| The traveller was
wandering the lobby of Royal York Hotel, his ears abuzz. During that
first day in Toronto he had heard French, German, Italian, Chinese,
Japanese and now, straining his ears, he tried identifying the exotic
language he was hearing.
"Kaminstiquia?" The
question sounded like it had a Ukrainian accent. "Ozias
penewobikong kenogamisis shuniah!" Not
Ukrainian, but definitely gutteral. Perhaps Arabic? "Ozias"
had a Greek sound to it.
He paid close attention to the next
response. "Dereham. Pequonga keewatin otto
klotz chaukuni atakokin conestoga." Maybe
Yiddish.
"Chaukuni" has a definite middle eastern sound
to it and "Ott Klotz" was a bit of a giveaway, considering the
Germanic roots of Yiddish. "Verulum
mizpah."
The mystery deepened. The first word
sounded like part of a Latin declension while the second half came from
the Old Testament. "Kroy zetland chinguacousy aurum,
otisippi tecumseh." "Tecumseh"? He was a Shawnee war chief!
The parties rapidly threw words at
each other. "Consecon, cobden."
"Franck, connecher."
"Nitetis, parvaim kempenfeldt."
"Manito xenohpon."
He gave it up. It had to be a foreign
language.
In fact, it was. As the brethren
staffing the information booth at the Annual Communication can attest,
they are lodge names in this jurisdiction. Booth volunteers are expected
to pronounce these names and know where the members may be found.
What's in a name? Lots.
Lodges are named after heroes (Brant)
and poets (Burns), places (Teeswater) and personages (Wilson), trades
(Transportation) and phenomena (Electric), architectural features
(Doric) and ideals (Fidelity). They all are named for a purpose. But the
import of the name is sometimes lost on brethren elsewhere in the
jurisdiction.
Would the lodges listed above like to
enlighten us?
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Happy
to
Meet Again ! |
COMMENTS
THE Electric Lodge No. 495 (they stress the definite article) is the only lodge in the world so
named. There's one in England called simply "Electric," but lacking "The". They are simply "an" Electric Lodge.
Charter members of the lodge worked for Dominion Power and Transmission Company in 1905, which drew its power from Decew Falls southwest of St. Catharines and flowing over the Niagara Escarpment. The pun is terrible, but the Grand Master who presided over its institution in 1910 was
MWBro. Judge D.F. McWatt, which could have validated the decision on the name. .
A bit of local colour, one of the founders of the lodge had one of the first households in town with electric lights. Visitors used to make a side trip to see the
wondrous bulbs. The lodge has a web page. http://www.pathcom.com/~desw/history.html
There's even a story how this lodge provided a blood donor service before the Red Cross.
From Len
Harrison at Verulam Lodge No. 268, word on the derivation
of the name. The name "Verulam"
comes from the Latin "Verulaminuim" which translates
as "St. Alban's". The
county was originally going to called this, and the town was
going to be St. Alban's. Instead the township was named
"Victoria" and the town Bobcaygeon in 1853. The
township was named Virulam after and English lord of the same
name who was visiting Canada at the time.
Advice from Gordon
Russell of Kroy Lodge on the origin of the name. His
advice is to hold it up to a mirror. "Kroy" is
"York" spelled backwards.
Tom Drayson, Secretary of Wilson No.113 in Waterford, tells why the lodge in Brant District was so named.
It wasn't just to honour the Grand Master. In 1959 the Most Worshipful
Grand Master William Mercer Wilson not only granted the charter, he
was also a charter member. Under those circumstances, what member
would accept any other name?
Pequonga, ( as in Pequonga Lodge No. 414 in
Kenora) no one knows what it means. According to lodge secretary Ed
Devins, its meaning is lost in the mists of time. It is derived from the Indian words PEE KWANG WA, but no translation is recorded. The lodge was originally Pequonga No. 22, instituted in 1883 by the Grand Lodge of Manitoba in the settlement of Rat Portage. (The town's name was changed to
"Kenora" when the town had trouble floating a municipal bond issue.). The Lake of the Woods area was claimed by both Manitoba and Ontario and the dispute went through the federal government and appeals to the Privy Council in Britain, finally being settled in 1878. Pequonga No. 44 became Pequonga No. 414 in 1887, nine years later, surrendering its charter to Manitoba and being awarded a new one from the Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario. The lodge has a limited supply of centennial histories publish in 1982. They give an excellent description of time and circumstance of a lodge in "Canada's disputed territory". If you visit, read an enjoy, and take a
Photostat so brethren following will have something to read.
Parvaim Lodge No. 395 is in Comber in the Erie District. The name, according to Rt Wor Bro Harry
Coomber, comes from the scriptures, like so many other lodge names. In 1881
W Bro. Dr. RH Abbott, found a description of Solomon's Temple in Chronicles II verse six, which says "He garnished the House with precious stones of beauty and the gold was the gold of
Parvaim."
So where was Parvain?
The Arabic word "Farvai" means "eastern country" and had been identified with a district bordering the Persion Gulf. Sa-K-L Farvaim in still on the maps. The Hebrew equivilent is
"Parvain," the "F" being replaced by the "P".
So ther lodge is named after the gold from Persia that was used to adorn the Temple of Solomon.
The Lodge opened under dispensation on June 28, 1881, and was instituted 15 days later.
Kempemfeldt Lodge No. 673 in
Barrie was named after the bay and not British Rear Admiral Richard
Kempenfelt. The name was chosen to identify the lodge geographically.
The admiral, who served with Lt. Gov. John Graves Simcoe's father went
down with his ship in Spithead between Portsmouth and the Isle of
Wight. The admiral had never been to Canada but the Gov. Simcoe named
an arm of Lake Simcoe (named for himself) in his honour. You'll note
the Admiral's name s spelled differently from the bay's. Lodge
Historian VW Bro. Murdie Campell says the "d" tacked onto
the end is for "divinity, duty, and devotion."
Penewobikong".
That's the mystery name of the lodge in Algoma East, a mystery
dispelled by Bro Paul Asteles, secretary of Penewobikong No. 487
in Blind River. The name is of Ojibway origin, meaning
"river without a source or begining." The watercourse
making up the Blind River has no major contributaries, just a myriad
of little streams...hence the English name, "Blind River",
which was also applied to the town. The second theory is that
it comes from the Ojibway word "Benebowaapikong", which
means "dip in the land" or a valley. The valley of the
Blind River was a passage to lakes further north. The third legend
is that a French trading post was run by a factor who was blind in
one eye or "borgne" in French. The first lake upstream was
Lac Duborne which could be a perversion of the original spelling.
The stream that led to the blind man's lake was "Blind
River" or "Penewobikong". Locals tend to discount
that third theory. For a simple answer, it's Ojibway for
"Blind River."
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Send comments on any article to:
V.W.Bro. Ted Morris, 76
Ballacaine Drive, Etobicoke, Ont., M8Y 4B7
E-mail; ermorris@idirect.com
If you want to chat, Call Ted at 416-232-9545 or 705-448-2574.
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