Aitchison’s-Haven Lodge; Atcheson-Haven; Achison-Haven

Aitchison’s-Haven Lodge; Atcheson-Haven; Achison-Haven. This lodge formerly located in Midlothian County near Edinburgh, Scotland, and now extinct, is noted for having preserved the very earliest minute entry of any lodge in Scotland and, hence, in the world. This is found in a volume entitled, The Buik of the Actes and Ordinans of the Nobile Maisters and fellows of Craft of the Ludg of Aitchison’s heavine. The first page bears the date 1598 and the book contains the names of the fellows of craft belonging to the lodge in the year 1598.

This lodge was operative and very jealous of its prerogatives for, though it joined in the formation of the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1736, receiving priority as of 1555, it came into c*nflict with that body in 1737, because of supposed int*rference with its peculiar rules and, thereupon, withdrew. It remained independent for the long period of three-quarters of a century, until 1814, when it again was placed on the roll of the Grand Lodge, where it remained until it became extinct in 1866.

Macoy Collector's Note: A fascinating record of the oldest known lodge meeting minute in the world, shedding light on the transition from operative guilds to structured speculative bodies in Scotland.