Eight members of Toxteth Lodge No 1356 from the Mersey Valley Group set off north to Scotland to visit Lodge St Leonard No 935 at Kirkaldy, Fife. A team from St Leonard Lodge had visited Toxteth Lodge previously to demonstrate a Scottish Rite first degree ceremony to an audience of over 70 English Freemasons.
On this occasion, an invitation to witness a third degree ceremony was received, as St Leonard Lodge is a lodge that meets in the spring and summer months and is made up of very high-ranking members from many of the lodges in the Province and led by WM Jason Watson and his team.
A very warm welcome met the Toxteth Lodge contingent on the arrival at the Masonic Hall in Kirkaldy. Friendships were rekindled over a ‘small dram’ and to everybody’s amazement and completely uninvited, the Provincial Grand Master for the Province of Fife, William Beveridge Rocks, attended, where he met the Toxteth Lodge members individually and wished them an enjoyable evening.
The evening commenced with what could have been a major hitch. Unfortunately, the candidate at the last moment was unable to attend. However, the problem was solved by the team requesting to use Antony Robinson from Toxteth Lodge as the candidate. They had previously used him when demonstrating the first degree ceremony at Woolton Golf Club. The brethren of Toxteth Lodge were impressed by the standard of the ritual; with the addition of sections, we do not recognise within Bottomley or Emulation in the English rituals.
Following the ceremony, we experienced ‘harmony’ (the equivalent to the festive board) with Phill Birch responding to the toast to the visitors, thanking them for the opportunity to witness the degree ceremony and the hospitality enjoyed by Toxteth Lodge members. Mostly worse for wear, the Toxteth Lodge contingent returned to the hotel at 12 45 am.
On the Saturday morning, many nursing a ‘hangover’, we were taken to Rosslyn St Clair Lodge No 606 where we were entertained with a presentation on Rosslyn Chapel by two Masons who were accredited guides at the chapel. This proved very informative, as we were visiting the chapel in the afternoon with the lodge providing a buffet lunch. Now fortified, we embarked with our hosts to Rosslyn Chapel. We arrived as promised at Rosslyn Chapel early afternoon and were given tickets and a printed guide to the chapel.
The excellent weather showed the chapel to its full potential with the sun streaming through the windows and a presentation from the official guide to a packed audience was well received. The party left around 4 15 pm to return to the Masonic Hall at Kirkaldy, where the brethren of St Leonards Lodge had arranged for a Burns Night including the address to the haggis by a leading Robbie Burns specialist and Mason.
The WM, not to be outdone, gave a rousing interpretation of Robbie Burns’ Tam O’ Shanter, for which he received a standing ovation. (A Scottish Richard Burton) The evening ended with a promise that our Scottish friends would again visit Toxteth Lodge in 2026 this time to see an English first degree ceremony. On the Sunday morning, we visited Lodge St Clair of Dysart No 520, an old building in Kirkaldy and the mother lodge of Jason St Leonards’ WM. We returned south with happy memories of an enjoyable weekend.
