18th Century secret society
The
Ancient Noble Order of the Gormogons
was a short-lived 18th century
secret society
formed by expelled Freemason
Philip Wharton
. It left no records or accomplishments to indicate its true goal and purpose. From the group's few published articles it is thought that the society's primary objective was to hold up
Freemasonry
to ridicule.
[1]
During its brief existence it was accused of being a
Jacobite
-leaning group,
[2]
perhaps because the first known Grandmaster (or
Oecumenical Volgi
) was
Andrew Michael Ramsay
of
Ayr
,
Scotland
, a Jacobite of strong convictions.
[3]
It also appears to have been a charitable organization, at least according to its surviving bylaws. There are also some surviving pendant badges, bearing their sign.
[4]
Possible etymology of the name
[
edit
]
Jonathon Green
suggests in
Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang
that, in the form
gormagon
, the word is a blend of
gorgon
and
dragon
, while the
Oxford English Dictionary
describes the etymology as "meaningless: pseudo Chinese."
[5]
In
The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
,
[6]
the word
gormagon
was humorously defined thus: "A monster with six eyes, three mouths, four arms, eight legs, five on one side and three on the other, three arses, two
tarses
[penises], and a **** upon its back." The compiler
Francis Grose
gave the game away in his dictionary entry by explaining that it was "a man on horseback, with a woman behind him".
[7]
(His "five legs on one side" description could be merely that the woman was riding
side-saddle
).
One of the earliest references to the Gormogons was a September 3, 1724 entry in
The London Post
, which stated that it was founded by a certain Chin-Qua Ky-Po, who was claimed to be the first emperor of
China
, many thousand years before Adam.
[8]
In this entry, the order was said to have been brought to London by a "Mandarin", who in turn initiated several "Gentlemen of Honor" into its ranks.
[9]
Scholars offer differing accounts as to when this order became extinct. For instance, it was proposed that it ended in 1738.
[9]
Another account maintained that it survived until 1799, when an Act was passed in July 12th of that year suppressing all secret societies with the exemption of Freemasonry.
[10]
In popular culture
[
edit
]
The Gormogons have been referenced in the TV show
Bones
. Beginning with the season 3 premiere, "
The Widow's Son in the Windshield
", the Jeffersonian team investigated a cannibalistic serial killer they call
Gormogon
, for his obsession with secret societies and his targeting of the
Knights of Columbus
.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Antient Noble Order of the Gormogons
- ^
Lyttle, Charles H. "
Historical Bases of Rome's Conflict with Freemasonry
",
Church History
, Vol. 9, No. 1. (Mar., 1940), pp. 3?23.
- ^
Carr. J. L. "
Gorgons, Gormogons, Medusists and Masons
".
The Modern Language Review
. Vol. 58, No. 1 (Jan., 1963), pp. 73?78.
- ^
Sotheby's October 1974 catalogue
, reproduced in
The Burlington Magazine
, vol. 116, No. 858 (Sep., 1974), pp. i?lx.
- ^
"gormagon"
,
OED Online
(2nd ed.), Oxford:
Oxford University Press
, 1989
, retrieved
26 March
2009
.
- ^
Francis Grose
(1994),
The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue: Buckish Slang, University Wit and Pickpocket Eloquence
, London: Senate,
ISBN
1-85958-045-9
, a facsimile reprint of
Captain [Francis] Grose, comp. (1811),
Lexicon balatronicum
, London: Printed for C. Chappel
.
- ^
See
Captain [Francis] Grose; Juliet Sutherland [
et al.
], eds. (April 2004),
1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue [EBook #5402]
, Salt Lake City, Ut.:
Project Gutenberg
, retrieved
26 March
2009
.
- ^
Zagami, Leo Lyon (2017).
Confessions of an Illuminati, VOLUME III: Espionage, Templars and Satanism in the Shadows of the Vatican
. San Francisco, CA: CCC Publishing. p. 176.
ISBN
9781888729665
.
- ^
a
b
Redfern, Nick (2017-03-14).
Secret Societies: The Complete Guide to Histories, Rites, and Rituals
. Visible Ink Press.
ISBN
9781578596461
.
- ^
Ward, J. M. S.; Stirling, W. G. (2006).
The Triads
. Oxon: Routledge. p. 126.
ISBN
9780710312044
.