“BLUE BANNER, THE” LODGE

Gould, Hughan, Lane, and others who in the 1875-1890 period began the writing of Masonic history according to the canons of scholarly work which elsewhere governed professional historians, always hoped to find evidence of a great antiquity for pre-1717 Lodges but insisted on documentary proof, and refused to accept traditions, as they were right in doing, though it is now believed that they were somewhat more skeptical than they needed to have been. Also, present-day scholars know , they sometimes overlooked data which belonged neither to the class of traditions nor to the class of documents ; these data are present Lodge facts, customs, or possessions which in themselves, and necessarily, imply a long period of time.

A datum of this kind, an exceptionally interesting one, is the Blue Banner which was possessed by an Edinburgh Lodge, the history of which is given in Annals of Journeyman Masons, No. 8, by Seggie and Tumbull; Thomas Allan and Sons; Edinburg; l930. This Lodge began as a sort of offshoot, or Side Order, of an old Operative Lodge, and is therefore reminiscent of the “Acception” in the Mason Company of London. The history of the Blue Banner goes back for about eight centuries ; it was given to the Scottish Trade Gilds when they joined the Crusade under Pope Urban A, and for centuries entitled its possessors not only to special honors but to special privileges, and is more than once mentioned in the early records of the burgh.

This history contains one entry of a special interest to American Masons. In September, 1918, the Lodge was visited by Bro. Sam Gompers, President of the American Federation of Labor; he received the distinction for that Lodge a rare one, of being elected an Honorary Member. His home Lodge was Dawson's No 16 Washington D. C.

See also An Historical Account of the Blue Blanket; or Crafts-Men's Banner. Containing the Fundamental Principles of the Good-Town, u¤th the Powers and Prerogatives of the Crafts of Edinburgh, Etc., by Alexander Pennecuik; Edinburgh; 1722. There were 14 incorporated Crafts in Edinburgh in 1722.