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A History of Mark Masonry
ORIGINS - OPERATIVES AND MARK MASONRY
Part I
To more fully understand and appreciate speculative Masonry as
we know it we will begin with a look at masonry in operative times. In
particular the development of the Mark aspect, as far as we know or can
reasonably deduce, is examined.
In This Assignment
The World-Wideness of Mason Marks The Middle Ages: The
Templars, English Developments. Early Well Documented Operative
Organisations: Germany - The Steinmetzen. Scotland - The
Schaw Statutes, Scottish Lodge Developments.
Recent Operative Usage
The Masonic historians Knoop & Jones (p. 211) point out
that mason marks are found in a great many lands. Consisting of marks or symbols
carved on stones or impressed in clay bricks, these identified their stone
shapers or brick makers.
Such marks (Brindal:28) can be found going back 5,000 years or
more. They are in Egyptian pyramids, on Greek temples and in the preserved
cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii. They are in widespread Roman ruins,
Hindustan, Asia Minor and Central and South America. They are common in the
great ruins of England, France, Germany, Scotland, Spain, Italy and Portugal.
The European crusades to regain control of Palestine from the
Muslims began in 1095 AD. Jerusalem was taken in 1099, but after eight crusades
the Holy Land was completely lost by 1291.
A leading group to emerge from this movement was that of the
warrior monk Knight Templars. Usually recorded as having been founded in 1118,
but perhaps in 1114 (Baigent:42), they were closely associated with the
Cistercian Order of monks, who undertook extensive building.
Gaining enormous wealth and power - some now say the beginning
of which was by finding long-hidden treasures and documents beneath Jerusalem’s
Temple Platform (Gardner:258, Baigent et al:88, Hancock:102) - the Templars went
from strength to strength. They had specialist units, each dealing with aspects
such as banking and shipping. One such specialist group was of architects and
builders. This group carried out an extensive building program, such as castles,
preceptories and temples. They used ‘their own teams of masons’ (Baigent:136).
They went on to introduce Gothic architecture to Europe, the
first example of the advanced design being on the Temple Mount south of the Dome
of the Rock. It remains still, as a mosque, and its porch is very similar to
that of Chartres Cathedral (Hancock:plates 24, 25.). The Templar building squads
were helped by the Cistercian monks, who formed building guilds named the
‘Children of Solomon’. They built ten cathedrals in France alone bearing the
name Notre Dame (Gardner:262), that in Paris being begun in 1161. Over
800 Gothic Cathedrals were built in Europe between the 12th and 15th centuries.
There was plenty of scope for mason marks.
It is known that the Templars, stern, strict and practical in
their ways, had grades or degrees, probably eleven, and elaborate rituals and
ceremonies. Although it cannot be proved the inference is that those Templars
specialising in building used adapted grades and ceremonies for the organisation
and running of their building squads. If so it would almost certainly have had
to involve rules and usages on marks.
It is also possible to conjecture that the controllers,
architects and master builders in a building group were Templars and
Cistercians, and that the stone workmen, ordinary builders and labourers were
locals drafted and trained for their tasks. It is even possible to think that
some Templar members of a building ‘lodge’ were non-operative, sitting in to
keep a general eye on things. There is no proof, but things have to begin and
evolve from somewhere, and this simple and relatively straight-forward
possibility needs consideration.
There is some knowledge of one such building group (Cryer:15)
operating at this time, that being formed in 1202 to begin the building of
Winchester Cathedral.
On Friday 13 October 1307 the Templars were suddenly and
ruthlessly arrested by the King of France, abetted by the Pope, and cruelly put
down. But their legacy, including in the form of hundreds of Gothic Cathedrals
being built throughout Europe, lived and lives on. It may just possibly even
include the founding of the lodge system (including its odd focus on King
Solomon’s Temple) as we know it in its evolved form today.
The earliest marks so far found in England are dated at 1119 AD
(Brindal:34), at Norwich Cathedral. The concept put forward by most masonic
writers that ancient masons were not capable of developing or using complex
ritual and ceremony has been, until recently, widely accepted. Instead, there
has been widespread promotion of the idea that speculatives ‘invented’ our
customs and degrees, and relatively recently. But, as Cryer (14-15) points out,
those medieval professionals who could design, organise the building of, and
actually construct, such a mighty entity as the Gothic Cathedral could easily
manage some telling ritual and ceremony.
