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Article THE DERIVATION OF FREEMASON. ← Page 2 of 4 →
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The Derivation Of Freemason.
inflated ignorance had thrown around the question , but more than this I do not apprehend that any of us can safely aver . True it is that the old derivation of " Massos , " "Mesouraneo , " " Free Stone , " & c , are given up now by our more cautious and more
critical school , but yet so much is as yet undiscovered as regards the early conditions of Craft Gild-life , —so much remains in a seemingly hopeless haze and obscurity , that I for one am not prepared to speak without hesitation in any degree on the subject , much less to accept for one moment the inexpert dogmatism of others .
I have thought it , therefore , a seasonable opportunity with this " neAV series " of the magazine to seek to ascertain the amount of our scholarly and safe information on the subject , premising , as I lay such result before my readers , that it is impossible , in my opinion , to speak decidedly or definitely as yet on a matter of so
much difficulty . As Free-Mason is a compound Avord , let us try in the fust place to ascertain what we know of the component parts , and then perhaps we may arrive at a possible and probable definition and derivation of the Avord . First as to Mason .
Much difference of opinion exists , as is well known , as to the derivation of " Mason . " Some like to derive it from the Scythian " mossyn , " a house ; some from " machio , " said to be Low Latin for Mason ; some from " machina , " some from " maceria , " a stone AA all . Roquefort derives Macon from " mansio , " and hence the modern
French "maison ; " though , to say the truth , " maceria " seems the reasonable origin and has the high authority of Ducange . Maceria was properly a stone wall surrounding an enclosure of ground , a park , or a garden , and does not seem to have had classically any other meaning . Indeed , as I have often before observed , the words for Mason in classic times seem to have been " lapicida , " a stone-cutter ,
from the lapicidinae , stone quarries ; and just as " cementarius " seems to have been the earlier , " latomus " is the later monastic use . The Romans used the word "lautumite , latomias , " stone quarries , from laas and temno , but do not appear to have recognized " latomus " or " lautomus " at all .
" Mansio , " which originally signified a " remaining " or " staying , " was afterAvards applied to houses of entertainment , inns , houses of call , houses of refreshment , houses of imjDrisonment for slaves , summer and winter " niansiones , " hence our Avord mansion . There have been those Avho thought they could derive Macon from
" maca , " Anglo-Saxon for a socins or companion , and Lessing talks of '" masonei , " " masoney , " " massonei , " and , if I remember rightly , " maconia , " but Avithout authority .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Derivation Of Freemason.
inflated ignorance had thrown around the question , but more than this I do not apprehend that any of us can safely aver . True it is that the old derivation of " Massos , " "Mesouraneo , " " Free Stone , " & c , are given up now by our more cautious and more
critical school , but yet so much is as yet undiscovered as regards the early conditions of Craft Gild-life , —so much remains in a seemingly hopeless haze and obscurity , that I for one am not prepared to speak without hesitation in any degree on the subject , much less to accept for one moment the inexpert dogmatism of others .
I have thought it , therefore , a seasonable opportunity with this " neAV series " of the magazine to seek to ascertain the amount of our scholarly and safe information on the subject , premising , as I lay such result before my readers , that it is impossible , in my opinion , to speak decidedly or definitely as yet on a matter of so
much difficulty . As Free-Mason is a compound Avord , let us try in the fust place to ascertain what we know of the component parts , and then perhaps we may arrive at a possible and probable definition and derivation of the Avord . First as to Mason .
Much difference of opinion exists , as is well known , as to the derivation of " Mason . " Some like to derive it from the Scythian " mossyn , " a house ; some from " machio , " said to be Low Latin for Mason ; some from " machina , " some from " maceria , " a stone AA all . Roquefort derives Macon from " mansio , " and hence the modern
French "maison ; " though , to say the truth , " maceria " seems the reasonable origin and has the high authority of Ducange . Maceria was properly a stone wall surrounding an enclosure of ground , a park , or a garden , and does not seem to have had classically any other meaning . Indeed , as I have often before observed , the words for Mason in classic times seem to have been " lapicida , " a stone-cutter ,
from the lapicidinae , stone quarries ; and just as " cementarius " seems to have been the earlier , " latomus " is the later monastic use . The Romans used the word "lautumite , latomias , " stone quarries , from laas and temno , but do not appear to have recognized " latomus " or " lautomus " at all .
" Mansio , " which originally signified a " remaining " or " staying , " was afterAvards applied to houses of entertainment , inns , houses of call , houses of refreshment , houses of imjDrisonment for slaves , summer and winter " niansiones , " hence our Avord mansion . There have been those Avho thought they could derive Macon from
" maca , " Anglo-Saxon for a socins or companion , and Lessing talks of '" masonei , " " masoney , " " massonei , " and , if I remember rightly , " maconia , " but Avithout authority .