THEY are thick brown ledgers that wouldn’t look out of place in a Harry Potter film. The huge tomes - each containing around 500 yellowing pages crammed with densely-packed, handwritten information - are so heavy some staff are banned from attempting to lift them. The huge works are the membership registers of the 600 Freemason’s lodges of Scotland, the "secret" order reputed to wield legendary influence in the corridors of power. And last week, in a historic and unprecedented move, six volumes were thrown open to Scotland on Sunday as part of Freemasonry’s attempts to dispel its secretive image and...
