Some Notes Concerning A Dormant Lodge On The Scottish Border.

Masonic antiquary , like Bros . Murray Lyon and Hughan ; and he at last found traces of what we were in search of in the possession of an old widow , whose husband had been a Mason . Upon his communicating to us this intelligence we hurried up to Yetholm ; but , alas ! to be disappointed once more , for upon our arrival we found that the old lad y in whose possession the documents had been had departed this life the evening previous . Leaving instructions that

any papers with writing on , or any articles of a Masonic character , were to be carefully put aside after the funeral , we awaited the course of events . Some few days afterwards we received a parcel containing two thin folio books , containing- the laws and a list of " Members belonging to the Lodge from its first beginning- in the year of our Lord 1745 , " together with the charter granted to the " Beaumont Lodge , Yetholm , No . 237 , " on the 7 th of

May , 1810 . Before proceeding further with the slight sketch of this lodge—for the sketch must be slight , as the materials we have to work upon are very meagrewe think a short description of Yetholm will not be out of place . The town of Yetholm is divided into two villages—Kirk Yetholm and Town Yetholm , The formeron the riht or east bank of the river Beaumontis the more

, g , ancient , being the original village . Mention is made of the church as far back as 1233 ; while Town Yetholm , which is situated on the north of the beautiful valley watered by the Beaumont , although now the more . important portion of the town , is much more modern , no mention of it being known before the sixteenth century . The two portions are at some little distance from each other , the river which runs between them being spanned by a bridge

erected m 1836 . Kirk Yetholm stands on the right bank of the Beaumont , on the base of one of the Cheviot Hills . It has long been the head-quarters of several gipsy tribes . In the days when they were persecuted and driven from county to county , the village of Yetholm being situated close on the Border , and in the immediate neighbourhood of the Cheviot mountains , amongst the fastnesses of which they could seek shelter , this place was admirably adapted as a safe place of abode . As Jeffreyin his history of

Roxburghshiresays—, , " On the executors of the law of either kingdom attempting to enforce obedience to the statutes , it was easy for the Gipsies to retire across the ideal line to the friendly side , or penetrate the recesses of the Cheviot mountains , in which they might mock the utmost efforts of their pursuers . In these wilds they could have no difficulty in procuring provisions from the numerous herds of deer and other animals with which these mountains then abounded .

Following the range of the Cheviot Fells , they could make incursions into the very heart of Northumberland , and , under cover of the same wilds , they mi ght travel to the west seas . " The king was usually chosen from the strongest tribe ; and the Faa ' s , a well-known name on the Border , being- a very powerful tribe , supplied more than one soverign to the gipsies here . This tribe is extinct , and the throne is now occupied by Esther Faa Blythe , a descendant

of the Faa ' s in the female line . Queen Esther receives visitors at her " palace , " Kirk Yetholm . The principal attractions about Yetholm are the pure air , the abundant streams for fishing , and the beauty of the scenery , which is very varied , ranging from the quite pastoral beauty of the valleys to the wild and romantic scenery of the hills . Our worthy secretary , Lodge 58 , Bro . H . W . Thomson , thus sweetly sines of Yetholm in his " Emigrant to Teviotdale : " - J

" The daisied bank whereon I lay And planned my boyish hopes"Watching the cattle , red and white , Upon the Cheviot slopes . "The Beaumont hurrying from its source Among the mountain rills , And spreading down the valley past Sweet Yfif . holm on thn hills . "