THE JEWELS OF THE LODGE
by Don Falconer of Sydney, Australia
Under most jurisdictions, every speculative craft lodge has three movable
and three immovable jewels, on which the brethren are intended to moralize.
They are the square, the level, the plumb rule, the rough ashlar, the
perfect ashlar and the tracing board. An eminent masonic writer, the Rev Dr
George Oliver (1782-1867), said they are called jewels because "they have a
moral tendency which renders them jewels of inestimable value". It is
interesting to note that the square, the level and the plumb rule are
called movable jewels in the English system, because they are transferred
to the incoming master and his wardens each year, whereas in the American
system they are called immovable, because the square is assigned to the
east of the lodge, the level to the west and the plumb rule to the south.
In the English system the ashlars and the tracing board are called
immovable jewels, probably because in the early speculative period they
tended to be located in particular parts of the lodge, but in the American
system they are called movable, because they may be placed in any
convenient position which varies from lodge to lodge.
Having regard to the allegorical importance assigned to the jewels of the
lodge, it is surprising that the authors of the early speculative rituals
did not indicate what they considered to be the most appropriate positions
for the immovable jewels to be placed in the lodge. Nor has the United
Grand Lodge of England ever issued a ruling on the subject. As a
consequence, enquiring masons cannot find a definitive answer to their
questions concerning the placement of the tracing board and the ashlars. In
practice they are to be seen in various locations, which often is only a
matter of convenience, but may be part of the tradition relating to the
particular ritual being worked or the custom in the individual lodge,
district or jurisdiction. In this regard it is interesting to note that
Irish lodges do not have a tracing board.
OPERATIVE ORIGINS
The jewels of modern lodges of speculative freemasonry have come down to us
from the usages and customs of operative free masons in earlier times. In
operative lodges a particular stone was used as an emblem in each of the
working degrees. The candidate was told, at an appropriate stage in the
ceremony, that he represented that stone being wrought from its rough hewn
condition, as brought from the quarries, to a state of perfection suitable
for erection as a "living stone" in that most glorious of all Temples,
"that house not made with hands eternal in the heavens". Each degree
also
had a representative jewel, which was a miniature representation of one of
the gauges used to test the stone and the work of the degree. The
ceremonies in operative lodges reflected the various stages in the
preparation, testing and erection of stones in the temple of King Solomon
at Jerusalem, emphasizing their purpose and importance in the structure.
The symbolic teachings also were based on the preparation, testing and
incorporation of the stones in the structure. The several types of stones
and the working tools and gauges used in their preparation, testing and
erection, therefore were of particular significance to the operative mason.
During his progress through the several degrees, the candidate in a lodge
of operative free masons was tested on the work he had prepared in the
preceding degree, before being instructed in the work and the use of the
gauges in the next degree. When a Fellow of the Craft had proved his
ability to produce perfect ashlar stones, he was entrusted with the square,
the level and the plumb rule as proof of his ability, but not as jewels of
the degree. Operative degrees beyond that of a Fellow of the Craft were
related to increasing levels of supervision, with special duties and
responsibilities attaching to the rank. A Fellow of the Craft in operative
free masonry was a master mason in respect of his capabilities, but the
title of Master Mason was usually reserved for the mason who had overall
responsibility for a job. The Master Mason frequently was the chief officer
of a lodge carrying out work under day labor in England, or the proprietor
of a lodge carrying out work under contract in Scotland. Some of these
operative aspects are reflected in the degrees of other branches of
freemasonry, for which membership of a speculative craft lodge is a
prerequisite. However, the direct relationship between the purpose for
which a particular stone is used and its symbolic meaning is no longer a
significant part of the work in speculative craft freemasonry. Nor do the
speculative craft degrees have jewels equivalent to those of the operative
degrees.
The jewels of the master and wardens of modern speculative lodges are
derived from the insignia of office worn by their counterparts in the old
operative lodges. They also are the working tools of a speculative
Fellowcraft Freemason, which might seem to be an anomaly, but it must be
remembered that in operative days a Fellow of the Craft was a fully
qualified craftsman. In operative lodges the rough ashlar typified the
Apprentice and the perfect ashlar typified the Fellow of the Craft.
Candidates for admission as an Apprentice were placed in the north-east
corner, but qualified Fellows of the Craft seeking further advancement were
placed in the south-east corner, from which is derived the practice of
seating speculative Apprentices and Fellowcrafts in those corners. In
speculative lodges the rough and perfect ashlars are often placed in the
north-east and south-east corners, but in some lodges they are placed in
front of the Junior and Senior Wardens respectively. In some constitutions
the jewels of the deacons also are derived from operative practice, such as
the maul of the senior deacon and the trowel of the junior deacon in
Scottish lodges.
