Wright After Reading

I often walk by this building on my way to the gym in Quartermile, and was a little perplexed by the strange, but incredibly detailed carving that stands out even in a city known for fine masonry. Plus, the name was begging for a more exhaustive Google search to quench my curiousity.

Of course there are fraternal societies in Canada that I am a little aware of,  but I never really understood their meaning growing up and was put off by the occasional pomp and ceremony.

I now know that term Oddfellows comes from medieval times and the modern group developed from early guilds: in small communities men coming from an ‘odd’ assortment of trades would form these societies for an early form of social support. Members would lend a helping hand to each other in times of sickness or financial hardship.

Normally, guilds were made up of the apprentices (trainees), journeymen or fellows (wage earners), and masters (owners/managers). However, fellows and apprentices were marginalized under this system. Masters would make special uniforms a prerequisite for attending meetings and set up other regulations to keep the lower orders from being active in the guild. In response, apprentices and fellows set up yeoman guilds  to counter the influence of the masters.  These gatherings of working people were a precursor to the modern day labour movement and caused substantial concern among those in government. These organizations were even illegal for a long time.

Oddfellows Hall / Malones Irish Pub

Oddfellows Hall was converted to a pub which is now Malone’s Bar on Forrest Road near Edinburgh University. This area is a hub for some extremely odd but very entertaining folk during the Edinburgh Festival.

There was a big remodel a few years before I moved here, but I found some excellent photos on this architecture blog.

Its a pretty good pub to hear some live music or watch a big rugby or football match since there is a lot of space. Not surprising because of its convenient location, university students are the primary patrons nowadays. The Oddfellows are still around but the only branch left in Scotland is over in Kilmarnock.  I suppose there wasn’t as much demand for these fraternities after the 1960’s as government took over more social welfare responsibilities and trade unions grew, membership in these organizations shrank. Still, it was nice to read up on their history and take a closer look at such an interesting Edinburgh building.