HAIL CALEDONIAN

"HAIL CALEDONIAN!"
by
Barry Vickers FRSA FSA Scot.
PM "Caledonian" No. 392SC
MM "The Caledonian Lodge of Uganda" No. 1389SC
HM "Caledonian" No. 238SC
HM "Motherwell Caledonian" No. 1228SC
PrM "Far East Caledonian" No. 1274SC

A short article, "ROYAL ARCH LODGES - WHAT'S IN A NAME ?", by Brother A. F. Stevenson Chalmers, printed in the Grand Lodge of Scotland Year Book for 1990, prompted me to research the following.

I have a great interest in Caledonian Lodges, being a Past Master of one, a subscribing member of another, an honorary member of two more, and also the Proxy Master of a South African "Caledonian". All this despite being a Sassenach !

There are, throughout the world, some 36 lodges which bear Caledonia as the whole or part of their name :

SCOTLAND (HOME LODGES)

SCOTLAND (OVERSEAS LODGES)

ENGLAND

CANADA

AUSTRALASIA

UNITED STATES of AMERICA

Lodges which might well have taken their name from their meeting place and been included in the above lists are :

Also worthy of mention is Kaledonia No. 177, under the banner of the Grande Lodge Nationale of France, which meets in Rennes, but I digress...

There are then, 9 Scottish Lodges within Scotland and 9 Scottish Lodges overseas, bearing the Caledonian banner. England has two, and the remainder of the Masonic world sports 16, and of these sixteen, some have Scottish roots.

Lodge Caledonian No. 178 (WA) was chartered on the 7th of May 1896 as No. 830 on the roll of the Grand Lodge of Scotland. The Lodge joined the Grand Lodge of Western Australia in 1944.

The United Grand Lodge of Queensland has two Caledonians on its roll, both of which were, in the past, holding of the Grand Lodge of Scotland. Lodge Caledonian No. 14 (QLD) was originally chartered on the 7th May 1886 as No. 456 SC, whilst No. 34 (QLD), was chartered on the 4th November 1886 as "Caledonian" No. 737 SC.

On the formation of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand, Lodge Caledonian No. 534 SC returned its charter, granted 3rd February 1873, to Scotland, and joined the Grand Lodge of New Zealand as No. 16.

At the Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, held on the 7th August 1865, a charter was granted to erect a Lodge "Caledonian", with the number 449. I am unable (as yet) to trace the confusion, but it appears that the Lodge was not satisfied with the number allocated, and such was the strength of the protest that the roll was revised, and this Lodge now appears as 4472.

Not all the Caledonian lodges have survived, the Caledonian Lodge of Uganda having a near miss with extinction just a few years ago when it was decided that, in order to escape being forcibly closed by Idi Amin, meetings would be suspended until prudence dictated otherwise. Alas, the lodge never again met in Uganda, but was saved from the inevitable by the dedication of the surviving members of the Lodge, resident in Scotland, who succesfuly petitioned for a re-designation of meeting place. The Lodge now to great credit in Edinburgh. A short history of this Lodge is given in the Year Book for 1986.

Lodge Caledonian No. 723 SC, chartered 30th November 1885 relinquished its allegiance to Scotland and joined the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales as Caledonian No. 144. The Lodge subsequently lost its identity on merging with Phoenix Lodge No. 79 (previously No. 1846 EC), and the combination taking the name of Bathurst United Lodge, retaining the lower roll number. This Lodge is still working today.

Grahamston and Carron Lodge, chartered 6th August 1810 as No. 310, changed its name to Lodge Caledonian in 1816. It would appear that the change of name did not inspire attendance, for the Lodge went dormant in 1826.

Lodge St. John Caledonian, chartered by Mother Kilwinning 28th July 1770, joined Grand Lodge as No. 314 in 1811, but went dormant in 1823.

The fate of Lodge Caledonia No. 1300 SC., chartered on the 2nd November 1922 to meet in Tiensin, China, was decided by Chairman Mao. The Lodge struggled on to its inevitable closure and dormancy in November 1952, by which time China was well and truly under the rule of Communism.

In the aftermath of the recent Gulf War I feel that special mention should be made of another victim of oppression, Lodge Kuwait Caledonian, No. 1570 SC. This Lodge had a short history, being chartered an the 5th of May 1960, and meeting in the little port of Mina-al-Ahmadi, Kuwait. The moving finger had already wrote the fate of this Lodge at it's consecration, for the swell of opposition to Freemasonry in the Middle East had already closed Lodges in Iran and Bahrain. Kuwait Caledonian ceased to meet in 1975.

Lodge St. Andrew, chartered 7th February 1780, had travelling status, being held within the 80th Regiment of Foot (The South Staffordshire). This travelling charter was withdrawn by Grand Lodge, and the remnant members formed themselves into a new Lodge, Caledonian, No. 218, in 1786. This particular Lodge had a short, but chequered history, and probably did more to alter the course of masonic history than any other Caledonian Lodge, being the catalyst that sparked the "Edinburgh Rebellion ", an excellent account of which is given in the transactions of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076, (AQC 86 1973 pp 322 - 325). The name of the Lodge is mis-spelled as Caledonia, but this detracts nothing from the story.

Briefly, the Secret Societies Bill, formulated at a time when England was overrun with secret societies of multitudinous types, was aimed at eradication of groups suspected of being in league with France during the Napoleonic Wars. This Act, if passed, would have effectively wiped out Freemasonry within these shores, but the Earl of Moira and other influential members of the Grand Lodge of England, had the Premier, Mr. Pitt, amend the Act to exclude "Lodges sitting by the precise authority of a Grand Lodge and under its direct superintendence". The amendment, whilst protecting the Lodges under the United Grand Lodge of England, would have proved disastrous in Scotland, for it must be remembered that at this time Mother Kilwinning had seceded from Grand Lodge and was, therefore, not protected by the amendment.

Kilwinning enlisted the aid of her Member of Parliament, a Colonel William Fullerton, who was successful in gaining a further amendment to the Bill exempting "all Lodges declaring upon oath before a Justice of the Peace that they were Freemasons", an amendment which not only gave protection to the Mother Lodge enabling her continuance outside the Grand Lodge of Scotland, but also to the unattached Lodges such as Glasgow Freemen and Melrose St. John. The Earl of Moira was, it seems, unaware of this amendment, with disastrous results, as we shall see later.

In 1807, a Bill allowing partial Catholic emancipation, such as serving in the Army, and freedom to practice their religion freely, came before Parliament. King George III interceded, and caused the Bill to be withdrawn.

It is at this stage that Lodge Caledonian comes into the fray, for at the Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge, held the 14th May 1807, Dr. John Mitchell, Master of Lodge Caledonian No. 218, moved that "the Grand Lodge of Scotland forward an address to His Majesty, in praise of the stance he had taken". The motion was defeated by a single vote and the meeting ended in chaos.

Dr. Mitchell re-submitted his proposal at the next Communication when it was not only soundly defeated, but he had to suffer the indignity of rebuke for bringing political matter before Grand Lodge. Had Dr. Mitchell the sense to admit his defeat at that point, history might not have pursued the path it did, but he took the stance that at least five addresses had been sent to His Majesty by the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and that the rebuke was unjustified; indeed the Acting Grand Master, (the Earl of Moira), had even sought permission from the King, to make declaration of the Political Principles of Grand Lodge.

To say that Grand Lodge and Dr. Mitchell were not on amicable terms seems to be an understatement, both sides smarting considerably, and an otherwise trivial incident, a dispute between Lodge Caledonian and the Roman Eagle Lodge, over their usage of the Temple in Grand Lodge, might not have caused the repercussions it did.