A ROYAL ARK MARINER HISTORY
by WBro George Woolmer, OAM, MEd, GLb
Did you attend the lecture titled 'If This Is Not
Noah's Ark, Then What Is It?' given by Dr A. S. Roberts at P.A.C. on 1 Apr
92? I did, and I was convinced that there is an ancient Ark-like craft on the
side of Mt Ararat. Its there, it's buried structure has been echosounded, and
the Turkish Government is taking it seriously. Its Gopher Wood was identified as
Pecky Pine. As to its actual history I have to admit that I have no idea.
However, let us turn to the more conventional Masonic Mariner's history -
about which little has been written.
The story of Noah and his Ark is in both Genesis and the Babylonian account,
found on clay tablets and titled "The Gilgamesh Epic" - the Hebrews may have got
their story from the Babylonians during the Second Captivity.
All the early operative Masonic charges refer to Noah and the Flood, and from
the Cooke MS (c. 1410-50.) on, these are to Noah finding two pillars (sometimes
in a secret vault) inscribed with the seven liberal arts and sciences.
The constitutions (Anderson's of 1727) of the first Grand Lodge, and Graham's
MS of 1726, make great play on Noah and his sons, called Noachidae - which
Mackey (604) says also refers to Freemasons - because of their role in bringing
knowledge (Handfield-Jones:16) across the disaster of the Flood. This emphasis -
now buried - was before the death of Hiram Abiff became the core of the Masonic
legend - so it must have been considered important.
Ceremonies including or based on Noah were no doubt worked prior to the first
Grand Lodge inventing itself, but there appears to be no reliable record. We do
know, however, that Thomas Dunkerly, that well-known Mason who concentrated on
getting odd degrees better established, worked the Mariners, or something like
it, at Portsmouth. This was about 1780 (Richardson:45), although some, including
Handfield-Jones (19), claim that the evidence is not good enough. Dunkerly,
however, kept on, and was described as Grand Commander (Richardson:48) in 1794.
There is a record of the degree being conferred in Cornwall about 1780
(Richardson:47). It was certainly worked in 1790, as an AQC paper shows
(Handfield-Jones:20), and the famous Baldwyn Encampment (K.Ts) at Bristol was
working it before 1800.
After the union of the 'Ancients' and 'Moderns' into one Grand Lodge in 1813,
the Duke of Sussex, the new Grand Master, actively suppressed all the 'Further
Orders'. Remote lodges, however, kept them alive, sometimes secretly, and
rituals were recorded. It was not until the death of Sussex, however, that they
could again surface. In 1870 Bro. John Dorrington (Richardson:50) at Bow,
claiming to be the emerged 'Grand Commander of the Order of Ancient Mariners',
publicly restored Dunkerly's old Grand Lodge.
The relatively new - and unique - Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons took the
Order under its control -'protection' (Hadfield-Jones:23) - in 1871. Thereafter
- although as a degree only - it grew apace.
I must add, however, that I consider that Freemasonry is deeply allegorical -
much more so than most of us realise -and that there is more behind this degree
than the conventional English Masonic historians (whom I consider work from too
narrow a base) would have us believe. If you have read Baigent's "The Holy Blood
and the Holy Grail" and his "The Temple and the Lodge", you may have worked out
what I'm talking about.
Suffice to say that there is incontrovertible evidence that the mighty Knight
Templar fleet escaped France when, in 1312, both the French king and the Pope,
driven by envy and greed, destroyed the Templar Order and burnt its Grand
Master, Jaques de Molay. The Templar fleet, with most of the Templar treasure,
however, disappeared. It in fact sailed to Scotland, where a Templar seat was
set up at Kilwinning - need more be said? To this, I think - and the
ultra-secret society that had formed the Templars - we must look for speculative
Freemasonry's origins.
I think, further, that the Mariner's degree is basically a deliberate - and
veiled (of course) - memorial to that great sea escape.
But thats another paper.
Bibliography
Baigent, M. & Leigh, R.: The Temple and the Lodge, Cope, London,
1989.
Baigent, M. et al.: The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, Corgi, London,
1983.
Handfield-Jones, R.: The Royal Ark Mariner Degree Its Origin and
History, Grand Mark Lodge,
London, 1974.
'If This Is Not Noah's Ark - Then What Is It?', Ark Search, Sans Souci, NSW,
1992.
Richardson, S.: 'The Degree of Royal Ark Mariner', in Trans. Manchester
Ass. for Masonic
Research LX1 1969.
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Since writing this paper, for the Bon Accord RA Mariners 48 SAC, I have read
sufficient evidence to now reject the 'If it is not Noah's Ark, then what is it'
material as the propaganda of a Christian Creation fundamentalist group. There
is no doubt of its source. See, for example, Telling Lies For God, and
Ark Wars: God v Ian.
Further, Professor Pilmer infers that Mr AS Roberts' 'doctorate' is
from an institution not acceptable to mainstream educational institutions. For
example on p 178 he mentions "Another memorable creationist lecture by 'Dr'
Allen Roberts was in Sydney." (This section details witnessed and experienced
physical 'treatment' of scientists attending ). My error was to believe someone
whom I thought was delivering straight scientific fact; in short, the whole Ark
exercise was, according to Professor Pilmer, "creation 'science' " humbug, or
"pseudo-scientific nonsense".
Of course, I had always wondered why the scientific, archaeological,
historical, religious and media people had not descended on the 'find' in
hordes. Now, even Blind Freddy can see why.
This in no way detracts from the power of the original Jewish story and, of
course, has no bearing on the other material here presented.
Pilmer, M: Telling Lies For God, Random House, Sydney, 1994.
Zeller, F & Smart, N: Ark Wars: God v Ian, The Advertiser,
Adelaide, 29 Nov 96.
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