From The East October 2024

Brethren of Pentalpha Lodge 194 –

As we enter October, we are bringing our masonic year to a close, which in our lodge means a lot of activity and very few meetings left due to the holidays! In October, we have two meetings, each with a guest speaker – I encourage you to come join us to hear the informative masonic education opportunities.

We also have a Festive Board in conjunction with the York Rite, to be held on October 19th. At the Festive Board, we tend to close with Auld Lang Syne, so I have decided to share with you a little information on this song…

THE STORY OF AULD LANG SYNE
Few will know all the words and fewer still what they mean. They are attributed to Freemason Robert Burns who apparently picked up the tune and some of the words from an old man singing in the dialect of south-west Scotland. The song was initially centered on two young men who drifted apart after their early schooling, and who, after re-uniting, reminisced about their earlier times together, the happy experiences they had together and the kindly folk they met.

The Masonic routine is to form a circle in which everyone is equidistant from the center, demonstrating they are all equal. Often, at the beginning of the song the brethren stand with hands by their sides, symbolizing they are relative strangers. The early verses should be sung (or hummed) very softly as brethren reflect both on cherished memories of earlier times together and on those brethren who have since passed to the Grand Lodge Above. When they come to the last verse, ‘And there’s a hand, my trusty frier (friend)...’‌, each brother then extends his right hand of fellowship to the brother on his left, then the left hand to the brother on his right.

This symbolizes two things: firstly, that they are crossing their hearts secondly, that they automatically form a smaller and more intimate circle of friendship. Now they have an unbroken chain of brethren who are close friends. The tempo should then rise and, to the tapping of feet, all enthusiastically sing the final chorus.

Bro. Robert Burns, poet, song writer, Freemason and patriot died in poverty of endocarditis in Dumfries, Scotland at the age of 37 on 21 July 1796. Some 12,000 people from all walks of life attended his funeral. Almost two hundred years later, his death is mourned by thousands of devotees throughout the world, who honor him, not only for his outstanding cultural talents, but as a doyen of democracy and a prophet of imitational brotherhood.

What is the secret of the everlasting popularity of this remarkable man of humble birth, who had only three years of formal schooling? Why is he remembered when the two monarchs and eleven prime ministers who dominated the scene during his short life have been virtually forgotten? Why is it that others of his ilk in the literary world are respected, but Burns is loved? The answer is that he wrote from the heart and was the voice of the common man and woman. He was their advocate, publicist, philosopher and friend.

Burns had not only the vision of a better world, but the capacity to articulate that message. He was a revolutionary reformer, a vigorous and tireless opponent of oppression, privilege, hypocrisy and racism.

Robert Burns is not only for Scotland, but for all the world he was one of that small band who wrote for all time and for all people. Burns left to the world teachings which must be regarded as subtle religion the teaching of brotherhood, honesty, pride, and independence of love and friendship. He voiced the spirit of equality and was unswerving in his devotion to liberty.

If only political parties, commercial organizations and individuals would adopt his credo:

‘Whatever mitigates the woes, or increases the happiness of others, this is my criterion of goodness, and whatever injures society at large, or any individual in it, this is my measure of iniquity!’‌

Be well and see you at Lodge!

Brian Viehland, PM
Worshipful Master
Pentalpha Lodge No. 194