Under
most jurisdictions, every speculative craft lodge has three movable and three
immovable jewels, on which the brethren are intended to moralize. They are the square,
the level, the plumb rule, the rough ashlar, the perfect ashlar and the tracing
board. An eminent Masonic writer, the Rev Dr George Oliver (1782-1867), said
they are called jewels because “they have a moral tendency which renders them
jewels of inestimable value”. It is interesting to note that the square, the
level and the plumb rule are called movable jewels in the English system,
because they are transferred to the incoming master and his wardens each year,
whereas in the American system they are called immovable, because the square is
assigned to the east of the lodge, the level to the west and the plumb rule to
the south. In the English system the ashlars and the tracing board are called
immovable jewels, probably because in the early speculative period they tended
to be located in particular parts of the lodge, but in the American system they
are called movable, because they may be placed in any convenient position which
varies from lodge to lodge.
Having regard to the allegorical importance assigned to
the jewels of the lodge, it
is surprising that the authors of the early speculative rituals did not
indicate what they considered to be the most appropriate positions for the
immovable jewels to be placed in the lodge. Nor has the United Grand Lodge of
England ever issued a ruling on the subject. As a consequence, enquiring masons
cannot find a definitive answer to their questions concerning the placement of
the tracing board and the ashlars. In practice they are to be seen in various
locations, which often is only a matter of convenience, but may be part of the
tradition relating to the particular ritual being worked or the custom in the
individual lodge, district or jurisdiction. In this regard it is interesting to
note that Irish lodges do not have a tracing board.
The
jewels of modern lodges of speculative freemasonry have come down to us from
the usages and customs of operative free masons in earlier times. In operative
lodges a particular stone was used as an emblem in each of the working degrees.
The candidate was told, at an appropriate stage in the ceremony, that he
represented that stone being wrought from its rough hewn condition, as brought
from the quarries, to a state of perfection suitable for erection as a “living
stone” in that most glorious of all Temples, “that house not made with hands
eternal in the heavens”. Each degree also had a representative jewel, which was
a miniature representation of one of the gauges used to test the stone and the
work of the degree. The ceremonies in operative lodges reflected the various
stages in the preparation, testing and erection of stones in the temple of King
Solomon at Jerusalem, emphasizing their purpose and importance in the structure.
The symbolic teachings also were based on the preparation, testing and
incorporation of the stones in the structure. The several types of stones and
the working tools and gauges used in their preparation, testing and erection,
therefore were of particular significance to the operative mason.
During
his progress through the several degrees, the candidate in a lodge of operative
free masons was tested on the work he had prepared in the preceding degree,
before being instructed in the work and the use of the gauges in the next
degree. When a Fellow of the Craft had proved his ability to produce perfect
ashlar stones, he was entrusted with the square, the level and the plumb rule
as proof of his ability, but not as jewels of the degree. Operative degrees beyond
that of a Fellow of the Craft were related to increasing levels of supervision,
with special duties and responsibilities attaching to the rank. A Fellow of the
Craft in operative free masonry was a master mason in respect of his
capabilities, but the title of Master Mason was usually reserved for the mason
who had overall responsibility for a job. The Master Mason frequently was the
chief officer of a lodge carrying out work under day labor in England, or the
proprietor of a lodge carrying out work under contract in Scotland. Some of
these operative aspects are reflected in the degrees of other branches of
freemasonry, for which membership of a speculative craft lodge is a
prerequisite. However, the direct relationship between the purpose for which a
particular stone is used and its symbolic meaning is no longer a significant
part of the work in speculative craft freemasonry. Nor do the speculative craft
degrees have jewels equivalent to those of the operative degrees.
The
jewels of the master and wardens of modern speculative lodges are derived from
the insignia of office worn by their counterparts in the old operative lodges.
They also are the working tools of a speculative Fellowcraft Freemason, which
might seem to be an anomaly, but it must be remembered that in operative days a
Fellow of the Craft was a fully qualified craftsman. In operative lodges the
rough ashlar typified the Apprentice and the perfect ashlar typified the Fellow
of the Craft. Candidates for admission as an Apprentice were placed in the
north-east corner, but qualified Fellows of the Craft seeking further
advancement were placed in the south-east corner, from which is derived the
practice of seating speculative Apprentices and Fellowcrafts in those corners.
In speculative lodges the rough and perfect ashlars are often placed in the
northeast and southeast corners, but in some lodges they are placed in front of
the Junior and Senior Wardens respectively. In some constitutions the jewels of
the deacons also are derived from operative practice, such as the maul of the
senior deacon and the trowel of the junior deacon in Scottish lodges.
