Early Craft Symbolism - A LOOK BACK From The Builder Magazine – January 1926
By BRO. R. J. Meekren (Sourced by Martin Solis, Staff Writer)
To begin with it is necessary to
state very plainly that practically nothing is known about the private, or as
it might be termed, the esoteric symbolism of the Medieval Masons. It has been shown in the two preceding
articles that so far as their abilities went our Operative predecessors might
have had a system of symbols of any degree of complexity they desired. They recorded in carved stone, not once nor
twice, but hundreds and thousands of times their possession of constructive
imagination, of spiritual insight and perhaps even the mystical temper that
fully qualified them as a group to work out a system of philosophy, veiled or
clothed in allegory and set out by emblems and symbols. Those who are inclined
to dismiss this possibility by speaking of them as mere ignorant workmen have
not fully appreciated the realities of the situation. As has been intimated, the organization
contained in its ranks precisely the same kind of men who in our own day are
the true leaders of civilization--artists, sculptors, engineers, scientists. There is not the least indication that the
proportion of men of genius has varied much in the few thousand years about
which history is able to tell us anything.
Even prehistoric man seems to have had mental powers quite equal to the
average today. Civilization, our own as
well as those that have preceded it, is the result of social organization and
corporate activity. It is all a matter
of the opportunity afforded by the environment.
The men who invented the sling or the bow and arrow rank mentally with
those who in our day have made telegraphs and telephones, automobiles, and
aeroplanes. The actual result depends on
what the individual was given to work with -measured that way the most
stupendous inventions in the history of the race were of the individuals who
first discovered the uses of a sharp-edged stone or how to light and feed a
fire. The Medieval Mason, even the
obscure workman, would probably have surprised many of those who incline to
dismiss with uninformed contempt his claims to a real share in the secrets and
organization of the Fraternity to which he belonged. The Masons were men of their age naturally,
as we are of ours, they labored under the limitations of the state of society
in which they lived, as we also do. We
do not easily realize these limitations in our own case, though we very plainly
see (or think we see) theirs-which in their day they also took as a matter of
course, and as part of the eternal scheme of things. For example, most of them probably could not
read or write. To us to be ignorant of
letters is to be quite uneducated. It
was not so then. We have multitudes of
books, and learn a great deal from them--their books were scarce, and as much
valuable works of art as intended for use; while society was built up on a
system of oral and traditional teaching.
In our dependence on books we have lost very largely the organization
and mental habits of the earlier system, and it is difficult for us to realize
how very efficient it was within its limits.
If the Masons could not read neither could the great lords, princes and
kings who employed them. Yet there is
not the least doubt that the majority of them, both kings and craftsmen, were
quite capable men and as fully adequate for their various jobs as those who
fulfill equivalent functions in the world of today.
But having thus noted the
possibilities what can we say of the actualities? Very little indeed. All we have to go on are a very few
contemporary allusions, a few Masonic devices on tombstones, in stained glass
windows and the like; the MS. Constitutions or Old Charges, and precarious
deductions from post Grand Lodge lectures and catechisms. A most unpromising outlook and it is little
wonder that enthusiastic writers have turned to Hermetic, Rosicrucian,
Kabbalistic, Neo-platonic, and other mystical and more or less esoteric systems
to fill out the gaps in our knowledge of the inside of Operative Freemasonry.
SYMBOLISM DEFINED
In these studies we have up until
now dealt with symbolism in the most general way. The primary object was to show that the
principles and modes of thought underlying the use of symbols, even of the most
abstruse or recondite nature, are exactly the same in kind as those involved in
all the ordinary usages of speech and representation, in which one thing is put
for another, part for whole, individual for species and the like; that the
differences to be noted in the varying meanings of the word, and of those other
words more or less synonymous with it, are differences of degree and not of
kind, of quantity rather than essential quality. Now however that we approach the esoteric
side it may be as well for the sake of clearness and brevity to define and
distinguish the various grades. Without
any underlying symbolical intent we may suggest three of these, and following
ordinary usage quite closely we may designate them as devices, emblems, and
symbols proper. It would be possible to
borrow from the mathematicians and devise new characters entirely, as letter S
= symbolism in general, and then distinguish our grades as S1, S2, and S3. The advantage of this kind of symbolism is
its precision. The characters have no
associations at all, or at least none related to the assigned meaning--it is
always necessary to refer back to the definition or assumption with which the
argument began. But though there is a
symbolical logic, the method is not a literary one, and the first suggested
terms will serve our purpose. A
"device" then may be defined as a distinguishing mark pure and simple. The attributes that are given to effigies of
Christian saints and statues of pagan deities are devices, so are coats of arms
and crests, seals, and trademarks, including Mason's marks. They are labels, pictographs, or ideographs,
telling us who or what is represented.
