The Box Opening followed the traditions going way back into the time before living memory and even the written history of the event is lost in time. The Box Opening enables the Deacon of the day to leave a few items of interest connected to his year in office.
The evening comprises of two parts:
The first part of the evening consists of the guests gathering in the grand hall where a PowerPoint slide show was on display and it illustrated the work of Roddy McDowall in the design and manufacture of the one and a quarter life sized model of St. Kentigern (AKA St. Mungo). The completed statue will be erected in the new City of Glasgow Campus in Cathedral Street.
The two key holders of the box opened the Masons' Box and took out a selection of items for all to see. The reason for the two keys was because in times gone by the Masons kept their treasure and legal documents etc. in the Box and two key holder prevented anyone accessing them alone.
Deacon Craig Bryce then showed and explained the items that he was going to place in the box. The first items were a wooden cross and a red poppy, both of which he had been given at the Glasgow Cathedral Commemorative Service for the Commonwealth. He also placed in the box a copy of the programme and a copy of Flanders Field Post (Special Edition).
The second group of items to be placed in the box was a series of newspapers from 19th September 2015, the day of his Choosing Dinner and the day that the results of the Scottish Independence Referendum results were published.
The third group of items were all connected with the St. Mungo Statue and consisted of: An illustrated story of the creation of the statue. A piece of Portland limestone that had been cut from the 7 tonne stone and on the stone was Roddy McDowall's masons mark and the Incorporations mark. A "mini Mungo" which is a small model that Roddy McDowall had created as part of the design process and had been used to cast the plaster model was also placed in the box.
Lastly, Deacon Bryce informed everyone that he had commissioned a new box as the present one was full. The box was not at the ceremony as delays in its construction had made this impossible. The box would be brought to the Trades Halls as soon as it is completed.
The second part of the evening was the more formal section which started off with a delicious meal followed by speeches. The Deacon proposed the toast to the Trades House of Glasgow coupled with Deacon Convenor Idris Jones. The Deacon Convenor replied to this toast and Late Collector David Bannerman proposed the toast to the Wrights and Deacon John Walker made an excellent reply on behalf of the Wrights.
During the evening the diners were entertained by Ian Smith on the fiddle and Cameron Ross on the accordion. Both are final year students at the Scottish Conservatoire. Both Ian and Ross would be delighted to hear from anyone who wished to book them for any type of gig and the Merry Masons can vouch for their skills. Ian Smith can be contacted at: ian.tiree@hotmail.co.uk and Cameron Ross can be found at: cameronross93@googlemail.com.
