The Mark Man

This is about what I refer to as the poor relation of craft Masonry, and I’m referring to the Mark Master Mason’s degree so called. If you have the time, the money and the inclination to travel, you could take a trip around North America and Europe, including the UK and get yourself well over 100 degrees, all ostensibly under the umbrella of Freemasonry. Of course when you get home again you would probably have to build another room on to your house to hold all your regalia. But it shows how much the fraternity has expanded over the last few hundred years when you consider that there were only two degrees to start with.

There were only two degrees when speculative Freemasonry originated back in the early sixteen hundreds, or even the late fifteen hundreds, not 1717 as some would have us believe, that was the date of the first Grand Lodge, not the origin of speculative Freemasonry.

The two degrees were the EA and FC degrees

In an EA lodge the degree consisted of questions and answers, or a catechism as some prefer to call it, which was more extensive then than the one we use today, and instructive lectures. The vehicle used to carry the moral and spiritual message of operative craft Masonry was, as it is today, the building of King Solomon’s Temple. Both pillars, B and J, which stood at the P or E of King Solomon’s Temple were included in the Entered Apprentice degree. All apprentices had to have their names entered in the trade register of apprentice masons, hence the term Entered Apprentice. The Fellowcraft lodge consisted of Fellowcraft masons and master masons. The Fellowcrafts or fellows of the craft to give them their proper title, were also known as journeymen masons. They were the men who cut and shaped the stones and built them into the construction. The master masons were the more skilled masons who did the intricate carving and lettering on the stones, so there was a distinction between Fellowcraft masons and master masons. There was also another master mason who could, and probably did, attend lodge, he was the employer or Master Builder, because everybody worked for the master in those days and the term boss hadn’t been invented, and although the Master Builder and both master masons and Fellowcraft masons were equal in lodge, outside the lodge they were employer and employees. There was no Worshipful Master at that time, he came later, and the lodge was run and controlled by the Deacon or Warden who’s gavel for keeping order was a maul.

The degree consisted of questions and answers and instructive lectures as in the entered apprentice lodge but it also incorporated other ceremonies. There was of course the ceremony of making an entered apprentice into a fellow of the craft, and communication of the mason word, and there was only one word, not two as is done in some lodges today. The word was communicated on the FPOF as it is today but in two parts as we do B and J and the legend of Hiram Abiff was not included in the ceremony, that also came later. There was also another ceremony in which the Fellowcrafts selected their personal mark which was entered in the book of marks. This was an essential part of being a journeyman mason because the mark was the means by which the Mason and his work were known and recognized, for fairly obvious reasons, and wherever the journeyman travelled, his mark travelled with him. There are other reasons for selecting the mark but you have to become a Mark Man to learn what these other reasons are. Every Fellowcrft mason, operative or speculative, is entitled to select his mark and should always have the opportunity available for him to do so.

As time went on and with the introduction of speculative members in operative lodges the two degrees were broken up and extended into four craft degrees, not three as is the popular belief. That belief seems to have sprung from the UGLE’s spurious claim that there are only three degrees in craft Masonry. Under the jurisdiction of the Antient and Accepted Right of Scottish Freemasonry which is the predominant rite in Scotland, the four degrees are conferred in the craft lodges so that the mark master mason degree is included as well as the other three. There are of course, York and Emulation rite lodges in Scotland who only confer three degrees, so the Masons in those lodges are obliged to join the Royal Arch so that they can get their Mark degree. So there are two opportunities to get your mark in Scotland, in certain craft lodges and the Royal Arch. In England the predominant rite is the Emulation rite, and for whatever reason, the Rev. John Anderson and Dr. J T Desaguliers, both prominent Freemasons at the time, failed to include the Mark ceremony when he formulated the Cons and Regs for the UGLE, so obviously the English Masons have to join the Royal Arch if they want to get their Mark degree. There is also however, the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of England and Wales who confer two degrees. The Mark and The Royal Ark Mariners degrees. The Mark ritual #1 is a considerable ceremony, the Royal Ark Mariners degree on the other hand is quite short and deals with Noah and his sons who had no connection with King Solomon’s Temple or any other temple for that matter, but is a very nice and informative degree.

It is worth noting that Noah and his sons played a very important part in the moral and spiritual teachings in operative craft masonry, as did the prophet Enoch, but you hear little or nothing of them these days. The Royal Ark Mariners degree has been around in one form or another since the early seventeen hundreds, and no doubt before that. So, in England you also have two opportunities to get your Mark degree.

Over here in North America there is only one opportunity and that is by joining a Royal Arch chapter, which seems to work very well except here in central Alberta where Royal Arch chapters are few and far between so one has got to be prepared to do some travelling to be a Royal Arch Mason. The Royal Arch is the natural progression of York rite Masonry so I am somewhat surprised that there is a shortage of chapters here in Alberta. The selection of the mark is the right of every Fellowcraft Mason and is the completion of the Fellowcraft degree, and the Royal Arch degree is often expressed as the completion of the Master Mason degree, so if any Master Mason is considering progressing further in York or Canadian rite Masonry and completing his craft degrees here in North America, then the holy Royal Arch of Jerusalem is the way to go. So, I’m sure you can see from the foregoing that the Mark Master Mason degree which should rightfully be a part of the FC degree has been bandied about and ignored, forgotten, excluded and even denied, so perhaps you can understand why I call this very important and essential degree the poor relation of craft Masonry.

W Br. Bill Douglas Kenilworth Lodge #29