In England a 1352 Statute of Edward III records the name
‘freemasons’ and acknowledges the existence of ‘Operative Masons’ Guilds’
(Cryer:16). The guild system, however, although almost universal for other
trades and occupations, did not become the norm for masons, they being enveloped
in other, more authority-ridden groupings.
There is no doubt that English masons had marks. Apart from the
obvious old examples everywhere a 1356 corporation’s regulation for London
Masons (Cryer:20) stated - translated to modern English - "That the Master shall
oversee that the journeymen shall take their hire according as they are skilled
and may deserve for their work pieces". Banker marks had to be used to check
this (banker - quarry bank or workshop bench on which the stones were worked).
In the mid thirteen hundreds the mason company (Jones:88)
system came into being. The ‘Worshipful Company of the Freemasons of the City of
London’, for example, was formed. Operative and incorporated, it included a few
non-operatives. A number of such companies were formed around the country. At
Oxford, in 1604, a company was formed comprising of Free Masons, Carpenters,
Joiners and Slaters. A consequence of this system was that mason groups,
previously usually independent, had to lump in with other and lesser building
trades. Secret ceremonial work would have been more difficult to arrange. A fact
of incorporation, also, meant that town officials intruded.
In the meantime ‘The Society of Free Masons’ had come into
being. The first form of their coat of arms was granted by Edward VI (1442 -
83). This later included supporters, one in a blue-faced jacket holding a
square, and one in a red-faced jacket holding a pair of compasses.
From their earliest times (Cryer:26) masons were divided into
two classes, straight or square masons and round or arch masons. The straight
mason was given a square and prepared rectangular stones and built
straight-forward walls and the like. Round masons were given a pair of compasses
and built arches, prepared columns, carvings and so on. They held a higher grade
- there were seven altogether - and were paid more. Taverns to which straight
masons repaired often had a signboard featuring a square. Those where round
masons congregated were signed with an open compass. If both met in the same
establishment then the sign featured an open compass over a square.
When a mason was a proven master of his craft he was no longer
required to use his mark (Cryer:21), although some still did. At Canterbury
cathedral the regular, local, masons from 1413 onwards appear not to have used
their mark, and the expert work, such as artistic capitals, was never marked.
Itinerant masons, however, later came in, forming a ‘loygge’ in 1428, with the
records indicating that the lodge masons were always required to mark. It
appears that the mark was a way to check the work of relative strangers.
Just as the old Templar influence was weakening in masonry,
Baigent (137) points out, Constantinople and the Byzantium Empire fell to the
Turks. This was in 1453. One result was a massive flow of refugees and treasures
to western Europe. Included were numerous texts of all sorts, built up over a
rather incredible 1,000 years, beginning with the legendary Library of
Alexandria. The impact was enormous, putting great pressure on the all-powerful
Church of Rome’s system of ruling Europeans. It went on to transform Western
civilisation, being a most important factor leading to the European Renaissance.
In 1532 Henry VIII made England Protestant. English religious
building slowed, but other types increased, and with new, Renaissance, ideas in
architecture and building, including newly rediscovered Classical. The masons
had to adapt and evolve. It appears that their organisations moved closer to
those of recent times.
At the building of Sandgate Castle, 1539-40, for example, Knoop
& Jones (182) note that the mason in charge of works, below the two
commissioners, was known as a warden. He was a master mason named Robert
Lynsted. Lynsted signed the account books each month with his mark; here we find
another use for a mason’s mark.
An English apprentice normally served for seven years. If he
then proved his worth he moved to the grade of a fellow of the craft or
journeyman (Cryer:16). He was still under an overseer, but he was free to find
work where he could. As he was usually illiterate he was given a grip of
recognition to use on his journeys, and a mark. These also gave and proved his
qualifications.
