MASONIC TOWER   GLEN ESK

This is a short history of why a Tower features on the new Mark Penny of Lodge Saint Andrew Loch Lee No 282. We believe that we are the only Lodge in Scotland to have a monument on a hill-top. I refer to the Modloch Tower, which many know of, but due to its remoteness, may not have seen.

An extract of the Minutes of 12th October, 1825, reads, "This was duly carried out, the only alteration being that, instead of a passage East to West, they have built a small alcove with two stone benches facing South, with enough room to accommodate 2 or 3 persons". In those days, the Glen road passed over the hilltop, whose summit is some 1000 feet above sea level, before descending to Auchintoul and was a wild and dangerous place in winter. The route, which we take nowadays, was built in the middle of the last century, and it skirts the shoulder of the hill and can still be dangerous to the unwary traveller who is on his way home from a “TOWER INSPECTION".

The original idea of a tower was that building such a monument should commemorate the Founding of the Lodge. The building of towers and monuments on hilltops seems to have been fashionable in the earlier part of the 19th Century. The brethren decided that the tower should have a commemorative as well as a useful purpose, the idea was not so extravagant as it may first seem as a number of tragedies had already occurred when travellers had become lost in the mist. Thus the tower was built on top of the Modloch.

Unfortunately, not everyone who sought its shelter was successful. The flowing account can be verified but is in conflict with local legend. In January 1827, the year after the Tower was built, the Reverend Jolly and a Miss Catherine Douglas went to a wedding celebration at the Mill of Aucheen, on the east side of the Modloch Hill. A storm was brewing when they left the festivities. As they proceeded, the snow, which had only been slight soon fell thick and fast, obliterating the path and the unfortunate couple became bewildered and lost. Sometimes, they thought they heard the sound of a violin from the celebration and at other times, they thought they could see chinks of light coming firm some lonely cottage window. In their anxiety to grasp at the least shadow of hope, they wandered over hill and glens becoming more lost and greatly fatigued. The lady, suffering greatly from the cold, soon fell senseless in the snow and, before long, became a stiffening corpse, dying in the arms of her venerable friend. The Reverend Jolly, who was found by those who went out to search for them, would not have lasted much longer himself in the cold northern blast.

After 102 years, in 1928, the tower was inspected and found to be in need of repair and pointing. The late Brother Jimmy Skene, of Blackcraigs, a Past Master of the Lodge, carried out the work. Not much is written of the Tower until 1960 when the Master, Sandy Buchan, decided that the Tower should be inspected annually again. On one of the Inspections, it was discovered that the original weather vane, which had faced the elements for 144 years, would survive no longer. It was replaced, and the original vane is housed in a glass case in the Southwest of the Lodge. The bullet hole of some unknown marksman is clearly visible. The last pointing and repairs were carried out in 1989 by Brothers J. Hislop and K. Moir who, on completion of the new floor, "Marked Well” and refreshed themselves in the traditional manner belonging to a Tower Visitation.

Each year the tower is inspected and, after toasting this monument to Glen Masonry, the Brothers partake in their own Games and Picnic. Recent fun has been the lifting of a large lump of granite, affectionately called the Stone of Destiny by some Brothers. This feat has been Carried out by two Brothers only, but Brother L. Johnstone did it with such ease and style that I doubt if he will ever be matched.....