Object Number: 1998-0063
Object Name: Silver Pendant of the Ancient Free Gardeners Friendly Society
Description: A silver pendant worn by the Master of lodge on a ribbon around his neck. It was used by the Saltcoats Solomon Lodge of Free Gardeners (instituted 1828) until it ended in 1911. It was made in Glasgow in 1870 and sold by James Ballantyne & Son.
It is decorated with a compass, the eye of God, a bunch of grapes, the sun and (to distinguish it from other societies) a pruning knife. Also on it the letters C, A, S, N and O, which refer to its Order and Degrees.
The Free Gardeners were a friendly society based on Freemasonic rituals. Friendly societies were a type of poor man's life assurance to help in sickness and death. The Scottish Order was founded in 1869 and dissolved in the 1980s.
Collection: Clubs and Societies