One of
the earliest known references to the jewels of the lodge is to be found in the
records of operative free masonry in Scotland, the Edinburgh Register House MS
dated 1696, which is endorsed “Some Questions Anent the Mason Word”. It is a
catechism, which sets out fifteen questions that must be put to a mason who
claims to have the Word, as well as the answers he was required to give before
he could be acknowledged as a mason. To the question: “Are there jewels in your
lodge?” the reply was: “Yes three, perpend esler, a square pavement and a broad
oval.” Every freemason will be familiar with the square pavement, but the other
two may not be known to him. The perpend esler or ashlar is an important stone
used in the construction of masonry walls, but it is not the perfect ashlar
stone required to be produced by a Fellow of the Craft as a test piece in
operative lodges. Nevertheless the early speculative freemasons called it a
perfect ashlar, possibly mistaking perpend for perfect. In speculative lodges
the perpend ashlar was later replaced with the finely polished cubical stone
used in modern lodges. The square pavement, to which a great deal of symbolism
attaches, is no longer called a jewel and is included in the furniture of the
lodge. The broad oval is one of a multitude of names by which the broached
thurnel appears to have been known and will be discussed later.
The
perpend ashlar is commonly called a header and is usually three units long and
one unit square in cross-section. It passes through the wall from the inside
face to the outside face, tying the leaves of the wall together for added
strength. The end faces of a perpend ashlar are dressed to conform with the
surface finishes of the exposed faces of the walls, but all other faces are
broached or scabbled to provide a good bond with the courses of stone through
which it passes. The running stone used in wall construction is a similar
stone, but it is broached for bonding on all faces except those to be exposed,
which are dressed accordingly. At the end of his training in the old operative
lodges and before he could be passed as a Fellow of the Craft, an apprentice
was required to produce a satisfactory rough dressed ashlar, usually three
units long and one unit square in cross-section, suitable for finishing as a
perpend ashlar or a running stone. Before being allowed to take charge of the
fitting and marking of stones for erection in the structure, an experienced
Fellow of the Craft was required to prove his capabilities by producing a
perfect ashlar as a test piece. It was similar to the rough dressed ashlar, but
fully dressed and polished on all faces.
In the
early 1700s, when an apprentice was being tested on the catechisms in a
speculative craft lodge he would be asked: “What are the immovable jewels?” to
which the answer was: “The tresel board, rough ashlar and broached thurnel”.
The word tresel, which is sometimes corrupted to tarsel, comes from the Old
French through the Middle French trestel, which signified a bar or beam
supported by legs, whence is derived the English trestle. The tresel board was
the trestle table on which sketches were drawn, or over which the plans were
spread. The tresel must not be confused with the indented tassel or indented
tarsel in the old catechisms, which comes from the Old French tassel through
the Middle English, among other things signifying an ornamental piece of
fabric, the tassel or ornamental tuft of threads in modern English. It is
interesting to note that a torsel, which is a plate supporting the end of a
beam in a brick wall, is also called a tassel, but it comes from the French
tasseau signifying a bracket. Although most of the practical aspects of these
jewels have been omitted from the speculative explanation, the philosophical
aspects of the instructions given in operative days have been incorporated and
expanded upon.
It is
generally accepted that the rough ashlar refers to a rough hewstone as brought
from the quarries, which in olden times was cut one eighth to one sixteenth of
an inch over the required finished measure. However, the meaning of the
broached thurnel in the catechism is uncertain. It seems most likely to have been
derived from the Scottish operative masons to whom broach meant to rough-hew,
or to groove or scarify. A broaching thurmal, broaching thurmer or broaching
turner was the chisel used to carry out broaching work. One form of the
broaching thurmal is a narrow serrated chisel similar in many respects to the
scutch, a cutting and dressing tool used by a bricklayer, probably is derived
from the Old French escousser meaning to shake off. Thus the three immovable
jewels referred to in the old catechisms of an apprentice logically symbolized
the instructions he received for the work, represented by the tresel board; the
tools he used to execute the work, represented by the broached thurnel; and his
finished product, the rough ashlar. Another possible derivation of thurnel is
as a variation of the French tournelle, which means a turret, because the word
was in common use in England in various forms from about 1400 until at least
the 1750s.
Yet
another suggested derivation is from the German thurm, which means a tower,
because that word also was in general use in England during the same period.
Moreover, it is likely that the French tournelle and German thurm have a common
ancestry, from which the Scottish thurmal or thurmer may also have been
derived. In any event, the cutting face of one form of the chisel used as a
broaching thurmal is somewhat similar in appearance to a small castellated
turret when viewed from above. Very early French tracing boards and some of
their contemporaneous English counterparts depicted a cubical stone surmounted
by a pyramid, not unlike a squat church tower with a tall spire, which also was
called a broached thurnel in English speculative lodges. This stone is still
retained on French tracing boards, but long ago disappeared from English tracing
boards. French freemasons have always referred to this stone as “la pierre
cubique a pointe”, literally meaning a pointed square stone. The original
French ritual, still in use, explains that it is a model of a spire or turret,
whose various outlines provide a means of teaching the apprentice the forms of
the square, triangle, cube and pyramid. Whatever the derivation and intended
symbolism of the broached thurnel in the old English lodges and the broaching
thurmal in the old Scottish lodges, it had disappeared from use by 1720.
