[38] The original name of Temple on the Southesk, according to
Chalmers, was Balantrodach. In the Chartular of Aberdeen the Preceptory
is styled "domus Templi de Balantradock;" and in the Chartular of the
Abbey of Newbattle we find mentioned, "Magister et Fratres Templi de
Blentodoch," which is a contraction or corruption of the same term.
The place became known by the designation of Temple only after the
establishment of the Order there. This was the head-quarters of the
Grand Preceptors of Scotland, and became, at the suppression of the
Templars, attached to the Hospital of St. John. In the 15th century,
Sir William Knolls, Grand Preceptor of St. John's, obtained an Act
of Parliament, changing the old name into that of the barony of St.
John. But the people never conformed to the alteration. Part of the
foundations of the original convent were dug up about a century ago.
The ancient chapel of the Temple continued till lately to be used
as the parish kirk. It is now partly dilapidated, in consequence of
a new church being built. On the eastern gable there is an antique
inscription, formed with lead run into the letters, which appears to be
as follows:--
V Æ S A C
M T H M.
These letters, when extended, may signify, _Vitæ Sacrum Militiæ Templi
Hierosolymitani_; or, _Virgini Ædem Sacram Militiæ Templi Hierosolymæ
Majister_; supplying _condidit_ or _consecravit_. The Virgin Mary,
it is well known, was the patroness of the Order. What monstrous
mysteries would not the ingenious Von Hammer make these letters the
vehicle of revealing! In the second line the learned German could not
fail to discover the presence of the _Metis_ or _Tau_ of the Gnostics,
whose doctrines, he insists, the Templars held, as attested by their
monumental remains, and by coins or medals imagined to refer to them.
[39] Book of Cupar quoted in Father Hay's MS.
[40] This gallant Templar,--worthy to have fallen in a holier
cause,--is thus strangely vilified, after death, by some miscreant, at
the trial of the Templars:--"Brian le Jāy dixit quod Jesus Christus non
fuit verus Deus et vérus homo; quod minimus pilus barbæ unius Saraceni
fuit majoris valoris quam totum corpus istius qui loquitur. Pauperibus
quibusdam eleemosynam a Briane petentibus pro amore Dei et beatæ Mariæ
Virginis respondit, 'Que dame, allez vous pendre à votre dame;' et
projiciens impetuose unum quadrantem in luto, fecit pauperes musare in
eodem et hoc tempore frigidæ hyemis." Such is a sample of the evidence
against the Order.
[41] It appears by the following extract from Clifton's examination,
that the Preceptor of Scotland was a subordinate officer to the Master,
or Grand Prior in England. "Interrogatus; quis recepit eum ad dictum
ordinem et dedit ei habitum? dixit, quod Frater Willielmus de la More
oriundus de Comitatu Ebor. tunc et nunc Magister dicti Ordinis in
Anglia et Scotia."
[42] "Après la mort de Jacques de Molay, des Templiers Ecossais étant
devénus apostats, a l'instigation du roi Robert Bruce, se rangérent
sous les banniéres d'un nouvel Ordre institué par ce prince, et dans
lequel les réceptions furent basées sur celles de l'Ordre du Temple.
C'est là qu'il faut chercher l'origine de la Maçonnerie Ecossaise, et
même celle des autres Rites maçoniques.--Du schisme qui s'introduisit
en Ecosse naquit un grand nombre de sectes. Presque toutes ont la
prétention de dériver du Temple, et quelques unes celle de se dire
l'Ordre lui-meme."