Grand Mark Lodge.

Grand Mark Lodge .

"The prevyste of the chamber telle he no nioti Ne vn the loggo whalsever they done Whatsevc-r thou heryst , or sysle hem do Tell it no mini , whatsever thou go . " THUS in the quaint phrasing of the days of yore the

aspiring apprentice was addressed by the Master of his " logge , " and , unfamiliar as may sound the diction to the ear of the twentieth century Mason , the sentiments therein expressed remain unaltered yesterday , to-day , and for ever . It is not , however , our present purpose to discuss this or

that ritual or the antiquity of the Craft in general , but in as few words as nitty be , to give a resume of the history of that most ancient branch of Freemasonry known to us as the Mark Master ' s Degree , together with a few details of its life and home .

James the Sixth of Scotland had not yet been called to the British Throne , and good Queen Bess still stretched ; m iron hand across the world when we find our lirst record of the Degree . The Master of Works to Jamie the King , an official of the Court , whose name , William Schaw , has

been handed down to our times , ordered , in the year 159 8 , that " the marks of till masons be inserted in their work . " Here , then , is ample proof that it was in that day a recognised custom for every craftsman ' s work to be so

marked that the overseer should have tit hand an e . isy method of identification . These old marks are still to be found in all their quaint simplicity 011 many of the cathedral walls of this country ,

and apparently , although it is by no means a rule , they were chiselled on the face of the work in order that they might be recognised and checked after

the stone was p laced in position . In spite of this fact , we know but little of the life and labour of our brethren of the Mark until the incoming of the seventeenth century ; at this epoch we

have authentic record that Mark Masonry was alive and nourishing , since we find that the Mother Kilwinning Lodge made members choose their marks , and not only so , but charged them a fee of four shillings for so doing .

The next interesting record comes down to us , not only with the year clearly stated , but with till the authentic glory of the month and the day of the month . On January 7 th , 177 H ,

there was held a most important meeting of the Banff Operative Lodge , a body evidently properly organised and possessed of a list of qualilied officers . At this convocation a resolution was

passed in the following terms : — "That in time coming till members that shall hereafter raise to the Degree of Mark Mason shall pay one uteri ; Seals , but not to obtain the Degree of Mark Mason before they are passed Fellow Craft , and those that

shall take the Degree of Mark Master Mason shall pay < i // t ' shilling mill sixpence sterling unto the Treasurer for behoof of the Lodge . None to attain to the Degree of Mark Master Mason until the } - are raised Master . " This resolution is interesting in many ways , but three

illustrations will suffice . In the lirst place it must be remembered that in the year of grace 1778 , the schoolmaster had hardly commenced bis peregrinations , and we may therefore be warranted in supposing that men of a higher class than the ordinary operative had already taken the Degree and worked hand in hand with their more bumble

brethren ; in the second place the difference in the calling of the fees leads one to the same conclusion , seeing that the operative ' s fee was quoted in "Scots" and the higher grade in " Sterling " currency , and thirdly it distinctly and absolutely settles once and for till the relative positions in the Lodge of Mark Man or Mason and Mark Master . The operative or

Fellow Craft in order to be able to " mark , " his work was forced to take the Degree and pay the fee of a Mark Man , whilst the foreman or overseer only could attain to the higher grade . Thus Mark Masonry , as a separate institution from the Craft , graduall y spread itself quietly and silentl y doing the work laid out for it , until we come to the momentous period in Masonic history when the rival Grand Lodge

H . W . liltO . CHARLES EITZGKHAEIl MATIER , P . G . W ., GRAND SECRETARY .