It has always been claimed that Lodge Forbes was a Jacobite Lodge. According to tradition it was founded by Alexander the fourth and last Lord Forbes of Pitsligo in 1743

Whatever, the old seal has the date 1747 engraved on its face, proving the point that this Masonic Temple was in existence prior to 1755, when a charter was granted by Grand Lodge of Scotland.

Oral history tells us that the minute book from 1755-1772 was consumed in a lodge fire along with other papers. Therefore only the charter and seal exist prior to 1772.

It is not known whether Lord Pitsligo was a mason but there is ample evidence to prove that he was surrounded with them in the continent. Then Andrew Michael Ramsay, the man who reorganised Freemasonry in 1737, was closely associated with him and spent a period as a recluse in Rosehearty in Lord Pitsligo's college for the study of mysticism. Dr George Garden took charge of this monastic retreat.

The first mention of a masonic walk is recorded in the minute book January 7th, 1793. In those early days the ranks were filled with the local defence volunteers, raised for fear of an invasion as Napoleonic wars raged throughout Europe. three centuries it has always been, and still is, an important part of Rosehearty's festival in the New Year.