In 1603, because there was no English heir, James VI of
Scotland, a Stuart and Presbyterian, became James I of England. His son became
Charles I in 1625, and married a Catholic, which upset the Protestants. In 1629
Charles dissolved the parliament. Meanwhile the Puritan faction grew strong,
beginning in 1642 the destructive English Civil War against the king. In 1649
Cromwell began his ferocious government, beheading Charles. It was not until
1660 that the monarchy was resumed - all this anarchy interfered with the craft
of the masons - and the development of Freemasonry. It was followed in 1666 by
the Great Fire of London. The end results, however, included a great demand for
masons, and the old ‘closed shop’ systems broke down.
Out of it all mason ‘societies’ evolved, and we can note ‘The
Worshipful Society of Free Masons of the City of London’. In 1677 (Cryer 26)
this society issued a map showing that England was divided into eight operative
districts, with London at the head.
It is known that in the 1700’s these societies had their own
rituals, catechisms and lectures, and a recent re-discovery of a printed version
of one indicates where speculatives probably gained a good deal of their core
material. Masons were being grouped again with other trades, as evidenced by
‘The Worshipful Society of Free Masons, Rough Masons, Wallers, Slaters, Paviors,
Plaisterers and Bricklayers’ (Cryer:25). Incorporated, this contributed to their
downplaying.
The use of a mark system in an operative English lodge was
shown in the records of Alnwich Lodge (Cyer:19) - now lost - which accepted
speculatives. Many marks were dated before 1680. Still existing minute books
from 1701 show the use of marks. An apprentice in an old operative lodge had, at
the end of his term, to prepare a rough ashlar. If it passed he was made a
Fellow of the Craft, becoming a ‘Free Man and a Free Mason’ (Cryer:28). He then
had a year to dress his stone into a smooth ashlar, and if passed, he could
apply for admittance into the third grade, Super Fellow. He was then given a
mark in a ceremony which, Cryer writes (29), ‘the Speculative Mark Mason of
today would recognise as the degree of Mark Man’.
In the 1800’s a ‘Guild of Operative Free Masons’ (Cryer:25)
reappeared, which flourished to about 1870. It then diminished, owing to altered
economic condition and the growing influence of trade unions. Only a few of its
lodges remained by WW1.
Two countries where the use of a mark, and therefore almost
certainly mark ceremonies, occurred under documented systems were Germany and
Scotland.
German tradition (Cryer:15) says that stone cutters (dressers
or masons) formed a brotherhood for the building of Magdeburg Cathedral, which
was started in 1211. This could well have followed the Templar practice. The
cathedral bears mason marks, as does Cologne Cathedral, the rebuilding of which
began in 1248. Tight mason groups were focussed around each German cathedral,
which, wrote Feidal - drawn upon by Cryer (15) for evidence - had their own
recognition signs, trade instruction methods, duties privileges.
Although there is no direct evidence from those distant times,
the known use of mason ceremonies and the presence of marks indicates some form
of mark grading or ‘degree’, and its accompanying ceremony, possibly in a system
not much different from those in England and Scotland. It is known from the
Torgau Statutes of 1462 that a German journeymen ‘took his mark at a solemn
admission feast’ (Pick:121). This mark could not be used until his stone had
been passed by his lodge’s warden or mentor.
In 1440 Johann Gutenberg set up his printing press in Mainz.
Thus begun a revolution that was to give great thrust to the just emerging
Renaissance. The movement was to bring great changes, including to masonry.
It was in 1452 that Jacob Dotzinger succeeded in uniting the
mason lodges of Germany into a general or ‘Grand Lodge’ (Cryer:17), and was
nominated as Grand Master. Its statues and regulations were written in 1459,
gaining absolute status in 1498, when they were approved by the Holy Roman
Emperor Maximillian I. Regulation 26 stated that ‘the Master shall, within 14
days of his becoming a Fellow, deliver to the new Craftsman his mark or token’,
provided he passed a warden’s examination.
The Renaissance in Germany was greatly boosted in 1517, when
Martin Luther began the Protestant reformation. Masons were to move away from
central Roman Catholic direction, building types were to change and the whole
industry and its organisation was to evolve.
In the 1600’s it is definite that the steinmetzen free of his
apprenticeship was formally admitted into his lodge, as a Fellow Craft, with an
obligation ceremony. He was then given his mark, which he had to pledge never to
alter. He would then work for a master. The mark allowed verification of work
done, important for pay day.
