“There is sevrall words and signes of a free Mason to be revailed to yu wch as yu will answr. before God at the Great and terrible day of judgmt. yu keep secret and not to revaile the same to any in the heares of any p’son, but to the Mrs and fellows of the Society of Free Masons, so helpe me God, &c.” (W. H. Rylands, Mas. Mag., 1882.)
It is not yet settled who were the actual designers or architects of the grand old English cathedrals. Credit has been claimed for church dignitaries, to the exclusion more or less of the master masons, to whom presumably of right the distinction belonged. In early days the title “architect” is not met with, unless the term “Ingenator” had that meaning, which is doubtful. As to this interesting question, and as to the subject of building generally, an historical account of Master and Free Masons (Discourses upon Architecture in England, by the Rev. James Dallaway, 1833), and Notes on the Superintendents of English Buildings in the Middle Ages (by Wyatt Papworth, 1887), should be consulted. Both writers were non-masons. The former observes: “The honour due to the original founders of these edifices is almost invariably transferred to the ecclesiastics under whose patronage they rose, rather than to the skill and design of the master mason, or professional architect, because the only historians were monks.... They were probably not so well versed in geometrical science as the master masons, for mathematics formed a part of monastic learning in a very limited degree.” In the Journal of Proceedings R.I.B.A. vol. iv. (1887), a skilful critic (W. H. White) declares that Papworth, in that valuable collection of facts, has contrived to annihilate all the professional idols of the century, setting up in their place nothing except the master mason. The brotherhood of Bridge-builders,[5] that travelled far and wide to build bridges, and the travelling bodies of Freemasons,[6] he believes never existed; nor was William of Wykeham the designer of the colleges attributed to him. It seems well-nigh impossible to disprove the statements made by Papworth, because they are all so well grounded on attested facts; and the attempt to connect the Abbey of Cluny, or men trained at Cluny, with the original or preliminary designs of the great buildings erected during the middle ages, at least during the 12th and 13th centuries, is also a failure. The whole question is ably and fully treated in the History of Freemasonry by Robert Freke Gould (1886-1887), particularly in chapter vi. on “Medieval Operative Masonry,” and in his Concise History (1903).
The lodge is often met with, either as the tabulatum domicialem (1200, at St Alban’s Abbey) or actually so named in the Fabric Rolls of York Minster (1370), ye loge being situated close to the fane in course of erection; it was used as a place in which the stones were prepared in private for the structure, as well as occupied at meal-time, &c. Each mason was required to “swere upon ye boke yt he sall trewly ande bysyli at his power hold and kepe holy all ye poyntes of yis forsayde ordinance” (Ordinacio Cementanorum).
As to the term free-mason, from the 14th century, it is held by some authorities that it described simply those men who worked “freestone,” but there is abundant evidence to prove that, whatever may have been intended at first, free-mason soon had a much wider signification, the prefix free being also employed by carpenters (1666), sewers (15th century, tailors at Exeter) and others, presumably to indicate they were free to follow their trades in certain localities. On this point Mr Gould well observes: “The class of persons from whom the Freemasons of Warrington (1646), Staffordshire (1686), Chester, York, London and their congeners in the 17th century derived the descriptive title, which became the inheritance of the Grand Lodge of England, were free men, and masons of Gilds or Companies” (History, vol. ii. p. 160). Dr Brentano may also be cited: “Wherever the Craft Guilds were legally acknowledged, we find foremost, that the right to exercise their craft, and sell their manufactures, depended upon the freedom of their city” (Development of Guilds, &c., p. 65). In like manner, the privilege of working as a mason was not conferred before candidates had been “made free.” The regular free-masons would not work with men, even if they had a knowledge of their trade, “if unfree,” but styled them “Cowans,” a course justified by the king’s “Maister of Work,” William Schaw, whose Statutis and Ordinanceis (28th December 1598) required that “Na maister or fellow of craft ressaue any cowanis to wirk in his societie or companye, nor send nane of his servants to wirk wt. cowanis, under the pane of twentie pounds.” Gradually, however, the rule was relaxed, in time such monopoly practically ceased, and the word “cowan” is only known in connexion with speculative Freemasonry. Sir Walter Scott, as a member of Lodge St David (No. 36), was familiar with the word and used it in Rob Roy. In 1707 a cowan was described in the minutes of Mother Lodge Kilwinning, as a mason “without the word,” thus one who was not a free mason (History of the Lodge of Edinburgh No. 1, by D. Murray Lyon, 1900).
