Masonic Song in Scotland: Folk Tunes and Community

The Masonic song tradition of Scotland gives an opportunity to explore the vital role of oral tradition, particularly as carried by communal performance. Issues surrounding folk tunes and community will be explored in turn in this article, first by looking at the songs of Freemasonry against the backdrop of folksong culture and then by viewing the songs as central to the Masonic community and also more broadly to the community at large. This study builds on the general theoretical points made by Anne Dhu McLucas in the American context in her book, The Musical Ear: Oral Tradition in the USA. McLucas highlights the many musical contexts in which oral tradition plays a vital role, with the proposition that these contexts do "not depend on the use of musical notation to make their power felt" (2010:1). Of course, this does not mean that musical notation is not present, and McLucas recognizes that while "the oral/aural is present everywhere," it "mixes freely with the written" (4).