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Article MARK MASONRY AT BRADFORD. ← Page 2 of 3 Article MARK MASONRY AT BRADFORD. Page 2 of 3 →
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Mark Masonry At Bradford.
magnificent work on Freemasonry , has devoted one of his most interesting chapters to the subject of Masons' Marks , and given numbers of illustrations of their infinite varieties . From the most remote times of antiquity Operative Masons appear to have observed the strict
practice of making the selection of a mark a special feature of their organisations . Amongst the most ancient ruins are found the marks of those Craftsmen by whom the edifices were originally erected . Many investigators have argued and striven to prove that these marks possessor ! more
signification than a mere identification of individual work . They have asserted that they bore a mystical meaning , a hidden language , and that much religions symbolism was concealed beneath their deeply indented outlines . Whether this be so or not is , however , quite uncertain , and is likely
yet to remain an enigma . Yet the selection of similar marks tends to show that the building sodalities of all ages have had more or less intercommunication ; that Masonic Operative Societies have borrowed from one another , even if they have not been lineally descended , and that kindred
ideas and teachings have led to the choice of the same symbolic marks wherever the stonehewer's art has been practised and cherished in a systematic manner . Many of those present will be aware that in the far east , equally with the distant west , are to be found the individual and distinctive marks of the skilful Masons whose hands cut and
placed the stones that now stand recoi'ds of their ability . From the foundations of the Temple of Solomon , from the Round Towers of Ireland , from the classical ruins of Italy , and from the wrecked temples of Central America ; from the remains of the cities of Northern Africa , and from the
glorious monastic rains of the British Islands , have been gathered thousands of Masons' marks , multitudes of them exhibiting analogous features , and speaking to us in silent language of the achievements of those marvellons artists whose names and histories have for centuries been lost in
the efflux of time . Yet even in the days in which we live the Operative Masons carry out the very same practice : " ) and in their work of to-day may be seen the very identical usages that characterised their predecessors who wrought with mallet and chisel upon the palaces and temples of
prehistoric times . Bro . Cumberland , of York , some few years ago drew my attention to the fact that in the restoration works of the Cathedral of York the Masons were making use of marks many of which were of a character and class well known in Speculative Masonry , and in his company I ¦
visited the workshop ( alias ' Lodge" ) where the stone cutting was in progress . Here we found the Overseer superintending his Craftsmen . The drawing or tracing board , hearing the design for the intended structure , was placed upon the table . Each stone was thereon distinctly
marked out to scale , and each section bore the mark of the Craftsman to whose hands was entrusted the duty of its execution . Thus , a glance at the tracing board was
sufficient to indicate to each Craftsman his work , the rule being that upon the completion of a stone the executant's mark was placed thereon as his sign manual in proof of his claim to payment .
The resemblance between the marks of the Operative Masons of the present day , those of the mediaeval periods , and those of the very far distant past are most curious , and must be more than merely accidental . Marks , for instance , have been found done in red ochre in portions of the Great
Pyramid identical with others now to be seen on the stones of some of our English churches . On the very foundation stones of Solomon ' s Temple are marks again , facsimiles of which in miniature are found in several of our English Cathedrals . Many persons have devoted much time and
pains to the collection and comparison of Masons' marks , and these often seem to agree that the marks had a significance more than mere identification of work ; and it is not only possible , but perfectly probable , that the moral lessons conveyed to the Craftsmen in the secret recesses of
their Lodges or guild houses found perpetuation , ancl were darkly shadowed forth by the chisel ' s edge on the surface of their work . The Rev . R . M . Musgrave , who investigated the different varieties of marks on St . Nicholas
Church , at Yarmouth , expressed an opinion that the different grades of Masons conld be distinguished by the marks , and that the strictly Masonic marks were probably those of tbe artists of advanced skill . This is not an
unlikely supposition , and somewhat coincides with the present legends of the Mark Degree , as well as the experiences of practical builders who have exercised their powers of observation .
Mark Masonry At Bradford.
