Masonic Musings

Garibaldi Crackers

An imposing building, grandiose even stands at the end of Longacre in Covent Garden in Great Queen street ( pictured above) . I have passed this building on many occassions and have been mildly curious to its function but never bothered to investigate more until at the beginning of this week i saw a poster outside the building advertising an exhibition about Garibaldi .Not knowing very much about the Italian general and politician and immediately recollecting my father's amusement at Garibaldi biscuits as a child i thought this was a perfect opportunity to discover more. My appetite whetted further when i discover the building is a freemasons hall, indeed the 'United Grand lodge of England'.

On entering the building i immediately recall all the stories of secret societies, corruption & Monty Python silly walks however i am greeted by two very pleasant security officers who give me a visitors pass and a seemingly free reign to nose around the building of a very secret order. The building is no less grand inside and ascending a large marble staircase i find myself in long corridors lined with dark mahogany doors leading to huge function rooms . With very few people about i take an illicit peep inside the rooms and am fascinated by various portraits of famous freemasons or masonic regalia.  

I finally find the Garibaldi  exhibition room and gaze at the various artefacts some of which allude to Garibaldi's strong ties to freemasonry .There are books about the secret societies of southern Italy and medals presented to Garibaldi from the Polish National Lodge of London. I discover that Garibaldi was made a  freemason in Uruguay 1844 .The freemason organisation in Italy was complicated in 1796/7 when Napoleon's armies had invaded Italy and brought the population into contact with the french revolution . By 1885 freemasonry 'became part of the machinery ..and dissemination of the Napoleonic cult' but after Napoleonic rule ceased masonic lodges were dissolved.  However the most startling sight was a packet of Garibaldi biscuits set inside a gleaming glass cabinet proudly exclaiming the most recognisable symbol of Garibaldi's fame . If i was about to take all this rather seriously i was now starting to feel the faint whiff of Pythonism.

All of which was mildly diverting but adjacent to this exhibition area is another gallery space dedicated to freemasonry memorabilia. Inside is an astonishing array of grand master ceremonial trowels ,tracing boards defining the 'morality play'. a cabinet dedicated to 'ladies night' ( where meals are held for wives once a year).There are photographs ,travelling irons and other various objects adorned with masonic symbols. In between the cabinets are wax dummies of  past grand masters in ceremonial uniform. It is at once fascinating but a little bizarre and python is ever present in my thoughts as these strange objects depicting unusual nocturnal ceremonial practices are presented as 'normal' everyday objects.The secrecy merely a by-product of a perfectly harmless organisation. I am not quite convinced  and as well as being slightly amused i am reminded of their enormous power base as i spot a picture of the present grand master who is HRH prince Michael of Kent a position he has held since 1982. 

My tour does not end there but in the most surreal of gift shops, dedicated to the lodge and  freemasonry where one can buy music by Mozart to accompany ceremonies . Book after book is dedicated to masonic practice but not of course 'The Brotherhood' by Stephen Knight the popular 80's book depicting and alleging corruption .  The walls are lined with costume ,even greetings cards but to complete the experience and end on a the surreal of the highest Python order are boxer shorts and socks adorned with the masonic symbol ( picture above). I am tempted to buy a pair and raise my trouser leg in honour of Monty Python and the silliness they depict but am put off by the uncertainty that a secret society still holds.

'The all seeing eye' is everywhere.