St.Peter's Operative Lodge No.284

 I first became aware that there were any records of the first Thurso - and Caithness - lodge when Brother D.M.Stark, who was then Secretary of St.Peter's Operative Lodge, showed me the extant minute book in 1931. After I had read that books l wrote a short sketch of the lodge's history - based almost entirely on the minute book - for my father's amusement. It was only when Brother W.J.Sinclair, then Tyler of St.Peter's Operative Lodge, showed me the recently acquired bundles of papers that I realised that something more substantial was possible.
It is unlikely that any further records will be found and it may be that my story will, therefore, be largely unchallenged but it is only fair to point out that I have had to guess my way through much of the record. I trust that the reader will usually be aware of the parts that are well founded and those that are built on sand.
In the composition of the history I have not had the benefit of the advice of anyone expert in 18th century Freemasonry or in 18th century Caithness. Moreover,I have paid only short and infrequent visits to Thurso and my study of the original documents has been intense rather than deep. On the other hand, it has been valuable to have had ready access to the library and archives of Grand Lodge and I would like to thank Brother E.S.Falconer, Assistant Grand Secretary, for guiding me through the latter.
As a full list of references would be too lengthy I prefer to give none. Nearly every book on Freemasonry or Caithness which seemed likely to be useful yielded some item that has been incorporated in the history.
***
If any reader has any information relative to the history of St.John's Lodge, I should be pleased to hear from him. If a sufficient amount of new information is forthcoming I should hope to produce a revised version at a future date.
K.S.R.

SPECULATIVE FREEMASONRY
The first record of Freemasonry in Thurso is contained in the minutes of the Grand Lodge of Scotland for llth February 1741 when St.John's Lodge - as it is usually called - was granted a charter. Grand Lodge was at that time just over four years old and Speculative Freemasonry was still a novelty. It seems appropriate,therefore,to say something about the origins and growth of Freemasonry in general before discussing Thurso and its lodge.

The Origins of the Ceremonial
Almost all of the ceremonial of Craft Freemasonry as practised in Great Britain today assumed the present form in England in the 18th century. The substance of the ceremonies dates back to the early 18th century; the details of the ritual were developed throughout the century. The whole ceremonial was revised and given almost official status when the great schism in English Freemasonry was healed by the formation of United Grand Lodge there in 1717. This event was followed within a lifetime by the extensive use of the printed ritual - Emulation being the best known example.
The Irish and American systems were derived from the English at different stages in the development during the 18th century and, as a result, show pronounced differences from the present English system. But these do not concern us here.
Scotland has been more strongly influenced by England. The first full development of Speculative Freemasonry spread across the Border in the middle half of the 18th century to give Scotland a system as distinctive as the Irish and American systems. But in the middle of the 19th century the English printed ritual was introduced and from that time onwards there was a steady erosion of the Scottish system. There is evidence in the records of more than one Scottish lodge that die-hards were being voted down in the years around 1900. As a result the Scottish printed rituals are with one notable exception mere variants of the English ones.

 It is not, of course, to be denied that there was, in England and in Scotland, an older basis on which this new Speculative Freemasonry was erected. There was a long tradition in England of operative masons' possessing manuscript copies of charges which were read to apprentices and to craftsmen as a reminder of the dignity of their occupation. These charges are concerned not only with the subject matter of our present charges but also with a traditional history of the Craft. This history is quite different from that of our present rituals.
Scotland has few of these old charges and they are based on English originals. But Scotland has older lodge records than England and earlier references to persons who were non-operative being members of, or connected with, lodges. Moreover, there are a number of references to the Mason Word in the 17th century - the best known and earliest being
"For we be brethren of the Rosy Cross We have the second sight and mason word"
which is contained in Henry Adamson's "The Muses Threnodie" published at Edinburgh in 1658.
The Mason Word is thought to have consisted of word and token. It may, indeed, have included somewhat more. By the late 17th century in many places in Scotland and in England there would be manuscript charges, Masonic secrets and a number of non-operative Masons. All the evidence, however, leads to the conclusion that there were no more than two degrees at the turn of the century - a degree for the apprentices and a degree for the journeymen or masters. Two points are worthy of mention in this context. First, the F.P.0.F. suggest by the name a F.C. or journeyman's degree. Second, the difference between a journeyman and a master was not a craft difference; each was fully qualified to work as a mason. The difference was a civil one concerning the ability to run a business, to obtain credit and to. employ others.

