Re: Bonnie Prince Charlie Author: Donald G Stephenson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: 1999/03/19 Forum: soc.org.freemasonry In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, DaveTarot <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes >> >>>Was Bonnie Prince Charlie a Free-Mason? >> >>I have been told that he was. I've seen no proof positive of it. >> >About 2 years ago, a brother from Scotland posted something about Prince >Charlies sinature on the tiler's register shorytly before the battle that ended >it all. >Never heard any more than that, >David roller >Mosaic 218 F&AM Livermore Ca > Jacobite Freemasonry "The esoteric element was more prominent in the 'Red' Masonry than in the 'Blue'. But Red or Scottish Masonry can also be seen as a return to more traditional ideas of hierarchy and social order....But the Scottish higher degrees meant the implied rejection of at least a part of the ideal of egalitarianism. The higher grades involved the subordination of the lower, and also the ignorance on the part of the lower grades of the wisdom enjoyed by the higher." - Peter Partner, The Murdered Magicians "To affect their pro-Stuart political aims, the Scottish lodges changed the Biblical symbolism of the third Blue Degree into political symbolism to represent the House of Stuart. Ramsey's 'higher' degrees contained additional symbolism 'revealing' why Freemasons had a duty to help the Stuarts against the throne of England. Because of this, many people viewed Scottish Freemasonry as a clever attempt to lure freemasons away from the Mother Grand Lodge system which supported the Hanoverian monarchy and turn the new converts into pro-Stuart Masons. "The Stuarts themselves joined Ramsey's organization. James III adopted the Templar title 'Chevalier St. George'. His son, Charles Edward, was initiated into the Order of Knights Templar on Setember 24, 1745, the same year in which he led a major Jacobite invasion of Scotland. Two years later, on April 15, 1747, Charles Edward established a masonic 'Scottish Jacobite Chapter' in the French city of Arras." - William Bramley, The Gods of Eden "We, Charles Edward, King of England, France, Scotland, and Ireland, and as such Substitute Grand Master of the Chapter of H., known by the title of Knight of the Eagle and Pelican..." - Arras Lodge Charter During their stay in France in 1745, the "Young Pretender" Bonnie Prince Charlie and other Stuarts "had become deeply involved in the dissemination of Freemasonry. Indeed they are generally regarded as the source of the particular form of Freemasonry known as 'Scottish Rite'. 'Scottish Rite' Freemasonry introduced higher degrees than those offered by other Masonic systems at the time. It promised initiation into greater and more profound mysteries - mysteries supposedly preserved and handed down in Scotland. It established more direct connections between Freemasonry and the various activities - alchemy, Cabalism and Hermetic thought, for instance - which were regarded as 'Rosecrucian'. And it elaborated not only on the antiquity but also on the illustrious pedigree of the 'craft'." "...It did not, like many rites of Freemasonry, consist primarily of free-thinkers and atheists. On the contrary, it seems to have been deeply religious and magically oriented - emphasizing a sacred social and political hierarchy, a divine order, an underlying cosmic plan. And the upper grades or degrees of this Freemasonry, according to M. Chaumeil [Le Tresor du triangle d'or] were the lower grades or degrees of the Prieure de Sion." - Baigent, Leigh & Lincoln, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail "In the aftermath of the 1745 rebellion, Jacobite Freemasonry as such, with its specific political orientation and allegiance to the Stuart bloodline, effectively died out. Variations of it, however, purged of political content and tempered by the moderation of the Grand Lodge of England, survived. They survived in part through the so-called 'higher' degrees' offered by such institutions as Irish Grand Lodge. Most important, however, they survived within the Strict Observance promulgated by Hund - of which the highest degree was that of 'Knight Templar'. The Strict Observance was to spread throughout Europe." - Baigent & Leigh, The Temple and the Lodge Hope this info. Is of some use to you. Yours fraternally, Donald Donald G Stephenson Member of The Philalethes Society Jewller lodge St. Modan Rosneath 1015 lodge St. George Helensburgh 503 Helensburgh, Argyll & Bute Scotland U.K. Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
