History Of The Airedale Lodge, No. 387.

HISTORY OF THE AIREDALE LODGE , No . 387 .

Giving also , incidentally ( by notes of the Foundation of each Lodge in chronological order ) , a Record of the Progress of Freemasonry in Yorkshire . BY BRO . J . RAHSDEN RILEY , P . M . AIREDALE LODGE , NO . 387 , Z . MORAVIAN CHAPTER , NO .

387-SECTION IV . —1864 to 1879—continued . ON November 1 st , 1876 , an occurrence of great rarity took place in our lodge , viz ., the signing of a Grand Lodge certificate twenty-five years after its issue . The brother was originally initiated to become Tyler in 1848 , ancl finding that he had not been returned by Airedale since 1856 , I felt it

incumbent upon me to require that this certificate should be signed in our lodge , and meanwhile obtained the Grand Secretary ' s sanction . I found the document crammed , with " ten rows a penny " of antiquated pins ancl several aged candle ends , in the corner of a huge wooden chest which formerl y belonged to the Duke of York ' s Lodge at Doncaster , and ' which chest I hacl taken a great fancy to . The contents took me the whole of one Saturday afternoon , and several nights of the following week , to turn over . If one of our " antient brethren " had been in the habit of occunvin ? the box in Question after

exceeedingly festive occasions as a bedstead , and hacl all the brethren regarded and made use of it at other times as a dust-bin , it could not have been more effectually soddened down , and , consequently , more got into it ! "Oblivion" I named it , ancl should have moved in the lodge that it be cleansed in the only effectual manner—by fire , but for the pleasure the dirty old thing hacl given me in rummaging . its contents . At the bottom was

another certificate , still older , and several more in other parts of the box , together with many written curiosities , wherein the writers most specially desired that after perusal they should be destroyed ! The dates of many of these papers went back to 1788 , and some were very interesting—the reminiscences of the old coaching clays especially—but such having no connection with Freemasonry beyond that the writers and receivers were Masons , ancl being for the most part domestic ancl family matters intended to be the secrets of the recipient , I did not hesitate to obey the injunction of the writers of several by burning

them . The Masonic papers I carefully preserved . One of the certificates hacl evidentl y been used as a " churchwarden " lighter , hastily extinguished ancl thrown into " oblivion ; " I presume , to hide the unpardonable sacrilege . Seeing the burnt end of a dirty-looking " screw " of paper , about an inch thick , I unfolded it carefully , and after spending some weeks' trouble hi pressing ancl otherwise preparing , I mounted it on a large cardboard . I am onl y sorry that the brown and black patch in the middle

cannot be hidden ; but few would suspect the use to which the document had been applied if ignorant of its history , whilst those who were acquainted with it might possibly regard it as a " beauty spot , " under the circumstances of its discovery . At the installation of Bro . John Hey as W . Master , St . John ' s , 6 th December , 1876 , I received from my brethren of Airedale Lodge two gifts which I shall ever prize , not only as a spontaneous act of good feeling on their part , but for the very delicate ancl thoughtful manner in which they sought to further honour me b y inviting my father to be present . As the presentation