Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-11-12
THE LADY FREEMASON.

THE LADY FREEnASOS.
Remarkable Investigation of an Old story. |
From paper received from England |
last week we take the following. believ- |
ing it will be Of interest to every member |
of the craft "wheresoe'er dispersed about
the globe:
In DR.. Brewers celebrated Dictionary |
of Phrase and Fable" the following sem
fences occur under the heading of Free
masons" THE Lady Freemason was
the Hon. Miss Elizabeth St. Leger,
daughter of Lord DOneraile, who (savs
the tale) hid herself in an empty clock
case when the lodge was held at her
fathers house. and witnessed the pro-
ceedings. She was discovered, and COM
PEELED to submit to initiation as a men,
Der of the Graft" This tradition has
worldwide acceptance, but it now APP
pears that, although clocks are usually
contained in cases, there was no clock in
this particular case. A masonic CORE
spondent, in his search after truth. has
come across evidence collected by that
heservedy popular masonic historian,
Bro. Edward Gender, which disposes
once and for all of what is masonic
myth and tradition which has no solid
foundation. BY the kindness of Lord
Doneraile, Lady Castletown (of Upper
Ossoryl, Col. Aldworth (o( Newmarket
Court. Mr.. J. St. Leger, and other mem
beers of the family, Bro. Gender has. for
tunately, been able to piece together a
history of the incident which may fairly
be accepted as an authentic account OF
what actually transpired. 1t would APP
pear that the father of Miss st Leger,
Arthur St. Leger, first Baron Kilmayden
and Viscount Doneraile, together with
his sons and a few intimate friends, were
accustomed to open a lodge and carry or
the ordinary ceremonies at the family
mansion Doneraile Court, co. Cork. Or
one occasion, during period when the
house was undergoing certain interna
alterations, Viscount Doneraile, witt
Others, met for masonic purposes. Tht
lodge was held in large room on tn,
ground floor of the house, and in front
of this room was small library, divided
from the back room by partition wall
From plan of Doneraile Court supplied
by member of the family. it is eviden
that the rooms TO the right on entering
the hall are probably the ones in ques
tion. The doors of these two room
both open into the entrance hall, ant
are not far apart. The alterations hav
ug required the removal of some of tn
panelling from the larger room, the wal
was in places undergoing repair. por
ton OF this had been taken down, ant
the bricks loosely replaced without MOI
tar, in the position they were ultimatel
to occupy. Against these loose bricks tn
oak panelling had been temporaril
reared. On this particular aiternoo
Miss st. Leger had been reading at tn
library window. and the light of the viii
ter afternoon having failed, fell asleeT
The sound of voices in the next room r,
stored her to consciousness. and fror
her position behind the loosely place
bricks of the dividing wall she realize
that something unusual was taSin
place in the next room. The light shil
ing through the untitled spaces Of Il
temporary wall also attracted her a
tention. Prompted NV a not unnaturi
curiosity, Miss st. Leger appears to ha,
removed one or more of the loose brick
and thus was easily enabled to watC
the proceedings of the lodge. For son
time her interest in what was transpi
ing was sufficiently powerful to hold h
speIlbound; the quietness of her mind :
manned undisturbed for a consideral
period, and it was not until she realiz
the solemnity OF the responsibilities u
dertaken by the candidate that she a
derstood the terrible consequences of h
action. The wish to hide her secret
making good her retreat took fun ~
session of her thoughts. For il must
fully understood that, although she ~
perfectly aware that her fathers lad
was held at the house, she had no ID
on entering the library that on th
evening a meeting was about 20 be be
in an adjoining room. Her passage in
the hall was easy, but it happened tn
the doors of the two rooms were cid
together. Outside in the hall the ~
was on guard, and from this point 1
retreat was cut of. Miss ST. Leg
realizing that the tyler, Lord Donerail
butler, well knowing the condition of /.