EARLY SPECULATIVE JEWELS
One of the earliest known references to the jewels of the lodge is to be
found in the records of operative free masonry in Scotland, the Edinburgh
Register House MS dated 1696, which is endorsed "Some Questions Anent the
Mason Word". It is a catechism which sets out fifteen questions that must
be put to a mason who claims to have the Word, as well as the answers he
was required to give before he could be acknowledged as a mason. To the
question: "Are there jewels in your lodge?" the reply was: "Yes
three,
perpend esler, a square pavement and a broad ovall." Every freemason will
be familiar with the square pavement, but the other two may not be known to
him. The perpend esler or ashlar is an important stone used in the
construction of masonry walls, but it is not the perfect ashlar stone
required to be produced by a Fellow of the Craft as a test piece in
operative lodges. Nevertheless the early speculative freemasons called it a
perfect ashlar, possibly mistaking perpend for perfect. In speculative
lodges the perpend ashlar was later replaced with the finely polished
cubical stone used in modern lodges. The square pavement, to which a great
deal of symbolism attaches, is no longer called a jewel and is included in
the furniture of the lodge. The broad ovall is one of a multitude of names
by which the broached thurnel appears to have been known and will be
discussed later.
The perpend ashlar is commonly called a header and is usually three units
long and one unit square in cross-section. It passes through the wall from
the inside face to the outside face, tying the leaves of the wall together
for added strength. The end faces of a perpend ashlar are dressed to
conform with the surface finishes of the exposed faces of the walls, but
all other faces are broached or scrabbled to provide a good bond with the
courses of stone through which it passes. The running stone used in wall
construction is a similar stone, but it is broached for bonding on all
faces except those to be exposed, which are dressed accordingly. At the end
of his training in the old operative lodges and before he could be passed
as a Fellow of the Craft, an apprentice was required to produce a
satisfactory rough dressed ashlar, usually three units long and one unit
square in cross-section, suitable for finishing as a perpend ashlar or a
running stone. Before being allowed to take charge of the fitting and
marking of stones for erection in the structure, an experienced Fellow of
the Craft was required to prove his capabilities by producing a perfect
ashlar as a test piece. It was similar to the rough dressed ashlar, but
fully dressed and polished on all faces.
In the early 1700s, when an apprentice was being tested on the catechisms
in a speculative craft lodge he would be asked: "What are the immovable
jewels?", to which the answer was: "The trasel board, rough ashlar and
broached thurnel". The word trasel, which is sometimes corrupted to tarsel,
comes from the Old French through the Middle French trestel, which
signified a bar or beam supported by legs, whence is derived the English
trestle. The trasel board was the trestle table on which sketches were
drawn, or over which the plans were spread. The trasel must not be confused
with the indented tassel or indented tarsel in the old catechisms, which
comes from the Old French tassel through the Middle English, among other
things signifying an ornamental piece of fabric, the tassel or ornamental
tuft of threads in modern English. It is interesting to note that a torsel,
which is a plate supporting the end of a beam in a brick wall, is also
called a tassel, but it comes from the French tasseau signifying a bracket.
Although most of the practical aspects of these jewels have been omitted
from the speculative explanation, the philosophical aspects of the
instructions given in operative days have been incorporated and expanded
upon.
It is generally accepted that the rough ashlar refers to a rough hewn stone
as brought from the quarries, which in olden times was cut one eighth to
one sixteenth of an inch over the required finished measure. However, the
meaning of the broached thurnel in the catechism is uncertain. It seems
most likely to have been derived from the Scottish operative masons to whom
broach meant to rough hew, or to groove or scarify. A broaching thurmal,
broaching thurmer or broaching turner was the chisel used to carry out
broaching work. One form of the broaching thurmal is a narrow serrated
chisel similar in many respects to the scutch, a cutting and dressing tool
used by a bricklayer, probably is derived from the Old French escousser
meaning to shake off. Thus the three immovable jewels referred to in the
old catechisms of an apprentice logically symbolized the instructions he
received for the work, represented by the trasel board; the tools he used
to execute the work, represented by the broached thurnel; and his finished
product, the rough ashlar. Another possible derivation of thurnel is as a
variation of the French tournelle, which means a turret, because the word
was in common use in England in various forms from about 1400 until at
least the 1750s.
Yet another suggested derivation is from the German thurm, which means a
tower, because that word also was in general use in England during the same
period. Moreover, it is likely that the French tournelle and German thurm
have a common ancestry, from which the Scottish thurmal or thurmer may also
have been derived. In any event, the cutting face of one form of the chisel
used as a broaching thurmal is somewhat similar in appearance to a small
castellated turret when viewed from above. Very early French tracing boards
and some of their contemporaneous English counterparts depicted a cubical
stone surmounted by a pyramid, not unlike a squat church tower with a tall
spire, which also was called a broached thurnel in English speculative
lodges. This stone is still retained on French tracing boards, but long ago
disappeared from English tracing boards. French freemasons have always
referred to this stone as "la pierre cubique a pointe", literally
meaning a
pointed square stone. The original French ritual, still in use, explains
that it is a model of a spire or turret, whose various outlines provide a
means of teaching the apprentice the forms of the square, triangle, cube
and pyramid. Whatever the derivation and intended symbolism of the broached
thurnel in the old English lodges and the broaching thurmal in the old
Scottish lodges, it had disappeared from use by 1720.