Mr . George Godwin tells us that in the books of the Bricklayers' and Tylers' Company , circa 1580 , those who signed the book were in the habit of using a mark , the name being written on the side of it , and the marks selected being of a Masonic character .
As a sample of how the same mark occurs at different places and dates , Mr . Godwin tells us that he found the hourglass mark on the stones on the site of Ancient Carthage , Hastings Castle , the Cathedral at Geneva , Lausanne Cathedral , on Turkish ruins in Lycia , Kirkstall ,
ancl Roche Abbeys , Furnace Abbey , Gloucester Cathedral , Malmesbnry Abbey , Setnbal ( Portugal ) , Santarem ( Portugal ) , Lincoln aud York Cathedrals , Kenilworth
Gateway , Salamanca ( Spain ) , Canterbury Cathedral ; and I may add that it is common upon the foundation stones of St . Mary ' s Abbey , York , and on the Walls of Fountains Abbey .
Again , the Pentalpha , or Solomon ' s Seal , he found in the Holy Land , Malraesbary and Furness Abbeys , Dunstable Church , Steyning Church , in Suffolk ; Geneva and Gloucester Cathedrals , Lincoln Cathedral , and St . Mary ' s Abbey , York ; York Chapter House , Fountains Abbey ,
Strasburg Cathedral , York and Glasgow Cathedrals , in several Spanish Cathedrals . This mark I have noticed on almost every building where marks remain , and both these marks , the Hourglass and Pentalpha , are now in use amongst the Operative Masons employed on York Cathedral .
In Mr . Street's account of Gothic architecture in Spain will be found a good deal of information respecting Masons ' Marks , and the deductions the author makes respecting the numbers of workmen employed are interesting . In the present day , as in the past , the man who works the stone
is not usually the man who places it in the building , and the cutter consequently p laces his mark on the inside , so that it is lost when the stone is cemented into the structure , the builder placing bis mark on the outside afterwards . There can be little doubt that the similarity of these signs
from the very earliest times points to a continuity of Masonic teaching and guild organisation from age to age . As to the varieties of the marks represented , these ancient builders seem to have laid under contribution many
sources . Not only did they select figures representing implements of their trade , natural objects , weapons , and tools conveying lessons of moral teaching , but the alphabets of many languages were also requisitioned to furnish designs for their marks .
Possibly you may say that this is all very well , very true , and very interesting ; but what has it to do with the Speculative Mark Masonry of the present day ? I reply that it has as much connection with it as the Craft
Operative Masonry of the Middle Ages has to do with our Speculative working of the nineteenth century . That Masons' marks were adopted by the earliest speculative Masons of which we have any record , no one will deny who has any pretensions to Masonic knowledge . It is in
the old Lodge records of Scotland , at a time when Operative and Speculative Masonry appear to have been in process of merging , that we find the selection of marks to have been an invariable practice amongst those candidates who were admitted into the Order . The Lodge in Aberdeen
working in 1670 kept very careful registers of its members , and in these we find a long series of names of brethren to each of which is appended his mark . These have beeu extracted by Bro . W . J . Hughan , of Truro , and are given in Gould ' s History . Amongst them we find noblemen ,
professional men , tradesmen , and a few Operative Masons , showing that even at that date the Lodges were both Operative and Speculative . In some of the older Lodge records in England we find marks appended to the names of members , and in the records of the Grand Lodge at
York the Mark cypher occasionally occurs . The Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland has officially declared that— " In this country , from Time Immemorial , and long before the institution of the Grand Lodge of Scotland ( whioh was in 1736 ) what is now known as the Mark
Master ' s Degree was wrought by the Operative Lodges of St . John ' s Masonry . " Mark Masonry , in some form , was worked during the later portion , at any rate , of last century in many Craft Lodges in England . Iu those days it was a generally
accepted doctrine that any degree could be leg itimately worked in any Blue Lodge under the authority of the Craft Warrant , and it is quite manifest that at tbe Union of the Athol and Modern Lodges in 1813 there must have been many sticklers for such license , since the Second
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Mark Masonry At Bradford.