The
sequence of events by which the rough ashlar and the cubical perfect ashlar
became jewels in modern speculative lodges was progressive in nature, varying
from location to location and from lodge to lodge, with no clear boundaries
between one usage and another. Not only are the available records scarce, but
such as are available often do not record the actual dates when one custom
lapsed or another was introduced. It is not clear why the perpend ashlar came
to be replaced by the cubical perfect ashlar, nor when the change was made. All
that can be said with certainty is that the cubical perfect ashlar seems to
have been in general use in English speculative lodges by 1800. The perpend
ashlar is an emblem of perfection and strength, coupled with the bonds of
brotherly love. This is much more expressive than the cubical perfect ashlar as
a symbol which illustrates the advancement of an apprentice from the rough and
unpolished state to the state of discipline and education that is the hallmark
of an experienced craftsman. As the bonding of men in friendship is an
important objective of speculative freemasonry, it is a great pity that the
perpend ashlar of operative masonry is no longer one of the jewels of the
lodge.
Tracing
boards were an important piece of equipment in all lodges of operative free
masons. The inventory of stores recorded in the Fabric Rolls of the York
Minster in 1399 include “ij tracying bordes”. In lodges of operative free
masons the locations of the tracing boards was entirely a matter of convenience
to suit the work, but there would be at least one in the office the Super
Intendent of Work in the stone yard and at the building site. During the
construction of large buildings, such as cathedrals, there usually were
drafting offices as well as the site offices. The practical tuition given in
conjunction with the ceremonial work of an operative lodge, customarily
commencing at noon on the sixth day of the week, was carried out with the aid
of a plan sketched on the floor or a drawing laid on a trestle board, usually
in the center of the lodge room so that those under instruction could gather
round it.
In
operative lodges the tracing board was used to give practical instruction to
the candidates in the development of the required shapes of stones, in the
preparation of the required templates and in the marking out of stones
appropriate to the work of the degree. It was also used to illustrate the
setting out of the work and to show how the stones should be assembled in the
structure. In the early speculative lodges it was customary to draw a plan on
the floor of the lodge room using chalk, charcoal and any other suitable
medium, much as would have been done in an operative lodge. Like the drawings
of the operative masons, they were placed in any convenient location where the
members could gather round. This practice continued until painted or printed
pictures of the “floor drawings” or “floorcloths” first became available around
1744 in France and 1760 in England. The location of modern tracing boards at
the western end of the squared pavement, or in any other position offering a
clear view, has become acceptable and is in keeping with ancient practice.
The
oldest known set of speculative tracing boards in Great Britain belongs to
Lodge Faithful, which was founded at Norwich in 1753 and now meets at Harleston
in Norfolk. These boards are dated 1800 and depict the modern form of rough and
perfect ashlars on the First Degree board. The modern ashlars are also depicted
on a set of tracing boards painted by William Dight in 1808 for the Lodge of
Unanimity and Sincerity, which meets at Taunton. A set of tracing boards
painted for the Chichester Lodge in 1811 by Josiah Bowring, a portrait painter
of London, also depicts the modern ashlars. These boards appear to be the
prototypes of the famous set painted by John Harris in 1821, from which most
modern tracing boards are derived. The rough ashlar on tracing boards is
usually placed at the foot of the Corinthian column representing the Junior
Warden, who traditionally is in charge of the apprentices. The perfect ashlar
is usually placed at the foot of the Doric column representing the Senior
Warden, who traditionally is in charge of the craftsmen.
During
the evolution of speculative freemasonry, there was a significant tendency to
rearrange the symbolism and related rituals of operative free masonry, in what
might best be described as a perceived orderliness and regularity. This may
have been the underlying objective in replacing the perpend ashlar with the
cubic perfect ashlar, perhaps influenced by a work entitled The First and Chief
Groundes of Archytecture published by Ihon Shute, Paynter and Archytecte in
1563 and reprinted in 1912. Early speculative freemasons included many erudite
scholars who shaped our rituals in conformity with the literary English of the
day. Among them, no doubt, would have been some who were familiar with Shute’s
work, in which he offers the injunction that “Ye shall make a four square stone
like unto a dye” and continues with a description of the origin and rise of the
architectural orders, which is repeated in virtually the same language in some
of the old Masonic lectures.
By Brother Don. Falconer of Sydney,
Australia This article is copyright to him. Please respect this in any
Dissemination