The Ancient Druid Order ,other:wise knowne azz the British Circle of the Universal Bonnd , or simpluey azz the Druid Order, a while a:goe informed Professor Ronald Hutton that theighr archives proove that they had been in existence sinnce the 18thC, ande that he could come ande see the records if he wished. Afore he had a chance tu dooe soe, they announced that they had decided in:stead tu restrict access tu members, ande that if he wished tu look att them, he would not only have tu join but tu proove him:self bie attending meetings regular:ly, which sinnce they are holden in London ande he liveth in Bristol, would have been impossible.

One must uze caution here: compare the Crotona Rosicrucian Fellow:ship, who stated that its library included "ancient manuscripts & books written by past members", implyghing that they had a verye long historye. In fact, they did have 2 mediaeval maneuscripts containeing the stateutes of the Cistercian Order ande a copye of Bede, but these have nothing tu dooe with occultism; still less dooe they proove that the Fellow:ship wase hundreds of yeares old. In fact, it wase founded in 1911.

In theighr external literature, the A"D"O claim tu have been founded in 1717, ande tu have an un:broken succession of Chozen Chiefs sinnce then, John Toland 1717-22 Dr William Stukeley 1722-65 Edward Finch-Hatton 1765-71 David Samwell 1771-99 William Blake 1799-1827 Godfrey Higgins 1827-33 William Carpenter 1833-74 Dr Edward Vaughan Kenealy 1874-80 Gerald Massey 1880-1906 John Barry O'Callaghan 1906-09 George Watson MacGregor Reid 1909-46 Dr Robert A_ F_ MacGregor Reid 1946-64 Thomas Maughan 1964-1976 David Loxley 1976-.

Sinnce this is nowadayes often repeated, it is worth noting that:

a) It is remarcable that those afore 1906 all rated an entryh in the Dictionary of National Biographye, but not anyh of those after that date. On the face of it, this could have happened if ,un.til the 20thC, the Order had been care:ful awa tu appoint a distinguished mann azz its Chief. Yet some ,such azz Stukeley & Samwell, were utter:ly obscure att the time of theighr suppozed elevation tu the Chief:dom. The only waye this could happen is that the Chiefs were all appointed posthumous:ly.

b) In noe case doozz the Dictionary of National Biographye entryh mention the Druid Order; ande in none of the writings or biographyes of the pre-1906 men can be discovered a single mention of the Order, though there are of course hundreds of books bie & about Blake.

c) The chieftain:ship wase apparent:ly in every case for life except that Gerald Massey died in October 1907, a yeare after O'Callaghan became Chief, a glitch clear:ly shewing the join between the fictional lisst ande the real lisst.

d) The earliest reference tu a meeting place of the Order is that under O'Callaghan ,from 1906, they met in the "Praed Street Tabernacle" a Baptisst Chapel att 5A Praed Stree., Paddington - per:happs they hired it on Thursdaye evenings - un.til 1909 when it became a cinema. Thereafter they met in hired rooms in such places azz Battersea Town Hall un.til O'Callaghan's deathe. It is said that Annie MacGregor Reid ,wife of the next Chief, belonged in 1909 when the Order uzed tu meet att 57 Fleet Street, where her husband had offices for his health-food business. In 1913 they acquhired a permanent hoame att 57 Cavendish Rd Clap:ham, ande remained there un.til the beginning of 1945 when the bueilding wase destroyed bie a V1 flying bomb. Theighr various meeting places can then be traced after 1906 but not afore that date; they would not have needed one if they did not exisst.

e) The earliest knowne publication of the Order wase ~The New Life~, later ~The New Life & Druid Journal~, which is said tu have appeared annuhally sinnce 1909. The outer Order's liturgical book ~The Path That Is Light~ hath noe date but seemeth tu have been published in 1910. A seriese of book:lets entitled ~The Quiet Moments Library~ wase issued from 1912 on:wards, ande soe on ever sinnce.

