Lodge Mother Kilwinning is a Masonic Lodge in Kilwinning, Scotland, under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of Scotland. It is number 0 (referred to as “nothing” and not zero) on the Roll, and is reputed to be the oldest Lodge not only in Scotland, but the world. It is thus styled The Mother Lodge of Scotland attributing its origins to the 12th Century, and is often called Mother Kilwinning.
Legend has it that Kilwinning Abbey was built by stonemasons who had travelled from Europe and established a lodge there. In 1599 William Schaw introduced the Second Schaw Statutes which specified that “ye warden of ye lug of Kilwynning” to “tak tryall of ye airt of memorie and science yrof, of everie fellowe of craft and everie prenteiss according to ayr of yr vocations”.
As early as the reign of James II, the lodge at Kilwinning was granting warrants for the formation of lodges elsewhere in Scotland such as, for example, Canongate Kilwinning, Greenock Kilwinning, and Cumberland Kilwinning. In 1736, the Grand Lodge of Scotland was organised and the Kilwinning lodge was one of its constituent lodges. That same year, it petitioned to be recognized as the oldest lodge in Scotland. However, as has happened so many times over Freemasonry’s long history, the lodge’s original records had been lost and the claim could not be proven. The petition was therefore rejected, wherefore Kilwinning seceded and again acted as a grand lodge, organising lodges in Scotland and on the continent, as well as in Virginia and Ireland. In 1807 Kilwinning “came once more into the bosom of the Grand Loge, bringing with her all of her daughter Lodges”.
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