Ancient York Masonry

Ancient York Masonry; Ancient York Masons; Ancient York Rite. The name, Ancient York Masons or Ancient York Masonry, often abbreviated A. Y. M., was largely due to the impetus given it by William Preston, who, in his Illustrations of Masonry, extolled York Lodge and Masonry for its antiquity and purity which, however, was without much support except from the Gothic Legends and the address in 1726 by Francis Drake, M. D. of York Lodge, who termed the so-called Grand Lodge there the Grand Lodge of All England. Though in legend York Lodge surpassed all others in England it did not particularly distinguish itself in the Grand Lodge era after 1717. Because Ancient York Masonry was supposedly ancient and the Masonry of the Ancient Grand Lodge of 1751 was likewise allegedly ancient, there inevitably grew up the opinion that they were the same, and if the Ancients did not actually adopt the Ancient York Rite, they quite commonly added A. Y. M. to the name of a lodge or Grand Lodge, and that was especially true in America. See ENGLAND, YORK LODGE AND GRAND LODGE; RITES II, YORK.

Macoy Collector's Note: Coil expertly untangles the confusing web of the term ”York Masonry,” illustrating how Preston's romanticized writings blended with the propaganda of the 1751 Antient Grand Lodge to create a legendary, though historically inaccurate, lineage.