Masonic Symbolism,

derived the word pvcrar , one who keeps silence ; and the letters u and a being similar in form , and not very dissimilar in sound , Muson may easily have become Mason . "We will now turn to the antagonistic term Cowan , about the origin and definition of which conjecture runs

wilder even than about Mason . "We are told and know that a Mason is a just and perfect man , and the brother of kings ; consequently , we at once find out what a Cowan is not , he being in all things the reverse of a Mason . One interpretation is that it is a slang term among Freemasons , meaning any one opposed to them , and is said to

"be derived from "Chouan . " "The Chouans were Eoyalists during the French Eevolution , and most determined and inveterate enemies of the Charitables . They were w orse than eaves-droppers to the Masons , who originated the Eevolution . Hence , probably , all ojmosers of Masons

were afterwards designated by the term Chouan , pronouncing the ch like k " . ( Ritual of Freemasonry , p . 69 , America , 1835 ) . r \ ow , this would not be a bad idea , if it were not for one or two rather important errora ; first , the appellation Cowan has existed for a much longer period than that alluded to , the Ereneh Eevolution onl y

breaking out in August , 1792 ; and , according to Alex . Dumas , the origin of the term Ckoiuai is as follows : — " The Chouan confederacy arose in Morbihan . It was near Laval that Peter Cottereau and . Jean Mbyne dwelt , whose four sons were called the Chouan brothers . One

of their ancestors , a , misanthropic wood-cutter , a discontented peasant , kept himself apart from the other peasants as a screech-owl withdraws itself from the communing of birds : from the mime of screech-owl , ehat-huant , the name Chouan was derived . " This , then , plainly is not its ori gin used by Masons , as we find , in the song , " Once I was blind , and could not see , " published in the 17 th . eenturr , the follovvin . "' lines : —

Then round and round mc ce did tie A noble antienc charm , All future darkness to defy And ward off Cowan ' s harm . And again in another song called " Hail Sacred Art , " published in The JS eir Jiooh Constitutions , sanctioned by

the Grand Lodge of Ireland , Dublin , 1870 . . "No human ore thy beauties see , But Masons justly tone and free , Inspired by each heavenly spur !; , " Whilst Con-ans labour in ' tiie dark . JJr . Olliverin a note to his Historical Landmarks of

, Freemasonry , says : —' Erom the affair of Tephtha an Ephraimite was termed a Cowan . " In E gypt , " Cohen " was the title of a priest , or prince , and a term of honour . Bryant , speaking of the harpies , says , they were Priests of the Sun ; and as Cohen was the name of a dog as well

as a priest , they are termed by Apollonius "Dogs of Jove . " An old American brother , who was taught the noble Craft by Bro . Colonel Burr , told me that Cowan was an old English word , and meant a " snake in the grass , " but he could give no etymology ; this may be the conventional meaning of the word , but it appears strange that the American Masons should ( their first lodge being

founded 30 th April , 1 / 33 , under a warrant from the Grand Lodge of England ) have preserved this knowledge when the parent loclge has lost it . In the ancient charges it is stated that " A Master or ffellow mak not a moulde stone square nor rule to no Lowen , nor sett no Lowen work within the Lodge nor wit bout to no moulde

stone . " This , no doubt , should be Cowan . A friend in Scotland writes to me that , at this very time ( 1860 ) , " Cowan is a term of ridicule and reproach used toward a man who does not quite understand his business , especial !} ' amongst working masons , when any of their

number has not served an apprenticeship to the trade . " Loon , or louu , as it is also spelt , means a raggamuffin , base person , a sorry fellow . Thus , Scott uses the expressions " a traitor loun , " " a base loon . " Clown also means a coarse , ill-bred , uneducated person , and is found used in a similar manner to loun , as , " a base clown , " and , in fact , appear to be only different ways of spelling the same word : thus , the "Lowen" mentioned in 1572 ,

apparently is the same as the Cowan of I 860 ; and the ancient MSS . from which I have before quoted says—That no mayster , for favour ny drede , Sehal no fchef now ther clothe ny fede . Thevcs he schal herbcron never won , rJy hym that hath y-gucllucle a mon , ' Ny thylko that hath a febul name

, . best hyfc wolde turn tho craft to schame . "Cowan , " saysa writer in the EBEEMASOK ' S MAGAZINE ( " iSTotes and Queries" ) , "is not of Hebrew , Greek , Latin , Arabic , Teutonic , or Eronch origin ; nor have we , so far as 1 can make out , evidence of its use in Freemasonry

before the era of Masonic excellence in Scotland , where the word is still vernacular , but not to my knowledge in any sense similar to ours , except in the west of Scotland , as a slang term of reproach applied to black sheep , knobsticks , or degenerate political and trade unionists ; and I deem it not improbable that this use of it is rather the derivatve than author of the Masonic sense of Cowan . "

In " ' Mob lloyf Sir " Walter Scott makes Allan Iveraeh say -. — "' She'll , speak her mind svnrl fear neabody : she does not value a Cawinell mair as a Cowan , and ye may tell M'Callum more—that Allan Iveraeh . said sae ; " and from Major Galbraiih ' s reply , "There ' s a bloody debt due by that family , and they will pay it some day . There nere was treason in Scotland but a Cawinell was at

the bottom of it . " The sense of Cowan may be inferred . J 3 ro . Matthew Cooke , also writing on this subject , gives the following extract from An Flynwloyical Dictionary of tlie Scottish Language , by John Jamieson , TJ . T ) . " Cowan , s . —1 . A term of contempt , applied to one who does the work of a Mason , but has not been

regularly bred ( Scottish ) . 2 . Also used to denote one who builds dry walls , otherwise denominated a dry-diker . " A boat carpenter , joiner , Cowan , or builder of stone without mortar , get Is . at the minimum and good maintenance : ( F . Morven , Arqylean . Statist . Acct . ) Cowan ' s

masons , who build dry stone dykes or walls . In the Stiis-G ' oiliic , or ancient language of Sweden , it is Jcujon , or hug ' hon , a silly fellow— " homineni imbellum , et cujus capiti omncs tuto illudunt kujou appellare moris est . "