The principal inventions of the early 18th century were the Hirarmic Legend and the Third Degree. The first references to these occur around 1725. At first the Third Degree was, in effect, a side degree but it was soon integrated with the other two into a coherent system of three degrees. Yet even so there were many Freemasons in Scotland and England in the late 18th century who did not feel it necessary to be raised. In formulating this system of three degrees elements were drawn from Scottish as well as English sources. From the older English sources were drawn the charges, the penalties and many other less important details; from Scottish sources were drawn the words "Entered Apprentice", "Fellow of Craft", "Cowan" and, perhaps, the Mason Word, the word of the Third Degree; itself. But the overall system was of a different character from the very simple operative masons' ceremonial which it superseded.
As is mentioned above, the Third Degree was not immediately accepted by all. Some London lodges did not work it until around 1750 and in 1772 the lack of candidates for the Third Degree was a cause of some anxiety in London generally.
In Scotland the degree may not have been worked before 1735 - there are disputed references of earlier date - but most lodges adopted it fairly soon after the formation of Grand Lodge in 1736. Yet it did not reach Kelso until 1754 and the old lodge at Haughfoot, which met as a Speculative lodge from 1702 to 1763, never worked it at all.
The importance of this brief summary of the development of Speculative Freemasonry in the present context is that the founding Master of St.John's Lodge was not raised to the degree of Master Mason until 1752.

THE CHARTER
Caithness in 1741 was a very different place from the county today. The principal source of employment was a primitive agriculture and few people lived in the towns and fishing villages. For most of the inhabitants life was harsh and they were ill-prepared for the recurring bad harvests. But the landed gentry were quite wealthy and kept contact with the society of London and Edinburgh
.
Kilwinning Scots Arms Lodge
Freemasonry had become fashionable in all parts of the civilised world. From England it had spread to France, to other Continental countries,to the British Colonies in America and elsewhere, to Ireland and to Scotland. The old Scottish lodges were stimulated and new ones were erected.
Four Edinburgh lodges formed the committee which organised the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1736. One of these was the Lodge of Kilwinning Scots Arms,
This was founded in 1729as a Speculative Lodge, meeting in the Scots Arms tavern near St.Giles' Kirk. It has long been extinct and has not left any records but it may well have been the originator of the proposal to form Grand Lodge. Certainly it gave Grand Lodge its first Depute Master and Secretary and these two brethren - Colonel John Young and John MacDougall - were the administrators of Grand Lodge for many years.
Among the members of the lodge in 1736 was Charles Hamilton Gordon,of the Invergordon branch of the family,an advocate of about 25 years of age. He had been a student at King's College, Aberdeen, although he did not graduate. He had been admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1735. Gordon was not a prominent public figure and little is known of his life. What connection he had with Caithness is not known but the minutes of Grand Lodge show that "there was a petition given in by Mr.Charles Gordon Advocat present Master of the Lodge of Thurso in Caithness and his Wardens Craving a Patent or Charter of Confirmation & Ratification in Favours of that Lodge, and that they might be recorded in
the Books of the Grand Lodge.

William Budge was of the Toftingall family - James was his cousin. William was entered in Lodge Drummond Kilwinning from Greenock, an Edinburgh lodge now extinct, was affiliated to Canongate from Leith Lodge, now St.David Lodge No.36, and became Master of the latter in 1757. In 1756 and 1757 he was Senior Grand Warden. William Budge died in 1765 when he must still have been a comparatively young man.
Sir William Dunbar was the second baronet of the Hempriggs line - this is the baronetcy which is now being claimed by a woman - having succeeded to the title in 1723. His first wife - he married three times - was the heiress of Dunbar of Westfield and hence that locality is frequently used of Sir William, He was entered, passed and raised in Canongate Kilwinning Lodge No.2 on 20th November 1754.
When Sir William was appointed Provincial Grand Master in 1756 he was allocated the following lodges:-
Old Kilwinning St.John, Inverness
St..Andrew, Inverness
Kirkwall Kilwinning
St.John, Thurso
Kilymolock, Elgin
Cumberland Kilwinning, Inverness
St.Andrew. Banff
Brodie's Dyke, Invernessshire
Huntly, Aberdeenshire
It is not known whether Sir William made any effort to supervise this large province or not, Probably he confined his activities to Thurso.
In the year following that of Sir William Dunbar's appointment we come to the first substantial record of St. John's Lodge.

Chapter Four