Gormogons

The Gormogons, formally known as the Ancient Noble Order of the Gormogons, were a short-lived eighteenth-century secret society or voluntary association. The organization was reportedly established by Philip Wharton, a former or expelled Freemason, and appears to have operated in Britain during a period when Freemasonry, Jacobitism, antiquarian symbolism, and invented fraternal orders attracted considerable public curiosity. Because the Gormogons left very few records, their precise purpose, structure, membership, and duration remain uncertain. The surviving descriptions suggest that the society may have been created primarily to ridicule or undermine Freemasonry. Its name, ritual presentation, and obscure claims were consistent with the satirical and theatrical treatment that secret societies sometimes received in eighteenth-century pamphlets and popular print. At the same time, surviving bylaws have been interpreted as indicating that the group may also have had a charitable dimension. These apparently different aspects—mockery of established fraternal institutions and charitable association—make it difficult to classify the Gormogons as either a straightforward parody or a conventional benevolent society. The order was also accused of having Jacobite sympathies. That suspicion may have been reinforced by the identity of Andrew Michael Ramsay of Ayr, a Scottish Jacobite, who is described in accounts as the first known Grandmaster, or Oecumenical Volgi. The evidence does not establish the society's political program, and the association between the Gormogons and Jacobitism may have reflected the political reputation of individual members rather than an official organizational commitment. A 1724 report in The London Post claimed that the order had been brought to London by a Mandarin who initiated several gentlemen of honor. The account illustrates the exotic and deliberately obscure imagery surrounding the society, but it does not provide a reliable account of its origins. The etymology of the name is likewise uncertain. Some dictionaries have treated gormagon as a blend involving “gorgon” and “dragon,” while the Oxford English Dictionary characterizes it as a meaningless or pseudo-Chinese formation. An early nineteenth-century slang dictionary gave the word a fantastical anatomical definition that ultimately functioned as a humorous description of a man riding with a woman behind him. The Gormogons appear to have disappeared relatively soon after their emergence, although historical accounts disagree about the date. One proposed endpoint is 1738. Another interpretation allows the society to have survived until 1799, when legislation suppressing secret societies was enacted, with an exemption for Freemasonry. No substantial record of activities or achievements has survived, and the organization is chiefly remembered through scattered newspaper references, dictionary entries, reported bylaws, and a small number of pendant badges bearing its sign. In modern popular culture, the name was reused by the television series Bones for a fictional cannibalistic serial killer whose activities involved secret-society symbolism; that fictional character is distinct from the historical Gormogons.

The Ancient Noble Order of the Gormogons was an obscure and short-lived association that emerged in eighteenth-century Britain. It is generally linked to Philip Wharton, who had been expelled from Freemasonry, although the surviving evidence is too limited to reconstruct a definitive founding narrative. The society's name, ceremonial style, and claims appear to have been designed to cultivate mystery. Contemporary references presented the organization through exotic and pseudo-oriental imagery rather than through a clear statement of doctrine or purpose. The earliest known printed reference is associated with a 1724 report in The London Post. That report claimed that a Mandarin had brought the order to London and initiated several “Gentlemen of Honor.” The story may have been promotional, satirical, or deliberately misleading. It nonetheless reflects the atmosphere in which the Gormogons were discussed: secret associations were often represented through invented foreign origins, elaborate titles, and purported initiations. The Gormogons are commonly interpreted as an anti-Masonic or parodic organization. Accounts state that its primary objective may have been to expose Freemasonry to ridicule, possibly by imitating its secrecy, hierarchy, and ceremonial language. The group may not have been exclusively satirical, however. Surviving bylaws have been read as evidence of charitable intentions, suggesting that the society could have combined social or benevolent functions with mockery of another fraternal institution. Political suspicion also surrounded the order. It was accused of Jacobite sympathies, an association that may have been strengthened by Andrew Michael Ramsay of Ayr, a Scottish Jacobite, being identified as its first known Grandmaster or Oecumenical Volgi. The available material does not demonstrate that the organization itself was a Jacobite political instrument. Rather, its perceived politics may have been inferred from the identity and reputation of particular members or officeholders. The word Gormogons has an uncertain origin. Jonathon Green's Cassell's Dictionary of Slang proposed a formation related to “gorgon” and “dragon,” while the Oxford English Dictionary treated the term as meaningless or pseudo-Chinese. Francis Grose's 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue recorded a deliberately grotesque description of a “gormagon” as a many-limbed monster, then explained the joke as a man on horseback with a woman seated behind him. This entry demonstrates that the term had acquired a comic life independent of the society itself. The date at which the order ended is disputed. Some accounts place its extinction in 1738, while another tradition allows it to have continued until 1799, when an act of 12 July suppressed secret societies subject to specified exemptions. The surviving record contains no reliable account of a later institutional history, major accomplishment, or continuing membership. What remains includes scattered printed references, reported or surviving bylaws, and pendant badges bearing the order's sign. These objects and texts provide evidence that the Gormogons had some material and organizational presence, but not enough to establish its scale or practical influence. The historical name was later reused in popular culture. In the television series Bones, “Gormogon” is the name assigned to a fictional cannibalistic serial killer whose crimes are connected to an obsession with secret societies and whose victims include members of the Knights of Columbus. That fictional storyline is not evidence about the historical association and should be treated separately from the eighteenth-century Gormogons.

• 1811

  Appearance in a slang dictionary

  [1]Gormogonsen.wikipedia.org

  Francis Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue recorded a comic definition of “gormagon,” associating the term with a fantastical monster before explaining it as a humorous image of a man riding with a woman behind him.

• 1799

  Possible survival until secret-society legislation

  [1]Gormogonsen.wikipedia.org

  Another account suggested that the order may have survived until the 1799 legislation suppressing secret societies, though the evidence for continued activity until that date is inconclusive.

• 1738

  Proposed early extinction date

  [1]Gormogonsen.wikipedia.org

  One historical account proposed that the Gormogons ceased to exist by 1738. The date is disputed because the surviving evidence does not establish a definitive endpoint.

• 1724

  Reported introduction to London

  [1]Gormogonsen.wikipedia.org

  A report in The London Post claimed that a Mandarin had brought the order to London and initiated several gentlemen. The account is an early printed reference, although its reliability and literal meaning are uncertain.

A secretive and possibly satirical eighteenth-century fraternal association, remembered for its apparent parody of Freemasonry, suspected Jacobite associations, charitable bylaws, and deliberately mysterious symbolism.

1. 1Gormogonsen.wikipedia.org