Illustrated author talk on The Scottish World by Billy Kay:

December 12, 6.30pm at the Abertay Historical Society, Discovery Point Dundee.

FORTHCOMING RADIO BROADCASTS:

BBC Radio Scotland 2007 Monday 19 November @ 11.33 repeated @ 2432 and over the next four weeks.

The Mason Word

1. The Mother Lodge

BillyKay presents a major new four part series on the history of ScottishFreemasonry which has a strong claim to be the spiritual home of aworld wide brotherhood numbering close to 6 million people. Along withfreemasons and academic historians from Scotland and the United States,Billy will explore the craft's early history among the country'smedieval stonemasons, revealing and dramatising their rituals. He willalso examine why, from the 17th century onward, non-stonemasons andgentlemen were sufficiently intrigued by the mason'slore, that theytransformed the craft into the Freemasonry that took off round theworld in the 18th and 19th centuries.

An Odyssey Production for Radio Scotland

The Mason Word Monday 26 November @ 11.33 repeated @ 2432

2. 'The Mystic Tie'

Themystic tie, according to Robert Burns was the bond experienced andshared by brother masons. Billy Kay reveals that as freemasonry tookoff in the 18th and 19th centuries, many of the great men of Europeanculture were drawn to the craft - Mozart, Sibelius, Goethe as well asScottish icons like Sir Walter Scott and James Boswell. We shallcelebrate the cultural legacy of Freemasonry and hear of theconviviality that arose out of the harmonies enjoyed when the formalpart of the evening was over.

An Odyssey Production for Radio Scotland
The Mason Word Monday 3 December @ 11.33 repeated @ 2432

3. The Scottish Rite

BillyKay continues the story of Scottish freemasonry, travelling toFredericksburg Virginia home of the lodge of Scottish tobacco merchantswho initiated George Washington into the Craft. He also visitsWashington DC where the White House and the Capitol Building were builtby Edinburgh stonemasons and freemasons who were among the foundermembers of the prestigious Federal Lodge No 1 there.

An Odyssey Production for Radio Scotland

The Mason Word Monday 10 December @ 11.33 repeated @ 2432

4. 'We Met Upon the Level'

Inthe final programme in the series Billy Kay confronts issues likesectarianism and conspiracy theories regarding freemasonry and look forpossible origins., while we hear of persecution against Freemasons fromNazi Germany to Stalin's Rusia. We also hear from Freemasons about theinclusive nature of the brotherhood, its work for charity and themorality it teaches… all of which means that for many of them, aftertheir families, it plays the most important role in their lives.

An Odyssey Production for Radio Scotland

Allof my radio programmes can be heard live on the internet and for a fullweek after broadcast by logging on to the BBC Radio Scotland websiteand using their Listen Again facility. Go to Features and look for thetitles listed above.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/radioscotland/

Further information:

> Billy Kay website

> Link to Billy Kay Profile

Image courtesy of Billy Kay.