A navette shaped nutmeg grater, c.1801 (5801 in the Masonic Calendar) with integral silver grater, hinged top and base each engraved with a feather edge border. It measures 6.5 cm long, 4.6 cm wide, 3 cm deep and weighs 73g (2.4 Troy Ounces). The top is engraved with a Masonic compass above 2 clasped hands and the motto 'Keep Within Compass' [below the hinge] all beneath 'No. 266' [above the hinge]. The base is engraved with an inscription 'UNION LODGE CROW LANE LONG ISLAND BERMUDA [above the hinge] W. BRO. EVANS from MAJ. IRVING & the Officers of the 47th REGT. ST. JOHNS 5801 DAY [below the hinge]'. Inside the feather-edge border are engraved curved lines irregularly framing the inscriptions. Around the sides of the box is a further Masonic motto 'Keep within compass that ye may ensure, To avoid many dangers that others endure'. There is a solder repair to the central lug of the 3-part hinge on the upper lid but with the exception of this, a weak point in the structure of the box, the condition and colour of this piece are extremely good.

Through the inscriptions engraved on it the nutmeg grater is of importance in the history of the Islands of Bermuda. The Masonic Lodge referred to is No. 266 or Union Lodge, Crow Lane, Long Island Bermuda (now the City of Hamilton) is the first lodge to have been founded on the Islands.

This also appears to be the Lodge which celebrated the Festival of St. John the Evangelist in 1797, when, preceded by the band of the 47th Regiment, the bretheren marched to Mr. Service's, where an elegant dinner was provided for the occasion, attended by "His Honour the President, the Honourable members of his Majesty's Council, the Officers of the Government, as also Major Irving and several officers of the 47th Regiment". The toasts honoured were of a wide variety, including one to "The memory of him who first planted a Vine", another "Adam's first thoughts when he first saw Eve", and, presumably, in case anyone should have been overlooked, the final toast "to all mankind". The Bermuda Gazette of December 30th 1797, reported that "The day was spent with the greatest hilarity and conviviality. Festivity and mirth and mirth enlivened with Masonic and other songs assisted with the charms of music and chastened by regularity and decorum , prevailed throughout the company who did not separate until a late hour after having experienced every enjoyment with results from piece, order, harmony and good fellowship." The bretheren sang an additional stanza to the National Anthem composed for the occasion:---

"Long may the bretheren see
Each son of Masonry
Its laws obey
May all the craft continue
Acting by the rule and Line
Long thus together dine
On St. John's Day"¹

This nutmeg grater is evidence of the continuation both of the feast and of the relationship between the 47th Regiment of Foot and the Union Lodge. The regiment already had a distinguished Masonic History- its lodge, no. 192, provided 3 Provincial Grand Masters to the Provincial Grand Lodge of Québec². During the regiment's time in Bermuda the Irving family were prominent in the regiment- Paul Aemilius, future first Baronet of Woodhouse in Dumfriesshire, was the Lieutenant Colonel and a number of members of his extended family³ appear on the list of officers. One of these was John Irving, son of Henry Irving ‘second brother German' to William Irving of Ironshaw⁴ who was also, from 1781 the son-in-law of the Lieutenant Colonel having married his daughter Judith⁵.

John Irving (1757-1808) served as an ensign in the 60th (Royal Americans) in 1778 before transferring to the 73rd (Mcleod's Highlanders) as a lieutenant the same year. In 1783 he was promoted to Captain in the same regiment and served with them until he transferred into the 47th Foot in 1788. It was with this regiment that his service in Bermuda began. In 1795 he gained his Majority and 1798 rose to the army rank of Lieutenant Colonel but had to wait until 1803 for a vacant position, necessitating a transfer into the 8th Reserve. After a short period on half pay from 1806-1807 Irving became Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st West India Regiment on 9th January 1808 but retired from ill health one week later and died in Bath on the 4th of February and he was buried in the Abbey⁶.

