The Installed Masters Lodge of the New Forest

Last night, the New Forest Lodge of Installed Masters met at the Brockenhurst Masonic Centre, with a healthy crowd in attendance. It was also an Official Visit by the Provincial Junior Grand Warden, W. Bro. James Adamson, which probably explained the turnout.

The WM, W. Bro. Raul Menchelli, presided from the Big Chair, deploying his gavel at all the appropriate moments. In a room full of Installed Masters, having just one person authorised to know when to bang the furniture is probably a sensible precaution.

As an Installed Masters Lodge, there isn’t a huge amount of business to get through in the Temple, so a guest speaker had been arranged: Bro. Brice Sratford, who has written a book about the myths and folklore of the New Forest. Remarkably, he made no attempt to flog us a copy. An author with a captive audience who doesn’t mention his book? We were already in the realm of the supernatural. Brice spoke with great authority on his subject. Who knew that the hill at Bolton’s Bench in Lyndhurst was, according to legend, the burial place of a dragon? Or that the huge yew tree on top sprang from the bow of the archer who killed it? A rather impressive memorial, though presumably less welcome to whoever had to complete the incident report. “Nature of incident: dragon. Action taken: arrow. Further action required: gardening.”

Myths, legends, ancient traditions and a room full of men listening solemnly. It was beginning to sound suspiciously like Freemasonry. Surely not! All we needed was for the dragon to have forgotten the password and someone to suggest forming a committee before attempting to slay it. There were some genuinely interesting parallels between ancient and modern folklore and our own shared Masonic experience. The brethren gave Brice a hearty round of applause: a well-earned tribute to an engaging talk, with perhaps just a desperation of hunger.

They then headed downstairs, where the evening moved from myths and legends to the rather more pressing question of what was on the plate. That part is reviewed under ‘A Square Meal’. The dragon, mercifully, remained off the menu - although, what was in that pie...?