continuous presence as a master mason in one of the lodges , and being a Christian believer in the Trinity. These requirements may not be changed by any province.
In addition to these fundamental requirements, provinces may impose additional conditions, and many do this, the most common of which is the requirement of belonging to the Royal Arch .
Additional qualifications for membership depend on provincial jurisdiction, but may include the requirement of active membership in 18 ° Ancient and accepted Scottish statutes or one of the other Christian Masonic orders (such as the Constantine Red Cross or the Templars ) [2] .
In the US, candidates must have a 32 ° Old and adopted Scottish statute, or be a Knight Templar in the system of the York Statute [1] [3] .
See also
- Great Lodge of Scotland
- Organizations of additional degrees
Notes
- 2 1 2 3 4 Robert Strathern Lindsay, The Royal Order of Scotland, The Grand Secretary, 1972 ( ISBN 978-0950080949 )
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Archived copy . The appeal date is April 12, 2017. Archived April 12, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Paul Paolini, "Génèse de la première maçonnerie anglaise au xviiie siècle", Renaissance traditionnelle, no 186, avril 2017, p. 104