Scots
dials have long been thought to have connections with freemasonry. This
is to the extent that they have been frequently called 'masonic dials'.
The
beginnings of freemasonry lie in Scotland with the records of the Scottish
Lodges going back to the 1500s. They also included the first 'non-operative'
members who were admitted around the mid 1600s. These members were not
stonemasons but included many of the great and inquisitive. Ritual,
rite and symbolism flourished.
Somerville
highlighted on of these 'speculative' members - Sir Robert Moray. He
was a soldier, diplomat, alchemist, a founder of the Royal Society and
crucially for our tale - a member of the Edinburgh Lodge from 1641.
There
is little hard evidence for a masonic root of the Scots Dials. Perhaps
that is due to centuries of secrecy or perhaps it is all in our imaginations.
Whichever is true it is too good a story to pass up.