magnificent work on Freemasonry , has devoted one of his most interesting chapters to the subject of Masons' Marks , and given numbers of illustrations of their infinite varieties . From the most remote times of antiquity Operative Masons appear to have observed the strict
practice of making the selection of a mark a special feature of their organisations . Amongst the most ancient ruins are found the marks of those Craftsmen by whom the edifices were originally erected . Many investigators have argued and striven to prove that these marks possessor ! more
signification than a mere identification of individual work . They have asserted that they bore a mystical meaning , a hidden language , and that much religions symbolism was concealed beneath their deeply indented outlines . Whether this be so or not is , however , quite uncertain , and is likely
yet to remain an enigma . Yet the selection of similar marks tends to show that the building sodalities of all ages have had more or less intercommunication ; that Masonic Operative Societies have borrowed from one another , even if they have not been lineally descended , and that kindred
ideas and teachings have led to the choice of the same symbolic marks wherever the stonehewer's art has been practised and cherished in a systematic manner . Many of those present will be aware that in the far east , equally with the distant west , are to be found the individual and distinctive marks of the skilful Masons whose hands cut and
placed the stones that now stand recoi'ds of their ability . From the foundations of the Temple of Solomon , from the Round Towers of Ireland , from the classical ruins of Italy , and from the wrecked temples of Central America ; from the remains of the cities of Northern Africa , and from the
glorious monastic rains of the British Islands , have been gathered thousands of Masons' marks , multitudes of them exhibiting analogous features , and speaking to us in silent language of the achievements of those marvellons artists whose names and histories have for centuries been lost in
the efflux of time . Yet even in the days in which we live the Operative Masons carry out the very same practice : " ) and in their work of to-day may be seen the very identical usages that characterised their predecessors who wrought with mallet and chisel upon the palaces and temples of
prehistoric times . Bro . Cumberland , of York , some few years ago drew my attention to the fact that in the restoration works of the Cathedral of York the Masons were making use of marks many of which were of a character and class well known in Speculative Masonry , and in his company I ¦
visited the workshop ( alias ' Lodge" ) where the stone cutting was in progress . Here we found the Overseer superintending his Craftsmen . The drawing or tracing board , hearing the design for the intended structure , was placed upon the table . Each stone was thereon distinctly
marked out to scale , and each section bore the mark of the Craftsman to whose hands was entrusted the duty of its execution . Thus , a glance at the tracing board was
sufficient to indicate to each Craftsman his work , the rule being that upon the completion of a stone the executant's mark was placed thereon as his sign manual in proof of his claim to payment .
The resemblance between the marks of the Operative Masons of the present day , those of the mediaeval periods , and those of the very far distant past are most curious , and must be more than merely accidental . Marks , for instance , have been found done in red ochre in portions of the Great
Pyramid identical with others now to be seen on the stones of some of our English churches . On the very foundation stones of Solomon ' s Temple are marks again , facsimiles of which in miniature are found in several of our English Cathedrals . Many persons have devoted much time and
pains to the collection and comparison of Masons' marks , and these often seem to agree that the marks had a significance more than mere identification of work ; and it is not only possible , but perfectly probable , that the moral lessons conveyed to the Craftsmen in the secret recesses of
their Lodges or guild houses found perpetuation , ancl were darkly shadowed forth by the chisel ' s edge on the surface of their work . The Rev . R . M . Musgrave , who investigated the different varieties of marks on St . Nicholas
Church , at Yarmouth , expressed an opinion that the different grades of Masons conld be distinguished by the marks , and that the strictly Masonic marks were probably those of tbe artists of advanced skill . This is not an
unlikely supposition , and somewhat coincides with the present legends of the Mark Degree , as well as the experiences of practical builders who have exercised their powers of observation .
Mark Masonry At Bradford.
