Dr. Rob Morris remains a celebrated Freemason and is known for having been Grand Master of Kentucky in 1858-1859, as well as for having founded the Order of the Eastern Star. A prolific writer and poet, he preferred to go by Rob instead of Robert to distinguish himself from another poet named Robert Morris. Morris was crowned Poet Laureate of Freemasonry in 1884 by the Grand Lodge of New York. He was the second to receive such an honor. In fact, the title had not been given since Robert Burns received it in 1767 in Cannongate Killwinning Lodge No. 2 in Edinburgh, Scotland. This accomplishment by itself is worth noting. His work was indeed great; Morris wrote more than 400 poems about Masonry and the Eastern Star during his life. Morris and his wife had the idea of starting an organization for the wives and other female relatives of Freemasons. He founded the Order of the Eastern Star and start chartering chapters in 1850. Morris wrote first Eastern Star ritual, titled "The Rosary of the Eastern Star," in the 1850s. In the late 1860s, Morris passed the Rosary on to Robert Macoy, who flushed it out more fully and organized and mad it more systematic to ensure adoption by the individual chapters. One of Rob Morris's most celebrated poems, "A Mason's Ties and Vows," is not included in this book because as it stands in its most famous form, it is actually a compilation of three different poets' work. Rob Morris wrote the base of the poem, which includes the famous line, "On Yonder Book that oath I took and will I break it? Never! / But stand by this, and this, and this, for ever and for ever." However, around 1890, Samuel Murrow, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Indian Territory (later to become the Grand Lodge of Oklahoma) added that line to his own poem. In 1942, Benjamin L. Hadley added extra verses onto Murrow's poem, thus rendering it again further from Morris's original, yet still retaining the central meaning.

If you have an interest in Freemasonry, you may have heard of Rob Morris or have seen his name on various documents, books, poems, and songs from the mid- 1800s but don’t know much about him. A Place in the Lodge sets forth new facts about his early life and relationships and presents a slice of his life via previously unpublished family letters, sent while he was on the road. It was a time of yellow fever, Civil War, and manual farmwork, and the detail in the letters and the old photographs here make the era almost tangible. Visit this not-so-distant past and see how Morris helped Masonry evolve from its origins to take part in the United States’ women’s movement and become one of the world’s largest fraternal organizations. As he worked to standardize Freemasonry and establish the Order of the Eastern Star, his efforts were not without controversy.

Three brilliant and free-spirited students of 1950s Stockholm find themselves, years later, leading uncreative, dreary lives.

Take your Masonry seriously but don't take it solemnly', has been one of the author’s tenets throughout his many years as a Freemason. The Freemason’s Bedside Book is an accessible collection of articles, poems, letters and other bite-sized material from a respected scholar of Freemasonry which will illuminate the subject for those who do not have the time to plough through more lengthy and learned articles or research original documents in which this material is buried. Readers will find the books shows how Freemasonry has developed in the way that it has, bringing to life what people were thinking, believing and wanting in the past, and showing the human face of many of the revered figures in the history of Freemasonry, often with humor. The content varies from poems, short stories and anecdotes to historical extracts and other documents—each chosen for the quality of their writing and the entertainment of the reader as well as their insight into Freemasonry.

The Regius Poem, also known as the Halliwell Manuscript, is a long series of rhyming couplets that make up what is thought to be the earliest of the Old Charges of Masonry. It was discovered in the British Museum by James O. Halliwell in 1838. While sometimes thought to have been written during the reign of King Athelstan (924-940 A.D.), the document actually dates to the late 14th century. Whether it is a derivative work based on a separate manuscript from Athelstan's time is unknown. However, the Regius Poem is the cornerstone of the Legend of York, which is important in Masonry even today. This manuscript also outlines how Masons should act toward each other and toward the civil magistrate. It also talks about the history and philosophy of the order of Masons. Any Mason interested in the history of the Art should read this document and see how it compares to the various rules their grand lodges lay out for government of a lodge.