Regius Manuscript

One of the earliest descriptions of a "lodge"circa 1500 A.D. ~ A portion of the translation follows:

Here begin the Constitutions of the Art . . . according to Euclid.

Whoso will both well read and look
He may find writ in olden book
Of great lords, and likewise ladies,
That had many children, I confess;
And had no income to find them with,
Neither in town, nor filed, nor wood:
A counsel together they could take
To ordain for these children's sake,
How they might best lead their life,
Without great dis-ease, care, and strife:
And most for the multitude that was coming
Of their children, after their death,
They send then after great clerks,

To teach them then good works; . . .