Mr . George Godwin tells us that in the books of the Bricklayers' and Tylers' Company , circa 1580 , those who signed the book were in the habit of using a mark , the name being written on the side of it , and the marks selected being of a Masonic character .
As a sample of how the same mark occurs at different places and dates , Mr . Godwin tells us that he found the hourglass mark on the stones on the site of Ancient Carthage , Hastings Castle , the Cathedral at Geneva , Lausanne Cathedral , on Turkish ruins in Lycia , Kirkstall ,
ancl Roche Abbeys , Furnace Abbey , Gloucester Cathedral , Malmesbnry Abbey , Setnbal ( Portugal ) , Santarem ( Portugal ) , Lincoln aud York Cathedrals , Kenilworth
Gateway , Salamanca ( Spain ) , Canterbury Cathedral ; and I may add that it is common upon the foundation stones of St . Mary ' s Abbey , York , and on the Walls of Fountains Abbey .
Again , the Pentalpha , or Solomon ' s Seal , he found in the Holy Land , Malraesbary and Furness Abbeys , Dunstable Church , Steyning Church , in Suffolk ; Geneva and Gloucester Cathedrals , Lincoln Cathedral , and St . Mary ' s Abbey , York ; York Chapter House , Fountains Abbey ,
Strasburg Cathedral , York and Glasgow Cathedrals , in several Spanish Cathedrals . This mark I have noticed on almost every building where marks remain , and both these marks , the Hourglass and Pentalpha , are now in use amongst the Operative Masons employed on York Cathedral .
In Mr . Street's account of Gothic architecture in Spain will be found a good deal of information respecting Masons ' Marks , and the deductions the author makes respecting the numbers of workmen employed are interesting . In the present day , as in the past , the man who works the stone
is not usually the man who places it in the building , and the cutter consequently p laces his mark on the inside , so that it is lost when the stone is cemented into the structure , the builder placing bis mark on the outside afterwards . There can be little doubt that the similarity of these signs
from the very earliest times points to a continuity of Masonic teaching and guild organisation from age to age . As to the varieties of the marks represented , these ancient builders seem to have laid under contribution many
sources . Not only did they select figures representing implements of their trade , natural objects , weapons , and tools conveying lessons of moral teaching , but the alphabets of many languages were also requisitioned to furnish designs for their marks .
Possibly you may say that this is all very well , very true , and very interesting ; but what has it to do with the Speculative Mark Masonry of the present day ? I reply that it has as much connection with it as the Craft
Operative Masonry of the Middle Ages has to do with our Speculative working of the nineteenth century . That Masons' marks were adopted by the earliest speculative Masons of which we have any record , no one will deny who has any pretensions to Masonic knowledge . It is in
the old Lodge records of Scotland , at a time when Operative and Speculative Masonry appear to have been in process of merging , that we find the selection of marks to have been an invariable practice amongst those candidates who were admitted into the Order . The Lodge in Aberdeen
working in 1670 kept very careful registers of its members , and in these we find a long series of names of brethren to each of which is appended his mark . These have beeu extracted by Bro . W . J . Hughan , of Truro , and are given in Gould ' s History . Amongst them we find noblemen ,
professional men , tradesmen , and a few Operative Masons , showing that even at that date the Lodges were both Operative and Speculative . In some of the older Lodge records in England we find marks appended to the names of members , and in the records of the Grand Lodge at
York the Mark cypher occasionally occurs . The Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland has officially declared that— " In this country , from Time Immemorial , and long before the institution of the Grand Lodge of Scotland ( whioh was in 1736 ) what is now known as the Mark
Master ' s Degree was wrought by the Operative Lodges of St . John ' s Masonry . " Mark Masonry , in some form , was worked during the later portion , at any rate , of last century in many Craft Lodges in England . Iu those days it was a generally
accepted doctrine that any degree could be leg itimately worked in any Blue Lodge under the authority of the Craft Warrant , and it is quite manifest that at tbe Union of the Athol and Modern Lodges in 1813 there must have been many sticklers for such license , since the Second