Brethren, just home from a hot Lodge of Research meeting in Cargycreevy Masonic Hall, just off the A49, the Old Ballinahinch Road. First off, I must congratulate Wor Bro Hugh Thompson – The Wandering Mason on the speed that he got his pictures and report up this afternoon. Clearly, I was still out in the wilds of Larne when he produced his excellent report. We were pleased to welcome a number of Provincial Officers from Antrim and Down including Rt Wor Bro John Edens the Provincial Grand Master Designate from Antrim and Rt Wor Br Paul Harvey, one of the Assistant Provincial Grand Masters of Antrim.
We had a slight change to our usual meeting in that no paper was presented within the actual Lodge meeting, but our host – Very Wor Bro Jim Halliday took us all upstairs to the Dining Hall and Lodge museum where he had a number of items from their large display set out, to show us and tell us their history. To my mind one of the most unusual items was the old black Victorian bottle that had been engraved using a nail and a hammer leaving on the bottle surface a number of various symbols and the Bros name John Patterson from Bailies Mills, who was a member of Lodge 606. I must confess that I was curious as to how many bottles bit the dust, before he successfully completed his engraving, using a Hammer and a Nail. It was also interesting to see the original 1782 Warrant for True Blues lodge No 606. Cargycreevy. As you can see it is now quite faded, but still able to confirm the regularity of their Lodge meeting at the present time.
One other amongst the many rare items in their collection is an example of an 1800’s Beer jug, possibly from the Malone Pottery Works of that period. Somewhere along the way, the spout was broken, and rather than dump this valuable jug, some prudent Brethren got a local silver smith to replace the spout in silver and carry silver on round to support the rest of the top of the jug. As you can see from the photos the silver smith did an excellent job, enhancing the original jug.
As usual in Cargycreevy, we got a very ample little meal of sausage rolls, sandwiches and buns, along with tea and coffee, that set us all up before setting off homeward, after a very enjoyable and informative day, when we all got a chance to see for ourselves, the type of material that can be found in some of our Lodge rooms. And it goes without saying that we were all delighted in the work carried out on our behalf by Very Wor Bro Jim Halliday.
Robert Bashford