An "emblem" goes further
than this, though the border line is not very distinct. An emblem is a device or attribute that is
not arbitrary, but that is used to recall some idea or thing through a
remembered association with it. Thus in
the lectures of the Third Degree the sun and moon and stars are emblems, for
their representations simply serve to recall the phraseology of that part of
the ritual. The emblems of mortality are
in like case, though they verge closely on what we shall call symbolism proper. This latter we shall apply when the meaning
goes beyond a simple and direct association.
Perhaps the easiest method of definition here will be by example. The square and compasses as used ordinarily
in the form of a personal ornament or badge, is a device pure and simple. It is equivalent to saying or writing "I
am a Mason," or "this is Masonic." The working tools used on old
tombstones or in Medieval representations of Masons are in the same class. Although working tools will easily become
emblems to the Mason, as they recall various associations of Craft experience. The square (with us) designates the Master,
and insofar is an emblem. In old usage
the Master was known rather by the compasses.
Together, according to certain conventions, these two implements are
emblematic of the first three degrees. This
use being more than a mere device, as it depends on certain important
associations with the particular arrangement, puts them in this case into the
class of emblems. But the square and
compasses are also use as symbols when the primary associations are extended,
and we talk of the square of virtue or of keeping within compass of the circle
of our duties to God and man.
EARLY MASONIC DESIGNS DISCUSSED
The period over which we have to
glance is an extended one, from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century. It might be possible to go back further--the
emblems on the eighth century tomb shown on page 345 in the November number of
THE BUILDER last year, are evidence of this--but little would be gained by
doing so. No collection of Masonic
devices of this kind has ever been published, and they have to be sought in
many different quarters. The window from
Or San Michele at Florence (reproduced on page 314, October, 1925) is a good
example, showing trowel mallet and chisels, compasses and level. The axe in the center is rather a carpenter's
tool. In the window from Chartres, of
which a sketch is here shown, we have a very interesting collection. The trowel, square, "common gavel",
or stonemason's hammer, finishing or "bush" hammer with a series of
sharp parallel edges cut on the face, what is apparently intended for a hod or
mortar board, a "common" square, and a "moul square", or
templet for curved work, a triangular level and besides these there seems to be
the representation of the base and capital of a column fully cut, two detail
drawings or profiles of vault ribs or "mould stones, and the drawing of a
column with base an capital. But illuminating as this is as to the technic
methods and tools in use at the time, it can hardly be supposed to be
symbolical in our restricted sense of the word.
It is probably most correctly to be termed a Masonic device pure and
simple, though it may be considered as verging on the emblematic.
Many of the Medieval gilds took to
themselves, or had granted to them, coats of arms. Those of the Mason's Company of London are
well known, and appear to have been used, sometimes with a heraldic
"difference", by the Masons generally all over Britain. The chevron, originally engrailed (i.e., with
a wavy border) is a regular and frequently used "charge" in coats of
arms, but may here have been taken as suggesting a square. In later representations it was shown plain,
thus more closely approximating the working tool. The gilds, and many individual masters also
used seals, and of these many are still extant; the greater number of them show
stone hammers, compasses, and levels; the square seems not to be used so much .
The seal of the Masons of Cologne
shows three crowns above two pairs of crossed hammers and crossed axes
respectively, in allusion to the crowned martyrs presumably, though these
sculptor masons were supported to be four in number, according to the usual
version of their story at least. An
individual Mason's seal from Strasburg shows a shield charged with a "bend
dexter" (i.e. a diagonal band from the upper left-hand corner to the lower
right) on which are three stone hammers, which seems to be an echo of the arms
of the Masons' gild of the same place, in which also appears a bend with two
hammers, while the shield is also charged with a level, of very workman-like
form, and a pair of compasses slightly opened. Seals of carpenters' gilds also
generally show the compasses and square, with an axe. Tilers and plasterers show trowels and their
special form of long-pened hammer. The
tilers are also fond of using the ladder as a device.
