The Great Priory of Scotland

Templars, Hospitallers and Freemasons

The medieval Knights Templar (the Order of the Temple) and the Knights Hospitaller (the Order of St John of Jerusalem, later of Rhodes and Malta) were both military and religious orders of the crusading era. They were rivals more than enemies. The Masonic Order joins the two traditions together, which is why its title speaks of “United” orders. The Great Priory is clear that the old idea that Masonic Templary descends directly from the crusading Templars “is not supported by documentary proofs”, and no evidence links the medieval orders with the modern Masonic ones. The romantic stories that connect the Templars with Rosslyn Chapel are likewise disputed by historians, including the curator of the Grand Lodge of Scotland’s own museum.

Origins and history

The Great Priory’s official history, Pour La Foy: A Short History of the Great Priory of Scotland (1949), and the account on its website trace the Order through several stages:

• 1778–1779. In December 1778 the Lodge of Scoon and Perth conferred six “sundry steps” of Masonry, ending with the Knights of Malta, on the office-bearers of St Stephen’s Lodge, Edinburgh. In October 1779 the Earl of Eglinton, Grand Master of Lodge Mother Kilwinning, chartered a Dublin lodge called the “High Knight Templars of Ireland”. It became the Early Grand Encampment of Ireland, which later issued many charters to Scottish encampments.
• 1800. Worried by how widely “high degrees” were being worked in Craft lodges, the Grand Lodge of Scotland ordered its lodges in October 1800 not to meet above the degree of Master Mason. Many Scottish Templars turned to Ireland for charters instead.
• 1805–1811. One such Irish charter created the Edinburgh Encampment No. 31 in 1805. Led by Alexander Deuchar, an Edinburgh engraver and heraldic writer, it became the Grand Assembly of Knights Templar in Edinburgh and asked the Duke of Kent, Grand Master of the Order in England, for authority. In 1811 the Duke chartered the Royal Grand Conclave of Scotland, with Deuchar as Grand Master. Mackey’s Encyclopedia of Freemasonry describes the “Deuchar Charters” issued to encampments in this period, notes that most were forfeited in 1837 for failing to make returns, and credits Deuchar with a leading part in founding the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland as well.
• 1826. Many encampments holding Irish charters refused to join the new body and formed the rival Early Grand Encampment of Scotland.
• The mid-century experiment. While Sir David Milne was Grand Master, the Order tried to re-found itself as a purely chivalric, non-Masonic body. It set up a Priory in London and rewrote its ritual to resemble what little was known of the medieval Templar ceremonies. The experiment lasted only about twelve years, but it left Scotland the distinctive ritual it still uses.
• 1909. After several failed attempts, the two Scottish bodies finally united as the Great Priory of Scotland.

Degrees, regalia and requirements

The Great Priory works two orders, each with its own grades:

• The Order of the Temple confers the grades of Pilgrim, Esquire and Knight. Taken together, they trace a journey from a traveller seeking shelter on the road to the Holy Land, to a man who offers his service, to a Knight who devotes himself to serving others. Members of the Order address one another as “Fratres” (brothers).
• The Order of Malta confers the grades of Knight of St Paul (or Mediterranean Pass) and Knight of St John of Jerusalem. The first recalls the Apostle Paul’s voyage and his arrival on Malta, and the second follows the Knights Hospitaller from Palestine to Malta. These grades are usually conferred once a year, in a Priory attached to a Preceptory or at a District Grand Priory muster.

The regalia is among the most striking in Freemasonry and is modelled on the dress of the medieval orders. The photographs below show it. A Knight of the Temple wears a white tunic and mantle with the red cross of the Templars, while the Malta grades use a black mantle with the white eight-pointed cross of the Hospitallers. The central photograph shows a senior knight with a staff of office and a long trailing mantle.

The Order is Christian. Candidates must profess the Christian faith and believe in the Holy Trinity. They must also be Master Masons and Royal Arch Companions in good standing, in a Craft Lodge and a Royal Arch Chapter under grand bodies that are regular and in amity with the Grand Lodge of Scotland and the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland respectively.

The Order today

The Great Priory meets (“musters”) twice a year at Freemasons’ Hall in Edinburgh, and its administrative headquarters are at Grangemouth. According to its website, Scotland is divided into nine District Grand Priories with sixty-four Preceptories between them, and two more Preceptories form a Home District. Overseas, District Grand Priories in the Caribbean; Jamaica, Panama and the Bahamas; New South Wales; Queensland and Papua New Guinea; and Tasmania hold a further forty-nine Preceptories, and there is a Preceptory as far afield as Lima in Peru. (Older sources, including the NSW booklet this page first drew on, gave a figure of 21 District Grand Priories. Numbers change as districts are reorganised.)

In New South Wales the first District Grand Priory under Scotland was constituted in 1882 and re-constituted in 1922, as its arms above record. The District meets twice a year, in March and September, and its Preceptories meet quarterly. Australian Templary also has a separate, independent body: according to the United Grand Lodge of NSW & ACT, the Great Priory of New South Wales and the ACT was formed on 25 February 1984 by agreement among preceptories that had worked under the English and Scottish Great Priories. The Scottish District continues to work alongside it. For the American and English forms of the Order, see our page on the Order of Knights Templar.

For more information or if you would like to join, please visit the following URLs:
– https://greatprioryofscotland.co.uk/ (the Great Priory of Scotland)
– https://issuu.com/apmgraphics/docs/freemason_nsw_act_other_orders
– https://www.saintjohn.org/about-us/st-john-worldwide (note: this is the non-Masonic Order of St John, the modern charitable order behind St John Ambulance, included for comparison)

A Royal Arch Companion who is interested can ask a member of a local Preceptory or contact the District Grand Priory through the Great Priory’s website.