William Schaw

Schaw's signature on an Exchequer voucher. Photograph by Unoquha, released under CC0.

William Schaw (c. 1550–1602) was master of works to James VI of Scotland and general warden of the mason craft. His regulations of 1598 and 1599, known as The Schaw Statutes, are major documents in the history of Scottish lodges. They concern the organisation of working masons, their training, conduct and records.^[1]

Royal service

Schaw was appointed principal master of works on 21 December 1583. The office included the administration of building and repair work at royal castles and palaces. It should be distinguished from the office of master mason: responsibility for accounts, materials and supervision did not necessarily mean personally designing or carving every part of a building.^[1]

He accompanied James VI to Denmark in 1589–1590 and returned ahead of the king to prepare royal residences. He later served as chamberlain of the lordship of Dunfermline, associated with Queen Anne of Denmark. A Catholic at a Protestant court, Schaw maintained royal employment despite the religious divisions of the period.^[1]

The mason craft

The statutes provided for local officers, records of admissions and the settlement of disputes. Their concern with workmanship, apprenticeships and safe scaffolding places them within the administration of a building trade. Andrew Prescott identifies the regular meetings and written records of territorially organised lodges as central features of Schaw's reforms.^[2]

The 1599 statutes also refer to the art of memory. Stevenson interprets this against the intellectual interests of the Scottish court; the precise teaching intended by Schaw remains uncertain. Schaw also consented to the first of The St Clair Charters, which sought recognition of Sinclair patronage over the craft.^[3]

Schaw's title of general warden belonged to this earlier organisation. It was not the office of Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, which was founded in 1736.^[4]

Death and monument

Schaw died on 18 April 1602. His monument survives in Dunfermline Abbey and records his service to the crown and friendship with Alexander Seton. Although commemorating a death in 1602, the monument probably dates from after 1605: its inscription calls Seton Earl of Dunfermline, a title he received that year.^[1]^[5]

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 David Stevenson, The Origins of Freemasonry: Scotland's Century, 1590–1710 (Cambridge University Press, 1988), pp. 26–51.
↑ Andrew Prescott, A History of British Freemasonry 1425–2000, Centre for Research into Freemasonry and Fraternalism, Working Paper 1, section “1583–1717”.
↑ Stevenson, Origins of Freemasonry, pp. 52–54, 87–95.
↑ United Grand Lodge of England, History of Freemasonry, entry for 1736.
↑ Jenny Alexander, The Schaw Monument, Church Monuments Society, February 2011.