TOOLS GENERALLY USED AS DEVICES
In all this there is little that
has the appearance of symbolism-they are apparently devices and nothing more. It is still the custom in Germany to put on a
skilled workman's tombstone some of the implements of his trade, and they are
much the same devices as we see in the Medieval examples. For a carpenter, saw, hammer, plane, and
compasses; for a mason, hammer, and square and compasses; a plasterer, trowel
and hod a blacksmith, hammer and tongs; for a fireman, helmet, axe, and pike
pole. In France, the carpenters use the
square and compasses as commonly as the working Masons. There is one Medieval example, the seal of
the Masons of Tours, one of the towns where the Compagnonage was strong, which
shows a serpent of gold intertwined with a rule, square and compasses. This looks mysterious and symbolic, but may
very likely have some local reference like the three clowns of Cologne
mentioned above. The very curious
"mark" of the Magdeburg Smiths may also be mentioned here, described
by Gould (following Berlepsch's Chronicle of the Trades) as being used in
opening and closing their meetings. It
was drawn in chalk on the table, and rubbed out at the close. It reminds one of the diagrams of the lodge;
but the analogy is not very close, though in both cases the diagram seems, in
part at least, to have symbolized the organization itself.
On the other hand the processes
and implements connected with building seem so naturally adapted to serve as
symbols of morality that it seems hardly credible that the Masons should not
have so used them to some extent. It is
possible that a close and critical study of these old designs might give some
clue in this direction though in the present state of our knowledge we are
forced to admit that there is but the very slightest indications of it. One other point may be touched on in passing. The statement has been made, and often
repeated, that numbers of Medieval statues and other representations of human
figures are posed in positions corresponding to certain gestures familiar to
present day Freemasons. For example, it
is said that there are such figures over the main entrance of the Minster at
York, and that certain statues placed in niches flanking a side entrance of the
Cathedral at Florence stand in "Masonic attitudes." This is
exceedingly doubtful. The attitudes of
the last-mentioned figures are fully to be accounted for by the ritual gestures
used in the Catholic Church. The statues
are mitred and in ecclesiastical robes and presumably represent bishops in the
attitude of giving benediction. In any
case this would hardly be symbolism but rather realistic representation.
But to return; we intimated above
that there was a natural fitness of builders' tools to symbolic employment. It would of course be possible to draw moral
lessons from other crafts. The potter
and his wheel have been so employed--imagery and allegory drawn from these was
used by Jeremiah, Isaiah, and St. Paul, and also by the Persian poet Omar. The operations and implements of husbandry
have so been used, as notably in several of Our Lord's parables. Metal working again lends itself to such
treatment--the silver seven times tried in the fire, the iron forged and welded
on the anvil. Still of all occupations
that of the builders seems to be most frequently employed. The Chinese, as has often been repeated, used
level, square and compasses in a figurate sense for different virtues. The plumb line in Amos is used as a symbol of
justice. Square-ness is a common
metaphor in many languages for dependable honesty and morality. The level represents impartiality like the
balances as well as social equality; the compasses symbolize knowledge and
prudence. By them accurate measurements
are taken, and by the exact knowledge thus obtained conduct may be guided. In several extant allegorical drawings the
compasses are put in the hands of the figure of Christ, denoting His creative
power, as Master Builder of the World, and He is Himself spoken of in the New
Testament as the chief headstone of the corner.
THE WORKING TOOLS
"MORALIZED"
This is all so obvious and natural
that in an age that was devoted to symbolism, and among men whose occupation
largely consisted in designing symbols, it is hard to imagine how they could
have failed to see and adopt these possibilities of their own craft implements.
That they did so is actually indicated
by a few well-known examples. There is
the inscription said to be at Bale accompanying figures of two of the crowned
martyrs, which translated runs as follows:
1.
The Square possesses science
enough
But use it always with propriety.
2.
The level teaches the true faith
Therefore it is to be treasured.
3.
Justice and the compass' science-
It boots naught to establish them.
4.
The gauge is fine and scientific
And is used by great and small.
According to Gould the same
couplets are also found, in more modern phraseology, on the chest or ark
belonging at one time to the Hamburg Masons.
Then we have the much-quoted
inscription at Melrose in conjunction with a shield bearing two partly opened
crossed compasses and three fleur-de-lis:
Sa gays ye compas evyn aboute
truith and laute do but
doute be haulde to ye hende qo
johne mordo.
which might be rendered:
As goes the compass undeviating
around
So without doubt do truth and
loyalty;
Look well to the end quoth John
Mordo.