For the English to argue that the Scots "... are not pertinent
to the history of masonry suggests a perverse determination to reject evidence
which is unwelcome because it shows that these elements emerge in Scotland and
not England!" (Stevenson:50).
The Templar influence in Scotland was significant and rather
concentrated. This was because on the eve of the French betrayal of the Knights
Templars, 13 Oct 1307, the whole Templar Atlantic fleet, forewarned,
disappeared, together with most of the Templar treasure and old documents. It
has recently been proved that most of it sailed to Scotland (Baigent: 63-76),
which was at that time excommunicated by the Pope, and beyond his power to
invade. They landed on the Irish coast side.
The Templar’s speciality of warfare and the great wealth they
commanded brought them instant acceptance, and so began a new chapter in
Scotland’s evolution. Of particular note to us is the Templar building skills
and organisation; although not yet proven there can be little doubt that they
had significant input to Scottish building abilities, and gave firmness to mason
lodges already established. Where there was a lodge there was the use of mason
marks. The Temple was in Scotland, of course, long before its destruction in
1307. Kilwinning lodge, probably the oldest organised in Scotland, claims to
have begun in 1140, with the start of the building of Kilwinning Abbey. This was
in the same region in which the fleeing French Templars were later to land. The
situation is a thought-provoking one.
The English had a habit of invading Scotland. In the period
being discussed this began with Edward 1’s invasion of 1300. The Battle of
Bannockburn followed in 1314, and there were wars in 1334, 1355, 1388, 1448 and
1496. The renown Battle of Flodden occurred in 1513. All this turmoil and
destruction had great effects regarding masonry. Operative mason lodges were
often disorganised, with members drafted for war service, buildings were
wrecked, and there was an on-going rebuilding need. But from the viewpoint of
Masonic history the destruction and loss of old documents is crucial. Scottish
Freemasons find it almost impossible to prove their ancient lineage and systems
because the English systematically looted, burnt or carried off all and any
documents they could find. Others were hidden and never recovered. The country
remains virtually gutted of old documents.
Scotland was to change. The Reformation began in 1528, and in
1560, under the influence of John Knox, the Protestant Church of Scotland was
founded. The Renaissance had reached Scotland, with the usual effects on masons.
William Schaw, who was given by the Crown the title of ‘general
warden’ of all Scots masons, in 1598 set forth his first set of Statutes, These
were to be observed by ‘all master masonries with this realme’ (Stevenson: 34).
He began them by stating that they were a collection of all the good ordinances
made by their predecessors. These he put into a systematic codex, but there is
little doubt that, if for no other reason than the different customs held by
various operative lodges - which included the offices of wardens and deacons -
some rationalisation occurred. Never-the-less he stated that lodges should in
general continue with their old statutes and ways.
Schaw ruled that on being taken on apprentices had to be booked
- ‘orderlie buikit’ - with his master’s lodge. When he had shown his worth he
was to be ‘entered’ on the apprenticeship roll, and bound to his master for at
least seven years. The mason then usually had to work - for pay - for another
seven. After this he could be made a ‘brother and fellow in craft’
(Stevenson:35). However, in Scotland a ‘fellow’ was also a master. Upon becoming
a fellow his mason’s mark (Pick:212) was officially placed in a mark
registration book. There remains no copy of a grade or mark ceremony from this
time, although there are ‘hints’ (Stevenson:50) of ceremonies. In view of the
extensive Templar influence in Scotland, however, and the general practice
elsewhere, there probably was one. Certainly their existence is known of not
much later.
What is clear, however, according to Springett (50), the first
statutes ‘mark the arrival of the modern type of lodge’.
Urban masons in Scotland - as in England - were often lumped
together with other trades in an incorporated body. Incorporation brought
privileges and status; but through it burgh authorities had control. It did not
suit the mason, because they wanted to go their traditional ways. It also did
not fit well with masons because many were itinerant, and were lost in big
multi-purpose bodies.
It appears, however, that the Schaw Statutes brought to many
masons an opportunity to form or consolidate (Stevenson:36) discrete lodges, in
ways that put them outside of the control of the burghs. They could meet outside
burgh boundaries (eg, the ‘open fields and hills’) or argue their way around
officials.
