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Societies with Secrets

Societies with Secrets: Episode 4: Freeman Stand or Freeman Fa'

Factual: History

Episode 4

Episode 4: Freeman Stand or Freeman Fa'

Freeman Stand or Freeman Fa'

BBC Radio Scotland - Societies with Secrets, Freeman Stand or Freeman Fa'

Billy Kay celebrates the survival of societies like the Free Colliers and Free Gardeners.

Billy Kay celebrates societies based on ancient occupations, such as the Free Colliers and Free Gardeners, and asks what these organisations can offer Scots in the 21st century.

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Billy Kay begins with the rousing sound of 150 years of working class solidarity celebrated in the annual demonstration in Reddingmuirhead of the Sir William Wallace Grand Lodge of Free Colliers. They were known ocally as the Pinkie Men - when they march they are linked pinkie to pinkie - a tradition that goes back to the days of colliers finding their way in the pitch black of the pits. The men are proud members of a society rooted in the industrial disputes of the 19th century but echoing earlier struggles when colliers had to free themselves from serfdom. The creation of a Society with Secrets which once had over 50 lodges across the Scottish coalfield was their way of fighting for their rights. We also speak to men who belong to organisations which echo the history of the Knights Templar in Scotland and examine The Order of Free Gardeners which once vied with Freemasonry for the number of lodges it possessed. It has a long pedigree going back to 1676 when the first lodge was created in Haddington. Initially for working gardeners, it attracted others interested in the ritual and secrets. The Gardeners all but died out in the 1950's and the men who revived it recently had to go to South Africa to be initiated into Scottish Free Gardeners Lodges there. Billy speaks to the men of the Countess of Elgin Free Gardeners Lodge in Fife, which was then a catalyst for the revival of other historic lodges like the Adelphi Bluebell Lodge in Uddingston.

Like all the clubs today, they look to the future with respect for the past and we end with the voices of men from across the spectrum of Scottish societies on what joining and bonding and remaining in the fraternities gives to them and their sense of identity and belonging.

BBC Radio Scotland

Billy Kay explores the often-secret world of Scotland's fraternal organisations.

Billy Kay explores the often-secret world of Scotland's fraternal organisations, from the Hammermen and the Horseman's Word to the Squaremen and the Beggar's Benison.

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Episode 4: Freeman Stand or Freeman Fa'

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