The Corporative Masonry of Great Britain 197sertation on the seven sciences. They are essentially practical rules
established by the masters of the corporation gathered in Edinburgh
and set as mandatory for all masons to observe. The first date from
1598 and, on the whole, correspond to the rules of other crafts corpo-
rations. These concern the election of lodge officers, restrictions con-
cerning admission of apprentices, and other purely operative matters.
The first two articles command obedience and honor and anticipate a
masonic initiation about which no details are given. Included are sim-
ply a mention of the taking of the oath and the transmission of the
"mason's word."* Characteristic in this regard is the manuscript
known as the Edinburgh Register House, dated 1695, which explicitly
states that the oath is made on the Bible and that the candidate "swears
by God, Saint John, the square, and the compass." This gives the strong
impression that the oath in Scotland was made on the Gospel of Saint
John.
Another series of statutes dating from 1599 was certainly set out by
the Old Lodge of Kilwinning. The Lodge of Edinburgh is mentioned in
these as the first and primary lodge of Scotland, Kilwinning as the sec-
ond, and Stirling as the third. The statutes define the lodge's jurisdiction
and establish its mandatory taxes. The warden had the power to verify
the qualities and aptitudes of the fellows, as well as to expel those
found wanting. It is also said that he could appoint a secretary. These
statutes employ the terms apprentice, journeyman, and master, which
proves the existence of these three grades in Scottish operative freema-
sonry, whereas things are much more vague in the English craft.
The Mason Companies and the Authorities
As indicated above, the guilds, notably those of the masons, as a gen-
eral rule benefited from the favor of British civil and religious powers.*Robert Kirk, an Aberfoill minister, writes in 1691: "I have found five curiosities in
Scotland, not much observed to be [known] elsewhere ... 2. The Mason's Word, which
though some make a Mystery of it, I will not conceal a little of what I know; it is like a
Rabbinical tradition in [the] way of comment on Iachin and Boaz, the two pillars erected
in Solomon's Temple, with the addition of some secret sign delivered from hand to hand,
by which they [the Masons] know and become familiar with one another." Quoted by
Gould, A Concise History of Freemasonry.