The Old Charges Of The British Freemasons.

THE OLD CHARGES OF THE BRITISH FREEMASONS .

WILLIAM JAMES HUGHAN . No . III . —THE " MELEOSE MS . " No . 2 OE A . D . 1674 . THE " Melrose MS . No . 2 " is really a copy of one much older , which for the sake of reference , etc ., is termed No . 1 , of the year 1581 or earlier . Until quite recently no mention has been made of this valuable document ,

either in print or in any other way that we hww of , ancl it has only been through the well directed efforts of Bro . W . Frederick Vernon , P . M ., & c , Kelso , that the craft has been informed of so curious and valuable a version of the " Old Charges . " In some respects it differs from all other known MSS ., ancl though in point of age the " Melrose MS . No . 2 " is the junior of several , yet as respects its evidence of being a transcript of one of 1580 ( circa ) , it is

more valuable than the majority of . MSS . of the 17 th century . Of the records of the ancient lodge at Melrose we are in part aware through the researches of Bro . W . P . Buchan , of Glasgow , ancl other brethren , ancl more still will be communicated now , as Bro . Vernon is interesting himself so kindly in the matter , having also a special aptitude for that important department as the author of the history of the old Lodge at Kelso , & e . Copies of the " Old Charges , " however , is our special duty to attend to , ancl respecting the one now before us , we have to state that the version occurs

in connection with the records of an old Lodge at Melrose , which has been working for , it is supposed , centuries , and has not yet joined the Grand Lodge of Scotland . The MS . purports to be an extract made by " A . M ., " in Dec , 1674 . Bro . Vernon has traced "A . M ., " ancl finds him to have been Andro Mein , evidently a member of the Lodge ( probably the clerk ) , ancl , moreover , has come across a document of A . D . 1675 b y the same writer , the handwritingbeing the same as in the MS . which is a " Mutuall agreement betwixt the

, Massones of the Lodge of Melrose , " ancl proves the existence of the Lodge to have dated back some " tyme bygoine , " before 1670 . The date of the original MS ., of which No . 2 of 1674 is a copy , is approximatel y fixed by the year of the certificate at foot , which is 1581 , aud which is appended to the present transcript , caref Lilly made by Bro . Vernon , who has kindly and most fraternall y sent it to us for publication in the Masonic Magazine in our series of " Old

Masonic Charges . " Those familiar with the "Kilwinning MS . " in Bro . D . Murray Lyon ' s " History of No . 1 Edinburgh , " or in our " Masonic Sketches and Reprints" will see that the " Melrose MS . " is not a copy of that document , but a transcript of a version nearly a century older thou when that ancient Lod ge is known to have obtained its version of the " Old Charges . "

We need not particularise the reasons for our statement as to their mutual independence of each other , and also their mutual dependence on some English ori ginal , for both refer to the allegiance clue to the Xing of England , but shall refer to the subject again at a more favourable opportunity . We may remark , however , that the amount of payment , the length of the " cable tow , " the titles of certain officials , ancl much of the text differ in many

respects from the " Kilwinning MS ., " and at all events quite sufficient to prove that the Melrose MS . No . 2 is not a copy of the " Kilwinning , " but a transcri pt of one much older . After the usual " Invocation , " the allusion to King Priwmus would appear , to be an error of the transcriber in 1674 ^ but our good Bro . Vernon assures us it is Priamus . It should read Princes . The reference to " all other Chrystian men , " after the u