Freemasons set aside lamb to go vegan in ‘symbolic’ step
● Lodges embrace Veganuary despite doubts from some traditionalists
Greggs famously embraced veganism with their sausage rolls and other high street fixtures are following suit – including now Freemason lodges.
The Grand Lodge of Scotland has amended a centuries-old tradition to allow vegans to become masons for the first time.
The lamb is a emblem of the male fraternal organisation, said to symbolise purity and innocence.
Famous masons through history include Robert Burns and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, with these figures having worn lambskin aprons for rituals.
Now it is being reported the Freemasons in Scotland will now use vinyl aprons instead.
A spokesman said there was no barrier for vegans to be initiated.
He said: “Please remember that it is symbolic and does not need to be real.”
The United Grand Lodge of England – the Freemason’s sister body – has also embraced a plant-based way of life.
They confirmed vegans could wear regalia made from lambine, a “high-grade, softfeel plastic”.
But Alan Borsbey, the owner of Scotland’s largest masonic showroom, VSL Regalia in Livingston, told a national newspaper he had no intention of selling faux items.
“The aprons we offer are always made of proper lambskin,” he said.
“For me, there is a significance in it and we will always stick with tradition.”
Freemasonry in Scotland can trace its history back 400 years, but its heyday of mass membership was a century ago.
The tradition is said to have originated from stone masons – skilled craftsmen employed to work on Scotland’s landmark buildings.
The masons grouped together to form a body resembling a modern-day trade union to protect the secrets of their craft, with William Schaw’s statutes in 1598 and 1599 setting down how masons should behave both on and off the construction site.
A spokeswoman for the Vegan Society said: “It’s good to see that provision is being made for vegans in all areas of society.
“This
is in line with the
Equality Act, which says that people with protected beliefs such as vegans should not be discriminated against because of those beliefs.”
The move by the Grand Lodge coincides with Veganuary – the campaign highlighting avoiding animal products in the first month of the year – that has surged in popularity since it began in 2014.