Masonic Ritual

The first known Masonic rituals in the world are Scottish in origin. The earliest is dated 1696 and is known as the Edinburgh Register House manuscript (ERH MS) after the place in which it was discovered. Other MS rituals, or more accurately - catechisms, are the Airlie and Chetwode Crawley MSS dated 1705 and c.1710 respectively. Unfortunately, for the Masonic historian, these MSS are scattered across the country and are not easily accessible. For this reason many historians have tended to concentrate their studies on the earliest printed rituals from 1730 onwards.