Freemasonry In Kelso.

Scottish Border , " first printed in Kelso by Bro . James Ballantyne , in 1802 , at the office in Bridge Street , from whence the Kelso Mail , started by Ballantyne in 1797 , is still issued . The excellence of the typography attracted general attention , and no wonder , for the copy which lies before me as I write would have done credit to the metropolitan press , and made people when they read the imprint—¦ " KELSOprinted bJames Ballantyne "—enquire where Kelso was .

, y In the same year in whicli the " Border Minstrelsy" was published , Bro . Ballantyne was the R . W . Master of Kelso Lodge . Kelso was also known to a few , a very few , admirers of architecture , who would make a pilgrimage to the Borders to see and admire the beautiful structures of the ancient masons , as exhibited in the ruins of Melrose , Dryburgh , Kelso , and Jedburgh Abbeys . But to the general world Kelso wasI may sayalmost unknown until the year

, , 1867 , when her Majesty was graciously pleased to visit it . Then the pressgang came down upon our quiet little town , took down all the particulars about everything they could discover about us , and made us known to all the world . It is just possible , however , that there still exists somewdiere someone who has not the remotest idea of the whereabouts of Kelso , ancl in case such an one should be a reader of your Magazine I will very briefly describe our position .

The town of Kelso is situated on the north bank of the river Tweed , exactly opposite its junction with tbe Teviot ; it is in the county of Roxburgh , and is distant by road 42 miles south-east from Edinburgh , 23 miles west from Berwick , and about six miles from tbe English Border . It has a population of about 4 , 000 inhabitants , is accessible by rail from all parts of the country , andalthough it is not exactly one of the tourist-haunted lacesthe scenery

, p , here , though not of a bold romantic nature , is exceedingly beautiful , and would well repay a visit . The' more one travels in search of the picturesque , the more one is delighted on his return with the scenery around Kelso . Cowper ' s lines are peculiarly applicable to this place .

" Scenes must bo beautiful which daily view'd Please daily , and whose novelty survives Long knowledge ancl the scrutiny of years : Praise justly due to those which I describe . " But that this paper is concerning Freemasonry in Kelso I would be tempted to enlarge upon the beauties of our scenery about here . Here , however ,

instead of any prosaic description of mine , I will quote the words of Dr . Leydon , in his " Scenes of Infancy : — " Bosomed in woods where mighty rivers run , Kelso ' s fair vale expands before the sun , Its rising downs iu vernal beauty swell , Ancl , fringed with hazel , winds each flowery dell ,-Green led lains to dimpling lawns succeed

spangp , Aud Tempe rises on tho banks of Tweed . Blue o ' er the river Kelso's shadow lies , And copse-clad isles amid the waters rise ; Where Tweed her silent way majestic holds , Float the thin gales in more transparent folds . "

The most conspicuous object in Kelso is the venerable ruin of the Abbey . This Abbey , which was founded in 1128 b y King David the First , was doubtless the origin of Masonry in Kelso . Melrose Masons claim their institution from the building of the Abbey there in 1136 , ancl Kilwinning-Lodge , or " Mother Kilwinning , " as it is called , standing No . 0 on the roll of Scottish Lodges , claims the founding of the Monastry there in 1140 as the introduction of Masonry into Scotland . Having no documentary evidence to

prove the origin—the documents as a rule not going farther back than the middle of the seventeenth century , it is not altogether unreasonable to assign the institution of Masonry in the various parts of Scotland to the period at which the Abbeys were erected . If this bo accepted , then the Lodge of Kelso