What's Occurring?

A self-made man who brought tea to the British masses, Freemason Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton also campaigned for the sick and the poor. Many masonic lodges around the world can boast of a famous member among their ranks, but Glasgow’s Lodge Scotia, No. 178, has one rather remarkable brother – Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton. As with many other masons quietly carrying out acts of philanthropy, Lipton remains an unsung hero. Lipton was a self-made man, endowed with the energy and drive to revolutionise the grocery trade and subsequently distribute large portions of his amassed fortune for the benefit of others. Born on 10 May 1850, Lipton was the youngest of five children. His parents had emigrated from Ireland to Scotland in the late 1840s due to the devastation of their smallholding in the Irish potato famine of 1845. By the 1860s, resilient to the core despite having also lost four of their children in infancy, the couple established a small shop selling butter, ham and eggs. Young Lip...

You can't get any better than this try. The first rugby match my late father took me to see was the London Counties v New Zealand at Twickenham in November 1972. The same New Zealand side that went on to concede this try. I used to recreate Gareth Edwards' dive in to the corner in the back garden. I think I'd leave a bit of a dent if I did it now!

James Ross, Mojito in Hand! We don't have a 9 O'Clock Toast in my Mother Lodge. It used to hugely irritate my predecessor as Provincial Secretary when we gave the Toast "Absent Brethren" at the end of the Tyler's Toast 😉. During the current crisis, the 9 O'Clock Toast to "Absent Brethren" has taken on a huge significance to the whole organisation, especially on a Saturday Evening. I was delighted to be asked to propose the Toast at the Saint Padarn Quiz-Olation on Thursday 21st May 2020. Here's a nice little toast I adapted from something I found on the internet. Nine O'Clock Toast At nine o'clock we greet you - no matter where we stand We may be merely out of town, or in some far off land With melting hearts and brim-full eyes we'll steal a moment's leisure To call our distant greeting "Brother may I have the pleasure?" For we are bound together by a great eternal link To drink from that Masonic cup ...

King Solomon's Temple as W Bro John Watson, Provincial Grand Almoner, Remembers It "As if W Bro John Watson didn't have enough to worry about at the moment, he has been concerned about his memories of King Solomon's Temple and what was on top of the pillars at the entrance!" I have in the past made comments about the pillars at the Temple having 2 globes on them, when at the time the temple was built, they thought the world was flat. Not being satisfied with the reply that it was just symbolic, I did a bit of research and found the following. Contrary to popular belief, the celestial and terrestrial globes, were not present on the two columns which adorned the porch-way to King Solomon’s Temple, how could they be; given that at that time people believed the earth to be flat! It is likely they were originally ‘bowl shaped’ as the Hebrew word ‘Goolot’ (plural), or ‘Goolah’ (singular) means globes, bowls or vessels, and were confused in translation. The...

The office of steward is the first office to which a brother is appointed, an important first step, this was done formally but without ceremony, indeed if you were not fully alert you could have missed it.  Is there no ceremony to mark this, did our ancient brethren do it this way? Researches have shown that there was a ceremony, not in the ritual book but handed down from time improbable, by word of mouth alone, now sadly rarely seen. W. Master this evening with the help of W. Bro David Rayson, I would like to give a brief explanation of this archaic ceremony. D.C:   Bro Ross where were you first prepared to be made a Steward. Ans: In the body of a lodge by the W.M.’s Pedestal. D.C:   Where next. Ans: At the Festive Board adjoining the Lodge. D.C:   Describe the mode of your preparation. Ans:   I was deprived of the right to eat my dinner in peace, a napkin was placed over my left arm, a bottle opener placed in in my right hand and...