Anticipating or following the first Schaw Statute masons, for
example, brought forth the lodge of Aitchison’s Haven in 1599, the minute books
of which, amazingly, are still extant. In that year marks are shown as
registered (Jones:532). Note also that the oldest surviving minute of The Lodge
of Edinburgh (Mary’s Chapel), 1599, is signed by the warden and attested to by
his mark. Like all the others it was then an operative lodge, but included some
speculatives. For example the Laird of Auchinleck attested to a 1600 minute of
the lodge with his mark.
It was in 1650 that Cromwell’s English army invaded Scotland,
bringing the usual destruction of property, records and society, this time with
Puritan zeal. Never-the-less the now invigorated lodge system survived. It had,
also, the usual extra work to attend to.
By 1670 the ancient Lodge of Aberdeen consisted of 3/4
speculatives and 1/4 operatives (Pick:212). Membership lists include marks. The
mark system there had been a permanent part of operative usage, and was
continuing on unaltered in the transition to speculative masonry.
It was in 1707 that the English Act of Union forced Scotland to
join with England. The disastrous defeat at Culloden in 1774 sealed Scotland’s
fate; but the Scottish lodges continued. Most English Masonic writers, however,
act as though they consider all things Scottish - and Stuart - inferior, and
since the Union Scottish lodge history and importance has been so relegated.
Never-the-less the Scottish system grew and flourished; for example, in 1982 one
in eighteen Scottish adult males (Henderson:414) were Freemasons.
The speculative Mark Degree, though doubtlessly older, can be
proved to have been worked in Scotland in a recognisable Masonic form
(Draffen:52) by Lodge St John, of Banff, in 1778. Thereafter evidence is
abundant.
A Bro T Whytehead (Cryer 25) said that in 1883 he had visited
an operative workshop being used for the restoration of York Minster. He noticed
that the overseer had traced on a tracing board a structure to be replaced and
had placed on each traced stone the mark of the mason who was to prepare it.
The clerk of works of Truro Cathedral, it was noticed in 1886,
recorded the marks (Brindal:34) of masons he supervised who were building at
various places in Truro
Bro Mike Dundas, now of South Australia, at a lecture delivered
in 1997 noted that he had been an operative mason on Portland Island, England.
There was no operative lodge and no ceremony, but on his becoming an apprentice
the supervisor gave him a set of tools - some of which he exhibited - each
marked with a form of his initials. He had to use that mark on the base of every
stone he prepared.
In 1991 a well known South Australian Mark Master, originally
from England, reported to this historian that he had belonged to an English
operative lodge, and had been given his mark at a most formal ceremony.
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London, 1989.
Baigent, et al: The Holy Blood And The Holy Grail,
Corgi, London, 1983.
Brindal, K: ‘The Mason Mark’, in Masonic Research In South
Australia 1990 - 1994 Vol 1, SA Lodge of Research, Adelaide, 1995.
Cryer, N: The Arch And The Rainbow, Lewis, Addlestone,
1996.
Draffen, G: ‘The Mark Degree’, in GL of Scotland Year
Book, Edinburgh, 1995.
Dundas, M: Lecture, Adelaide, 12 Sep 97.
Gardner, L: Bloodline Of The Holy Grail, Element,
Shaftsbury, 1996.
Gould, F: ‘Some Notes On The Mark Degree’, 1955, in GL of
Scotland Year Book, Edinburgh, 1971.
Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of England..., Year
Book 1997-98, London, 1997.
Grantham, J: History of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master
Masons of England..., GL of MMM, London, 1960.
Hancock, G: The Sign And The Seal, Mandarin, London,
1993.
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Lodge os Mark Master Masons Of England..., GL of MMM, London, 1996.
Henderson, K: Masonic World Guide, Lewis, Shepperton,
1984.
Knoop, D & Jones, G: The Mediaeval Mason, Manchester
UP, Manchester, 1993.
Newton, E: ‘The Mark Degree. in AQC Vol 72,
Quator Coronati Lodge, London, 1964.
Pick, F & Knight, N: The Pocket History Of
Freemasonry, Muller, London, 7th Ed, 1983.
Springett, B: The Mark Degree, Lewis, London, 1946.
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1590 - 1710, Cambridge UP, 1988.
Turnbull, R & Denslow, R: A History of Royal Arch
Masonry, Trenton MO, 1995.
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