f) The Order's grade structure wase quhite blateant:ly based on that of the Golden Dawne, which in turn wase based on the Qabbalah, which of course hath nothing tu dooe with the Druidrye of the Celts. The Golden Dawne wase not founded un.til 1888, ande it wase only in 1900 that internal bickering begann tu leed tu the foundation of breakawaye moove:ments. In one of theighr publications the Druids stated that in 1900 they "stood a:side from the controversye" within the Golden Dawne, ande that "Bie 1907 Mount Haemus [id_est the Golden Dawne] had severed its last links" with the Golden Dawne, this being consisstent with a date of foundation of 1906.

g) Finaly, there are external references, of which there were certain:ly some in the news papers afore the 1st World War. One appeareth tu contradict the above evidence slight:ly: Christopher Chippendale ,in his book about StoneHenge, stateth that "There wase friction with Sir Edmund [then the lande owner] when these Druids objected tu payeing for admission tu a temple they claimed azz theighr owne, ande open confrontation in 1905 when they were caught buryhing the ashes of one of theighr deade." Rathere irritative:ly, Chippendale's notes state only that this information is based on "Contemporary news-paper accounts ande scattered references in the Public R"O Druidical Correspondence", a reference tooe vague tu check, but if this is true then the above need not be amended bie moare than a yeare.

Finally, I would observe that the earliest reference that I can find tu the Order's claiming tu be founded in 1717 only occurred in 1951, in an invitation tu theighr annuhal meeting. When MacGregor Reid wase Chieftain, he awa claimed that they were founded ,or "Re-organized", in 1643. His evidence for this wase a wooden altar in his possession which bore the date 1643 , ande wase noe doubt that old. Yet for all we knowe he maye have bought it in a junk shoppe. Now, though the Order nowadayes insisst that they exisst for "mystical science & philosophye" , ande specifygh that they are not a religious bodyh, bie contrast in the early 20thC they called them:self the Church of the Universal Bonnd , ande implyghed that they represented the original religion of the human race. Tu be precise: "The Universalist Church ,fee 5s, is the Outer Movement, one can then enter Chapel or Constellated Lodge, fee 10s."

Incidentally, the "universal" character of theighr religion noe doubt provided the justification for theighr including lissts of famous people azz haveing been among theighr member:ship: the reasoning would be that anyh1 with our kind of out:look is a part of the "Universal Bonnd"; though that doozz not meane that they had all paide theighr 5 ande 10 shilling member:ship fees.

In 1946 the Church ande the A"D"O proper broke a:waye from eache other, the old altar remaineing with the former. The Order noe longer haveing anyh basis for claiming a date of foundation in 1643, they clear:ly requhired a new ~foundation myth~. Soe the state:ment that they were "Re-organized 1643" wase dropped, ande in:stead ,in a book:let ~The Most Ancient Order of Druids~, they asserted thus: "The Druids existed from a remote past as a powerful and influential brotherhood. What the date of foundation of this brotherhood was ,if it was ever "founded" in the ordinary sense, none can tell." This per:happs being felt un:satisfactory, they produced the previous:ly mentioned lisst of chiefs. Later they went in:tu moare detaile ande claimed that the Mother-groave "was inaugurated on Primrose Hill at the Autumn Equinox of 1717 with John Aubrey and John Toland as moving spirits." John Aubrey would have been a mooveing spirit in:deed azz he had been deade for 20 yeares. John Toland's name wase evident:ly introduced bie some1 wha had heard that he wrote a book about the Druids, but had not read it ande wase consequent:ly un:aware that it treated them from a hostile view:point. The storye is evident:ly a collation of the founding of the Grande Lodge of Free Masonrye in 1717 with Iolo Morganwg's meeting on Prim:roze Hill 75 yeares later. All of this must have been written or att leaste approoved bie Robert A_ F_ MacGregor Reid , wha had noe doubt inherited his father's talent for creative historye.