Wonders Of Operative Masonry.

have doubted it for au instant ! We take leave of Innisfallen with Bro . Tom Moore ' s musical lines : " Sweet Innisfallen , fare thee well , J [ ay calm and sunshine long be thine , How fair thou art , let others tell ,

While but to feel how fair be mine . " VALLE CRUCIS ABBEY is the finest ecclesiastic ruin in Wales . It was fouuded A . D . 1200 . It is situated near the river Dee , in Denbighshire , 30 miles south-west of Liverpoolancl 183 miles north-Avest from

, London . It derived its name from its possession of a piece of the " true cross . " It is now converted into a farm house , although it still retains many of its monastic features . Three rows of groined arches support the dormitory , which is now

a hay-loft . The Church Avas cruciform , and ISO feet in length . The west front has an arched door , ancl OA'er it , in a round arch , are three lancet Avindows . The walls are clad with ivy , and the area of the Abbey is overgrown with tall ash trees . Altogether , Valle Crucis Abbey is an exceedingly picturesque and interesting ruin . Near by it is Eliseg ' s Pillar ,

one of the most ancient columns in Great Britain , erected in the seventh century . KILLWINNING ABBEY is at Kilwinning , Ayrshire , Scotland , a curious old-fashioned town , situated on an eminence about two miles from the sea—the Firth of Clyde ,

and some twenty-six miles distant from GlasgoAv , and fifteen from Ayr . In the twelfth century a number of operative Masons belonging to the Fraternity of the travelling Freemasons of the Middle Ages , landed here from the Continent , for the

purpose of building a Monastery , which was founded by Hugh cle Morville , Lord Hi gh Constable of Scotland . The traditional year of the founding of Kilwinning Abbey is A . D . 1140 , although Bro . John Laird , P . M ., of Lodge Glasgow St . John ,

No . 3 , states that some time between that Mil A . D . 1220 is more likely the period of its erection ( Lyon ' s Freemasoury in Scotland , p . 242 , note ) . A number of Scotch Abbeys were erected about the same time : Holyrood AbbeyA . D . 1128 : Kelso Abbey the

, same year ; Melrose Abbey , A . D . 1136 ; and Aberdeen Abbey , A . D . 1137 ; Probabl y parts of the same band of builders " were engaged in the erection of all of

Wonders Of Operative Masonry.

these venerable edifices . Kilwinning early become of most masonic note , and tradition awards it the chief place in Scottish Masonic annals . At one time this Abbey enjoyed the proprietorship of twenty parish churches . When entire , its buildings covered several acresand were stately and

, magnificent . The only remains of the ancient pile are—a gable of the old church ' s transept , a finely proportioned arch , a Saxon gateway , and some mouldering Avails . The Abbey derived its name from St . Winning , a Scottish Saint of

the eighth century . The revenue of Kil-Avinning Abbey at the Dissolution was £ 8403 Scots . Its ruins are on the estate of the Earl of Eglinton . To Mother Lodge Kilwinning belongs the honour of perpetuating the fame of

Kilwinning Abbey . This Lodge is 'at the present time in a most flourishing' condition . In 1807 Mother Lodge Kilwinning was awarded the place at the head of the Roll of the Grand Lodge , being No . 0 , ancl its Master for the time was made

i pse facto Piwincial Grand Master of Ayrshire . Tradition and fact thus agree in placing this Lodge at the head of the Roll of Lodges in Scotland , and award it the proud distinction of being the Mother Lodge of the Kingdom . Its date on the Roll is , circa A . D . 1128 .

Elegiac.

ELEGIAC .

SOPHIA SAFFERY , Obit February 12 th , 1877 , cetal 65 years . IN bygone years I looked upon My Mother ' s loving face ,

I saw therein the bloom of health Ancl chastely glowing grace ; The light of love shone in her eyes , Its kindling beams were bright , — Th' expression of a mother ' s joy , The offspring of delight .

We children clustered ' round her knees , And said our evening prayer , And lisped a verse in sacred song Of Jesu ' s gentle care .