Kipling Rudyard

ref. 44843 — London: Methuen And Co. Ltd. 36 Essex Street 1916 . A very good half leather binding. 8vo. 7.5" x 4.75" x 0.75" . Navy blue calf covered spine and corners over blue cloth covered boards. Edges lightly rubbed. Polished leather spine with 5 raised bands gilt decorated compartments and gilt titles. Top page edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. Clean text throughout. VG.THERE was Rundle Station Master An' Beazeley of the Rail An' 'Ackman Commissariat An' Donkin' o' the Jail; An' Blake Conductor-Sergeant Our Master twice was 'e With im that kept the Europe-shop Old Framjee Edu1jee.Outside - " Sergeant! Sir! Salute! Salaam!Inside - 'Brother" an' it doesn't do no 'arm.We met upon the Level an' we parted on the SquareAn' I was junior Deacon in my Mother-Lodge out there!We'd Bola Nath AccountantAn' Saul the Aden JewAn' Din Mohammed draughtsmanOf the Survey Office too;There was Babu ChuckerbuttyAn' Amir Singh the SikhAn' Castro from the fittin'-shedsThe Roman Catholick!We 'adn't good regaliaAn' our Lodge was old an' bareBut we knew the Ancient LandmarksAn' we kep' 'em to a hair;An' lookin' on it backwardsIt often strikes me thusThere ain't such things as infidelsExcep' per'aps it's us.For monthly after LabourWe'd all sit down and smokeWe dursn't give no banquetsLest a Brother's caste were brokeAn' man on man got talkin'Religion an' the restAn' every man comparin'Of the God 'e knew the best.So man on man got talkin'An' not a Brother stirredTill mornin' waked the parrotsAn' that dam' brain-fever-bird.We'd say 'twas 'ighly curiousAn' we'd all ride 'ome to bedWith Mo'ammed God an' ShivaChangin' pickets in our 'ead.Full oft on Guv'ment serviceThis rovin' foot 'ath pressedAn' bore fraternal greetin'sTo the Lodges east an' westAccordin' as commanded.From Kohat to SingaporeBut I wish that I might see themIn my Mother-Lodge once more!I wish that I might see themMy Brethren black an' brownWith the trichies smellin' pleasantAn' the hog-darn passin' down;An' the old khansamah snorin'On the bottle-khana floorLike a Master in good standingWith my Mother-Lodge once more.Outside - Sergeant! Sir! Salute! Salaam!'Inside- Brother" an' it doesn't do no 'arm.We met upon the Level an' we parted on the SquareAn' I was Junior Deacon in my Mother-Lodge out there! First published in the The Pall Mall Gazette and the Pall Mall Budget on May 9th 1895. In the Sussex Edition the poem is dated 1894. ORG No. 634. Rudyard Kipling was initiated into the Lodge of Hope and Perseverance No 782 founded in 1858 under the English Constitution at the Masonic Hall the Jadughar as described in Kim in Anarkali Lahore on 5 April 1886 at the age of twenty. As this was the Lodge into which he was initiated it became his Mother Lodge. A Freemason will always have a particular attachment to the Lodge which saw him enter into Freemasonry even though he may cease to be a member of that particular Lodge. The poem was written some eight years later when he was living in Vermont. Charles Carrington in his The Complete Barrack-room Ballads p.166 reports that it was written in a single day on October 29th 1894 while Conan Doyle was staying with the Kiplings. It celebrates the equality which reigns among Freemasons without distinction of profession rank race or creed and the first two stanzas clearly reflect the diversity of this particular Lodge underscored by the refrain which contrasts the behaviour displayed in public with that shown inside the Lodge. The use of vernacular with the dropped �h� highlights the wide social rankings of the members." - See "The Mother Lodge" by George Kieffer 2017 London: Methuen And Co. Ltd., 36 Essex Street, 1916 . hardcover