Then there is the quotation from a
German work of 1623 by J. V. Andreae, a German scholar of note, the pertinent
part of which is translated as follows:
. . . can none foresee his end
Unless on God is built his hope
And if we here below would learn
By Compass, Needle, Square and
Plumb
We ne'er must overlook the mete
Wherewith our God hath measured
us.
And lastly we may mention the
brass square found in rebuilding Baal Bridge at Limerick, Ireland, which seems
to have been a foundation deposit or something of the kind. It is said not to be adapted for actual use,
the arms being only four and a half inches long. On it is the couplet, which also has been
often repeated,
I will strive to live with love
and care
Upon the level by the square.
together with the date 1517. The spelling here is of course modernized. There is, it must be confessed, some doubt
about the real age and genuine character of this relic. Still these quotations indicate that the
Operative Masons did apparently "moralize" their working tools, and
though so scanty in quantity the inherent probability of their doing so is so
strong that it is difficult to refuse to accept the conclusion pointed at.
SYMBOLISM ORIGINATED IN THE CRAFT
The quotation from Andreae given
above raises a question as to the origin of such symbolism. Certain Masonic writers have very confidently
asserted that the Operatives borrowed all they ever had from Rosicrucian and
Hermetic sources. On page 384 of THE
BUILDER for 1924 is reproduced a wood cut illustrating a 1547 edition of
Vitruvius' work on architecture, from which the architectural explanations in
our lecture are largely taken. In this
drawing a great many tools and instruments are shown, most of them apparently
pertaining to laboratory work, though the level, square, compasses, and
templets can be allotted to mason craft.
The theodolite or levelling instrument is rather for engineering than
building, however. Such designs a these
are frequently to be found in Hermetic works, and it has therefore been assumed
that their use there was symbolic, and that naturally these philosopher and
mystical scientists must have first originated the symbolical use of the Operative
implements often included. This is
rather putting the cart before the horse.
The other half of this argument is that the Operative Masons being mere
workmen, common, ignorant, uneducated men, could not have done this by
themselves. Of this latter premise we
have already sufficiently disposed, and all we have to ask now is who was the
more likely to see the symbolic possibilities of these tools--the men who used
them every day or those whose knowledge of them was but casual and theoretic? It is far more likely that the would-be
Rosicrucians borrowed these from the Masons than vice versa. In strict truth there is no necessity to
suppose that there was borrowing either way.
If, and there are known Medieval examples of this, a preacher in a
sermon uses metaphorical language based or building or mason's craft there is
no need to suppose either that the preacher was a Mason or his hearer specially
interested in that subject. It is as
likely that he got his inspiration for such figures of speech or allegorical
language from the New Testament, or from the Shepherd of Hermas, as anywhere
else; and as we have already noted, the symbolism is so apt, so natural that it
appeals to every mind at once without any special knowledge. An example of such
esoteric symbolism as this is to be found in Le Pelerinage de I'Homme (The
Pilgrimage of Man) by Guillaume de Guileville, printed at Paris in 1511 but
written in 1330. This was brought to the
attention of Masonic students in a paper by W. H. Rylands published in A. Q. C.
in 1900. In this work appears a wood cut
showing a "gallows" square with the long arm perpendicular and the
short one horizontal, the angle being at the top. On the lower end of the long arm is the
letter P, at the angle, A, and at the end of the short arm X. Besides these initials are smaller letters
against each one, spelling the words respectively proximo, anime and XP0, the
first two meaning "neighbor" and "soul" or
"spirit", while the latter is an abbreviation for the Greek Christos. Then, roughly parallel to the line between
the two extremities of the arms of the square come the words pax triplex,
"threefold peace." The three initials also spelling Pax. In verses accompanying it an explanation is
given, which is roughly that X, for Christ, is set above or on high in the most
prominent position (the phrase in the original is en eschauf faut and there may
here be a double meaning intended, the word also meaning scaffold and may
obscurely allude to Christ on the Cross) then the soul of man attains peace by
faith in Christ, and having peace with God is naturally also at peace with his
neighbor.
Thus the square sets forth a rule
of right living by which "the peace that passeth understanding" is
attained. This is very interesting
indeed, and could we be sure that the idea came from Craft sources would surely
settle the question as to the existence of moralizing on the working tools. Unfortunately, there is nothing to show this,
and it rather seems that this "square," so-called, is simply regarded
as part of a Latin cross, the cross of crucifixion. Although if this be so, it is curious that it
should be thus taken only in part, and it is legitimate perhaps to suspect that
the monk who set it forth saw the craftsman's square in the cross.
DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE CONSIDERED
We have two more possible sources
of information yet to consider, both documentary. One is the group of old MS. called variously
"Charges" or "Constitutions" and the other are the old
catechisms. These latter unfortunately
are all, with one possible exception, Sloane 3329, later than 1717, the year of
the inception of the Grand Lodge organization of the Fraternity-and the date of
this document is doubtful, it may be later though is possibly earlier. The question of its age has been discussed
most frequently with a view to its contents, so that much of the argument is
open to the suspicion of unconscious bias.
But the consideration of these documents must be left for future
consideration. The "Old
Charges" are most of them undoubtedly pre-Grand Lodge, and some are very
old. Their character is well known to
most readers of THE BUILDER, one of them, the York Roll, No. 1, was reproduced
in the December number for 1923 (Vol. IX, p. 371) They are all very much alike
in content, and from the point of view of our inquiry very disappointing, for
there is practically nothing to be found in any of them that can by any means
be made into an allusion to symbolism. There is the curious phrase in the so
called Charter of Scoon and Perth Lodge, which according to Gould combines
features of the Old Charges with items of local interest, "soe long as the
Sun ryseth in East and Setteth in the West." As Gould remarks this
reference "to the glorious luminary" will at least arrest the
attention of the Masonic student, but the meaning of the figure is so clear and
obvious, that the members of the lodge who subscribed to the document; bound
themselves and successors to observe it forever, that it will hardly serve as a
foundation for any Speculative theory.
CONCLUSIONS REACHED
Then there is the provision in the
Melrose MS. No. 19, that no Master or fellow should in dealing with
"Loses" (Cowans) "let yms know ye privilege of ye compass,
Square, levell and ye plum-rule." This sounds as if it might refer to Speculative
teaching were it not immediately followed by the injunction that instead they
were "to sett out their plumming to them . . ," which makes it clear that it was
simply the technical use of the implements that was to be kept from the
unskilled workmen. A modern trade's
unionist would quite understand the rule, and acts upon it. The half-skilled laborer who is allowed to
fill in a wall builds to a line that is put up for him, he is by no means
encouraged to put one up for himself.
The question that must now be
asked is what are we to conclude from the absence in these old and well
accredited documents of any reference to symbolism? An argument from silence can never be quite
conclusive, for it is a form of the negative argument which can only be
absolute when every conceivable source of information has been examined, and
such completeness is itself impossible. What
we have to ask is first whether the source of information, the document or
witness, would most naturally have mentioned the point in question had it
existed; that is would we have to seek some special reason for the silence in
such a case. This means that the purpose
of the informant must be appraised. In
our particular case this purpose seems clear.
The documents in question give us a mythical history of the Mason craft
as an introduction to a code of rules or charges to be observed by Masons. The history is designed to heighten the
esteem of its members for their organization by showing its antiquity, and also
their respect for its laws by the wisdom and eminence of the rulers who
ordained them. And generally the
information was for the benefit of new members, which is as clear from the
phraseology as also from certain rubrical directions. Would it not therefore have been most
natural, this being the purpose, that any other instruction there was to give
about symbolism should also be included?
This is hard to say. We can fall
back on the negative feature and say not necessarily so. Yet it is hard to say it would not have been
natural to have included such information had it existed. On the other hand, that there was other
information is certain, for there is no technical instruction which must have
been given to the apprentice, and is alluded to. To this it may be said that this instruction
could not have been imparted ceremonially but only day by day in actual work. But again it is practically certain there
were secret means of recognition which in general are not distinctly alluded to
in the old charges, and it can well be argued that the symbolism was imparted
in the same way as these last. It is,
therefore, perhaps safest to take the position that this evidence is quite
neutral for our present inquiry. How
then are we to sum up what has gone before?
Much of the evidence cited above could be accounted for by purely
personal ideas--that John Murdo, for example, knew of no craft symbolism but
took what to him was a natural figure to express a moral sentiment. Little as we may like such an inconclusive
answer it seems to be all that we can so far safely assert, whatever else may
seem to us possible or probable.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
What was the real status, mental
and social, of the Medieval Freemasons ?
Are the old designs and
representations found on tombs and in ornamental carving susceptible of
symbolic interpretation? Why should
metaphors and figures of speech be so easily adapted to moral interpretation ?
Why did the designers of the
illustrations Hermetic and other books include craft implements among them?
Should the evidence of the Old
Charges be properly regarded as neutral in respect to the possibility of
esoteric symbolism among Operative Masons?
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