Scotland holds some of the most mysterious masonic and chivalric remnants in the world. Yet many of these residues remain enigmatic because much of Scotland’s history can never be recovered. In particular, that of the important thirteenth and fourteenth centuries when chivalry flourished and the Craft Guilds were organizing.
    The majority of Scotland’s historical documents for this period have vanished entirely : destroyed by war or fire; lost by incompetence or accident. The first great loss came in 1291 when English king Edward I gathered together all official Scottish documents : charters, writs and letters. This last collection was last noted in 1296, following which it vanishes utterly from the historical record.
    Later depredations have left us with documents covering only eight years of the reign of king David II (1331-1371) and only the first two years of the reign of king Robert II (1371-1390). As a final blow, the last major archive of Scottish records, taken to London by Cromwell’s army, was lost in a violent storm at sea in 1660, while being shipped back to Edinburgh.
    In order to recover even a small part of this history we must make do with family papers, medieval inscriptions, local legends and tombs. It is of particular interest to Freemasons that in many Scottish graveyards we can still see the symbolically carved grave-slabs attesting to some early organization of chivalric orders or trade guilds.

The Enigmatic Grave-slab of Culross “West Kirk”

Culross, in Scotland, sits just across the Forth from Falkirk. To the north-west are the remains of the old parish church, the “West Kirk”. This church is now in ruins; and has been so for centuries. In fact, it was recorded as being derelict as long ago as 1633. Several walls of the church still stand and built into one, as a lintel above a doorway, is an ancient grave-slab. As it forms part of the wall, it must, therefore, be extremely old. Its style appears to be of fourteenth century provenance. This grave-slab bears a floreate cross down its centre. Above this cross is a Master Builder’s standard measure, his ‘yard’ or ‘Ell’ - one end of which forms a square. Below the cross is his sword. Experts feel that in the carving of this type of grave-slab, the actual sword or other artefact would be laid along the bare stone, marked out with chalk, and then carved, life-size.

The Curiosity of Measurement

If this carved mason’s measure is indeed lifesize, then a curiosity is raised. Its length is 42.75 inches : the normal Scottish ‘Ell’ is considerably shorter, being 37.06 inches. Where then did this master’s measure come from?
    The medieval Hanseatic yard is identical to the Scottish Ell. The English yard is shorter. Three measures of the Scandinavian ‘foot’ are shorter still. The standard measures of Ireland, Spain, the Basque country, Holland, Italy, and Portugal do not reveal anything matching the length of the carving. The closest, the Portugese Vara, is about one inch shorter. However, there is a measure from France which fits exactly : the carved Master’s ‘yard’ equals forty French pounce - with an error of just one tenth of an inch, an error which could easily be explained by the worn nature of the carving.
    Have we here, then, the grave of a Scottish Master Builder who had been trained in France? Could this have some connection with the nearby, but ruinous, Culross Abbey, a former Cistercian foundation? The Cistercians, quite apart from their connections with the Knights Templar (they shared the same Rule), employed professional building teams often recruited from outside the Order.

Scotland and France

Scotland and France have long had a close connection. The two countries were often allies. Following the signing of a Franco-Scottish alliance in 1326, many Scots fought in the French army opposing Edward III and the Black Prince. In the next century, the bishop of Orleans, who served Joan of Arc, was himself a Scot.
    From 1425, the personal guard of the king of France was composed of Scottish men-at-arms and archers; they were formally organized into the famous Scots Guard in 1445. One of the last commanders of this Élite regiment was Sir Robert Moray who was at the time a member of a Scottish operative lodge.
    Later, in the eighteenth century, it was a Scotsman, the Chevalier Ramsay, also in France, who made the first explicit link between Freemasonry and chivalric service. Twice, in 1736 and 1737, he delivered his famous ‘Oration’ to Freemasons in Paris. In it, he stated that during the Crusades “our Order formed an intimate union with the Knights of S.John” following after the example of the builders of the Temple in Jerusalem; holding the trowl in one hand and the sword in the other. While historians have accorded little truth to this statement, their reaction may have been too hasty. There has always been a penumbra of mystery surrounding Ramsay and his exiled Scottish Jacobite colleagues, whose Freemasonry showed distinct chivalric tendencies. It is legitimate to ask, did they invent their particular style of Freemasonry? Or did they draw from something far older, from some tradition long forgotten by their English Brethren?
    Does this grave-slab at Culross, with its square, cross and sword reveal an ancient link between chivalry and Freemasonry? And was this link known to Chevalier Ramsay?
    At the very least, this stone presents certain proof that one Master Mason was renowned for his expertise with both the square and the sword. And it is unlikely that he was alone.

Text © Michael Baigent, 1997