His obituary in the Gentleman's Magazine⁷ apparently alludes to his service in Bermuda recording that ‘though he left the bosom of his family with extreme reluctance [in 1808], they wishing him to sell out, he said … "No! my friend! I am a soldier; it shall never be said that John Irving sold out, because ordered to a climate … which may be fatal to me. I am full of health and bodily strength; and I leave my wife and family to the protection of the Almighty!"'. In 1796, While serving in Bermuda, he wrote a letter to the Foreign Secretary, the Duke of Portland, advising him of the death of Governor Campbell and revealing much about his importance both in the Regiment and on the Island and his suitability for the Governship of Bermuda⁸:

My Lord Duke,

It is with regret that I inform you of the Death of Gov[erno]r
Campbell a few days after his arrival here, he was attacked
with the yellow fever, this join'd with an old complaint
terminated his existence in the course of a few days; by his
death the publick service has sustain'd a considerable loss,
and his friends depriv'd of a valuable member of Society.

I was honor'd by his Royal Highness the Duke of
York on being sent out here to take the command of
The troops at a time (your grace I presume is inform'd)
That the most unhappy differences subsisted, between the
Civic and Military powers, I exerted myself to restore
Harmony and was fortunate in succeeding, my Conduct
I have been told has met with the approbation of the
Inhabitants of these Islands, and of the Military, if these
Considerations added to upwards of Twenty in the service
To my King and Country, part of which time was spent in

Folio 233:

The fleet with my Lord Rodney and with Lord
Heathfield during the whole of the siege of Gibraltar.
May entitle me to solicit your Graces Interest for
the vacant Government of these Islands, I shall consider
it as the greatest obligation if through your means
my gracious King, should think it proper to bestow on me
his mark of favor, being unknown to your Grace
I should not have presumed to solicit this appointment
If my public situation, command and Services, did
Not in some measure justify the liberty I have taken.

I have the honor to be
With perfect respect
Your Grace's Obedient and
Faithful and Humble servant

John Irving
Major 47th Regiment Commanding ye troops

St. George's Bermuda
December 22nd 1796.

Thus the donors of this nutmeg grater were among the most important people in early nineteenth century Bermuda, a strong indication of which is the reporting of the first St. John's Day dinner in 1797 . However the recipient, is arguably just as important and has strong links to Bermuda.

Although no membership records appear to be extant for this lodge in the Masonic archives there is a list of members of another Lodge in Bermuda in 1794. This was Bermuda Lodge number 507- Somerset Bridge, St. George's Island (it was consecrated in 1792 and was refounded under a new name in 1801) and one of the members was Andrew Fitzherbert Evans. It was not unusual for masons to be members of a number of Lodges and so it seems extremely likely that he was also the recipient of the nutmeg grater. Andrew Fitzherbert Evans (1766-1826) was also a colleague of Irving's as a serving member of the Royal Navy, he rose to the rank of Admiral, and in 1798 was instrumental in the capture of the French corvette Vulcan, 12 guns, off Bermuda. In 1794 he had married Jehoida Tucker, daughter of Richard Tucker of Ireland Island, at St. George's (the centre of naval life in Bermuda prior to the construction of Dockyard). Evans was also responsible for a survey of St. Catherine's Point, St. George's (which became St. Catherine's Fort)⁹ and a 60ft water tank vessel that was built in Bermuda¹⁰.

Further evidence of his involvement in Bermudian life is the fact in 1805 The Garrison's doctor John Hutchison sold his home "Lemon Grove" to Captain Andrew F. Evans of the Royal Navy for 1,100 pounds. Evans was the first naval superintendent and presided over the Royal Naval facilities in St. George's and Ireland Island. Although his duties required the captain to spend much of his time at Ireland Island he preferred this home in the heart of St. George's to his official residence, an isolated cottage overlooking Ireland Cove, or the hulk Tourterelle, from which his broad pennant flew. When Evans left the British North Atlantic station, he sold Lemon Grove to Doctor Thomas Burch Tucker who gave the house its name, perhaps for the many lemon trees growing in his extensive garden¹¹.

In conclusion the contextual evidence of the nutmeg grater makes it an important piece of Bermudiana. Although it is impossible to be definite due to the lack of any identifying hallmarks the construction of this nutmeg grater, the fact of its having a silver grill rather than a steel one at this date is extremely unusual. There were a number of silversmiths active in Bermuda in the early nineteenth century¹². Having consulted a number of reference books on nutmeg graters, both English and American, and engraving but no examples similar to this one in either form or decoration have emerged. This makes it plausible to suggest that this grater was made in Bermuda for presentation and represents an important, and possibly unsurpassed, example of Bermudian silver- especially as no other nutmeg graters are known to be extant.

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