The sequence of events by which the rough ashlar and the cubical perfect
ashlar became jewels in modern speculative lodges was progressive in
nature, varying from location to location and from lodge to lodge, with no
clear boundaries between one usage and another. Not only are the available
records scarce, but such as are available often do not record the actual
dates when one custom lapsed or another was introduced. It is not clear why
the perpend ashlar came to be replaced by the cubical perfect ashlar, nor
when the change was made. All that can be said with certainty is that the
cubical perfect ashlar seems to have been in general use in English
speculative lodges by 1800. The perpend ashlar is an emblem of perfection
and strength, coupled with the bonds of brotherly love. This is much more
expressive than the cubical perfect ashlar as a symbol which illustrates
the advancement of an apprentice from the rough and unpolished state to the
state of discipline and education that is the hallmark of an experienced
craftsman. As the bonding of men in friendship is an important objective of
speculative freemasonry, it is a great pity that the perpend ashlar of
operative masonry is no longer one of the jewels of the lodge.
SPECULATIVE TRACING BOARDS
Tracing boards were an important piece of equipment in all lodges of
operative free masons. The inventory of stores recorded in the Fabric Rolls
of the York Minster in 1399 include "ij tracying bordes". In lodges of
operative free masons the locations of the tracing boards was entirely a
matter of convenience to suit the work, but there would be at least one in
the office the Super Intendent of Work in the stone yard and at the
building site. During the construction of large buildings, such as
cathedrals, there usually were drafting offices as well as the site
offices. The practical tuition given in conjunction with the ceremonial
work of an operative lodge, customarily commencing at noon on the sixth day
of the week, was carried out with the aid of a plan sketched on the floor
or a drawing laid on a trestle board, usually in the centre of the lodge
room so that those under instruction could gather round it.
In operative lodges the tracing board was used to give practical
instruction to the candidates in the development of the required shapes of
stones, in the preparation of the required templates and in the marking out
of stones appropriate to the work of the degree. It was also used to
illustrate the setting out of the work and to show how the stones should be
assembled in the structure. In the early speculative lodges it was
customary to draw a plan on the floor of the lodge room using chalk,
charcoal and any other suitable medium, much as would have been done in an
operative lodge. Like the drawings of the operative masons, they were
placed in any convenient location where the members could gather round.
This practice continued until painted or printed pictures of the "floor
drawings" or "floorcloths" first became available around 1744 in
France and
1760 in England. The location of modern tracing boards at the western end
of the squared pavement, or in any other position offering a clear view,
has become acceptable and is in keeping with ancient practice.
The oldest known set of speculative tracing boards in Great Britain belongs
to Lodge Faithful, which was founded at Norwich in 1753 and now meets at
Harleston in Norfolk. These boards are dated 1800 and depict the modern
form of rough and perfect ashlars on the First Degree board. The modern
ashlars are also depicted on a set of tracing boards painted by William
Dight in 1808 for the Lodge of Unanimity and Sincerity, which meets at
Taunton. A set of tracing boards painted for the Chichester Lodge in 1811
by Josiah Bowring, a portrait painter of London, also depicts the modern
ashlars. These boards appear to be the prototypes of the famous set painted
by John Harris in 1821, from which most modern tracing boards are derived.
The rough ashlar on tracing boards is usually placed at the foot of the
Corinthian column representing the Junior Warden, who traditionally is in
charge of the apprentices. The perfect ashlar is usually placed at the foot
of the Doric column representing the Senior Warden, who traditionally is in
charge of the craftsmen.
During the evolution of speculative freemasonry, there was a significant
tendency to rearrange the symbolism and related rituals of operative free
masonry, in what might best be described as a perceived orderliness and
regularity. This may have been the underlying objective in replacing the
perpend ashlar with the cubic perfect ashlar, perhaps influenced by a work
entitled The First and Chief Groundes of Archytecture published by Ihon
Shute, Paynter and Archytecte in 1563 and reprinted in 1912. Early
speculative freemasons included many erudite scholars who shaped our
rituals in conformity with the literary English of the day. Among them, no
doubt, would have been some who were familiar with Shute's work, in which
he offers the injunction that "Ye shall make a four square stone like unto
a dye" and continues with a description of the origin and rise of the
architectural orders, which is repeated in virtually the same language in
some of the old masonic lectures.
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