Thistle Knights Tours are offering a Freemasons Guided Tour in Edinburgh.
If you have access to Groupon you are able to get the tour of £6 for 2 people or £10 for 4 people, otherwise the tour will be in the region of £18.
Tours offered via Groupon are held twice a week: TUE 11.00 am and THU 14.00 pm. Not much choice for a person with a 9-5 job.
The meeting point was the Hub and from there you were guided to a side street where the guide started educating the group about the Freemasons and their earlier purpose and doings during and after the Dark Ages. From there we made our way to St Giles cathedral, down the Royal Mile including side roads, the 2nd and 8th Lodge location and last but not least the Canongate Kirk graveyard.
Our guide was well informed, being one of the Freemasons himself and could answer most of the questions we had asked (if it did not involve sharing any guarded secrets). In addition our tour was also joined by another Edinburgh Freemason what made the tour even more interesting. All the people participating were really engaged and asked lots of questions.
It was very interesting to see some of the earlier work of the Freemasons, being a guild in the old age and how they operated. Slowly over the centuries the guild developed into a more philosophical and charitable group incorporating wise and educated man with impeccable knowledge,wealth and a support network. It is all about the morality in our society and to treat other people as you would like to be treated yourself.
I would recommend this tour to everybody who is interested in the Freemasons history, life, hierarchy and signets, but if you expect secrets and daring stories about their existence than this is not the tour for you. read more