In the New English Dictionary (Oxford, vol. iv., 1897) under “Freemason” it is noted that three views have been propounded:—(1) “The suggestion that free-mason stands for free-stone-mason would appear unworthy of attention, but for the curious fact that the earliest known instances of any similar appellation are mestre mason de franche peer (Act 25 Edw. III., 1350), and sculptores lapidum liberorum, alleged to occur in a document of 1217; the coincidence, however, seems to be merely accidental. (2) The view most generally held is that freemasons were those who were free of the masons’ guild. Against this explanation many forcible objections have been brought by Mr G. W. Speth, who suggests (3) that the itinerant masons were called free because they claimed exemption from the control of the local guilds of the towns in which they temporarily settled. (4) Perhaps the best hypothesis is that the term refers to the medieval practice of emancipating skilled artisans, in order that they might be able to travel and render their services wherever any great building was in process of construction.” The late secretary of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge (No. 2076, London) has thus had his view sanctioned by “the highest tribunal in the Republic of Letters so far as Philology is concerned” (Dr W. J. Chetwode Crawley in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, 1898). Still it cannot be denied that members of lodges in the 16th and following centuries exercised the privilege of making free masons and denied the freedom of working to cowans (also called un-freemen) who had not been so made free; “the Masownys of the luge” being the only ones recognized as freemasons. As to the prefix being derived from the word frere, a sufficient answer is the fact that frequent reference is made to “Brother freemasons,” so that no ground for that supposition exists (cf. articles by Mr Gould in the Freemason for September 1898 on “Free and Freemasonry”).
There are numerous indications of masonic activity in the British lodges of the 17th century, especially in Scotland; the existing records, however, of the southern part of the United Kingdom, though few, are of importance, some only having been made known in recent years. These concern the Masons’ Company of London, whose valuable minutes and other documents are ably described and commented upon by Edward Conder, jr., in his Hole Crafte and Fellowship of Masons (1894), the author then being the Master of that ancient company. It was incorporated in 1677 by Charles II., who graciously met the wishes of the members, but as a company the information “that is to be found in the Corporation Records at Guildhall proves very clearly that in 1376 the Masons’ Company existed and was represented in the court of common council.” The title then favoured was “Masons,” the entry of the term “Freemasons” being crossed out. Herbert erroneously overlooked the correction, and stated in his History of the Twelve Great Livery Companies (vol. i.) that the Freemasons returned two, and the Masons four members, but subsequently amalgamated; whereas the revised entry was for the “Masons” only. The Company obtained a grant of arms in 1472 (12th year Hen. VIII.), one of the first of the kind, being thus described:—“A feld of Sablys A Cheveron silver grailed thre Castellis of the same garnysshed wt. dores and wyndows of the feld in the Cheveron or Cumpas of Black of Blak”; it is the authority (if any) for all later armorial bearings having a chevron and castles, assumed by other masonic organizations. This precious document was only discovered in 1871, having been missing for a long time, thus doubtless accounting for the erroneous representations met with, not having the correct blazon to follow. The oldest masonic motto known is “God is our Guide” on Kerwin’s tomb in St Helen’s church, Bishopgate, of 1594; that of “In the Lord is all our trust” not being traced until the next century. Supporters consisting of two doric columns are mentioned in 1688 by Randle Holme, but the Grand Lodge of England in the following century used Beavers as operative builders. Its first motto was “In the beginning was the Word” (in Greek), exchanged a few years onward for “Relief and Truth,” the rival Grand Lodge (Atholl Masons) selecting “Holiness to the Lord” (in Hebrew), and the final selection at the “Union of December 1813” being Audi Vide Tace.
Mr Conder’s discovery of a lodge of “Accepted Masons” being held under the wing of the Company was a great surprise, dating as the records do from 1620 to 1621 (the earliest of the kind yet traced in England), when seven were made masons, all of whom were free of the Company before, three being of the Livery; the entry commencing “Att the making masons.” The meetings were entitled the “Acception,” and the members of the lodge were called Accepted Masons, being those so accepted and initiated, the term never otherwise being met with in the Records. An additional fee had to be paid by a member of the Company to join the “Acception,” and any not belonging thereto were mulct in twice the sum; though even then such “acceptance” did not qualify for membership of the superior body; the fees for the “Acception” being £1 and £2 respectively. In 1638-1639, when Nicholas Stone entered the lodge (he was Master of the Company 1632-1633) the banquet cost a considerable sum, showing that the number of brethren present must have been large.
Elias Ashmole (who according to his diary was “made a Free Mason of Warrington with Colonel Henry Mainwaring,” seven brethern being named as in attendance at the lodge, 16th of October 1646) states that he “received a summons to appear at a Lodge to be held next day at Masons’ Hall, London.” Accordingly on the 11th of March 1682 he attended and saw six gentlemen “admitted into the Fellowship of Free Masons,” of whom three only belonged to the Company; the Master, however, Mr Thomas Wise, the two wardens and six others being present on the occasion as members in their dual capacity. Ashmole adds: “We all dyned at the Halfe Moone Tavern in Cheapside at a noble dinner prepaired at the charge of the new-accepted Masons.”
It is almost certain that there was not an operative mason present at the Lodge held in 1646, and at the one which met in 1682 there was a strong representation of the speculative branch. Before the year 1654 the Company was known as that of the Freemasons for some time, but after then the old title of Masons was reverted to, the terms “Acception” and “Accepted” belonging to the speculative Lodge, which, however, in all probability either became independent or ceased to work soon after 1682. It is very interesting to note that subsequently (but never before) the longer designation is met with of “Free and Accepted Masons,” and is thus a combination of operative and speculative usage.