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THE JEWELS OF THE LODGE
CHAPTER IX
Masonic essays (1998)
W.M. DON FALCONER
Under most jurisdictions, every speculative craft lodge has three movable and
three immovable jewels, on which the brethren are intended to moralise. 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.
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, emphasising 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 labour 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.
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
jewells 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 scabbled 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
symbolised 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.
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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