The Masonic Order of Athelstan portrays the story of a Master Mason being called to York in 926 AD to receive the Ancient Charges from the king. Throughout its ceremony the ritual contains a great deal of symbolism that is still seen in some Lodges today and a great deal that is not currently worked. It culminates with an historical oration which takes the candidate through the development of the various Grand Lodges ending at 1813 with the formation of the United Grand Lodge of England.

The Order, in England and Wales, is structured so that its Provinces, wherever possible, reflect and represent the original Kingdoms and Gilds (original spelling of Guilds) as they were set up by King Athelstan during his reign as "The First King of all the English". 

The aim of the Masonic Order of Athelstan is to encourage and prompt its members into actual further study and research. As such each candidate is carefully chosen due to their interest in Masonic history and is ‘Instructed’ into our Order.

Membership of our Order is strictly invitational and members are expected to take a wide and committed interest in all aspects of freemasonry, there are therefore mandatory requirements for each member to have current, active and ongoing membership of both Craft and Royal Arch Chapter Masonry. 

After the Craft, the Royal Order of Scotland is the oldest Masonic Order.  There are no reliable records tracing the history of the Order from its alleged revival in 1314, until the middle of the 18th century, when it appears to have flourished in France from 1735 to 1740. The principal practitioners at this time were the adherents of the Jacobite cause, who, being refugees from Scotland, no doubt practised these degrees for the purpose of maintaining a common bond of union in a strange land.
The Royal Order comprises two Degrees: - The Degree of Heredom of Kilwinning and the Knighthood of the Rosy Cross.
Tradition informs us, that the Rosy Cross Degree originated on the field of Bannockburn on Summer Saint John's Day in the year 1314, and was instituted by Robert The Bruce, who, in the battle for Scottish independence, having received signal assistance from a body of Freemasons conferred upon them the Civil rank of Knighthood, as a reward for their loyal services. To ensure the continuance of the Order, he granted those Knights authority to confer the Knighthood of the Rosy Cross on such Scottish Freemasons professing the Christian faith as has proved them-selves worthy of this high honour.

The Constitution of the Royal Order decrees the King of the Scots to be the hereditary Grand Master for whom, at every meeting of the Royal Order wherever held, a vacant seat or throne must be placed at the right hand of the Presiding Officer.  In the absence of a reigning Monarch the acting head of the Order is the Deputy Grand Master and Governor who, from July 2009,  is Sir Archibald D. Orr Ewing, Bart., M.A.
The Grand Lodge in Edinburgh controls the 81 Provincial Grand Lodges situated in many parts of the world.
The Ritual has remained unchanged for over 260 years and is recited almost entirely in irregular rhyming form.