Bag.

Bag. The bag is not peculiarly a Masonic article but was customarily used in some localities, for example, New England, down to the 20th century, for the purpose of carrying books and papers. Brief cases were then uncommon and a cloth bag, often green or brown, closed at both ends, with a slit in the side for introducing and extracting the contents was used so that, by balancing the material in the two ends, it could be better carried in the hand, swung over the shoulder or tied to a saddle. In keeping with this practice, we find mention of various Masonic officers carrying a bag and, in some instances, it seems to have been almost a badge of office. In 1724, the Grand Secretary carried his bag in a ceremony of the Grand Lodge at London. In 1729, Lord Kingston presented to the Grand Secretary a velvet bag and, the following year, the Secretary carried a bag in a procession. (See Constitutions of 1738, pp. 117, 124, 125.) At the dedication of Freemasons’ Hall in London in 1776, there was the Grand Secretary with the bag; but by the Constitutions of 1815, the Grand Secretary was scheduled to carry the Book of Constitutions and the Grand Registrar carried the bag. Thus, the bag was used by someone who had papers or documents in his possession. The practice found its way to America, where it was probably misunderstood, for in at least two instances in 1779, the Youngest Entered Apprentice carried the bag. See AMERICAN UNION LODGE.