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Article MASONS OF ENGLAND AND THEIR WORKS. ← Page 2 of 4 Article MASONS OF ENGLAND AND THEIR WORKS. Page 2 of 4 →
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Masons Of England And Their Works.
says the extract , which I have not been able to verify . * In 1432 , a "loge " was erected in the cemetery garth at Durham . In 1470 , a " warden of the lodge of niasons " at York Cathedral is mentioned . In 1529 , an item occurs for " mending and repairing old blocks and hinges to serve for doors in Peckwater Inn , for the masons' lodingsxviii d . ob . " and lastlin
g , ; y , 1542-3 , when Coventry Cross was to be built , the freemasons were at their own charges to procure , find , and make " au house or lodge for masons to work in " during the time of erecting the cross . The York documents- already dwelt upon have clearly shown what the masons had to do when in lod and lastly
ge ; , the manuscript constitutions referring to the subject of customs of trade , contain a provision that " no mason work moulds square or rule to any rough layers" ( but these are dated so late as about 1646-59 ) , or as it is expressed in one of still later date , about 1670 , " you shall not make any mould square or rule
to mould stones withal , but such as is allowed by the fraternity . " The former codes also prescribe that " no mason set no layers within a lodge or without to hew nor mould stone with a mould of his own making ; " but in the later manuscript this paragraph is wanting ; whilst in the original manuscript poem ,
dating about 1400 , and the original manuscript history _ lately published , dating about 1500 , there is nothing of the kind mentioned , but rather the reverse , and exhibiting a more liberal spirit ; as , " a cunning mason seeing his fellow at work , " or , " working with him in his lodge , " according to the later manuscript , " and at the point of spoiling the stone ,
he is to teach him how to amend it , for love , and that the work of the lord be not lost . " Into this lodge the mason out of work is to be received , should there he employment for him ; but if there be none , then money is to be given to him to help him forward to the workshop in the next town . The next subject ¦ is the guilds and companies
. When investigating , last year , in the first portion of this paper , the meaning of the word supervisor , I endeavoured to establish an understanding that a large number of the ecclesiastics and noblemen had no just claim to be considered as the architects of the buildings which were erected under their supervision .
The application of this investigation to at least one well-known name was not accepted by those who held to the old opinions , founded , as was submitted , chiefly upon tradition and the misinterpretation of technical words . If , for what was then said , the execration of some four hundred Wkehamists has been promised
y , I may be permitted to fear the concentrated ire of some thousands of the members of that fellowship so well known in modern times , which availed itself of the name of Ereemason , should I meddle with its history as usually received ; but as I am now occasionally about to appear doing so , it is necessary to state that
whenever the word freemason , simply , occurs , it must be understood only to apply to the practical mason who worked freestone ; the reason for this will be developed presently . Two instances of an early date have been put forward of so-called fraternities of masons . The first is , that Godfrey de Lucy , Bishop of Winchester , formed , in 1202 , a confraternity for
Masons Of England And Their Works.
repairing Ins church during the five years ensuing . Such , says Milner , was probably the origin of the Society of Ereemasons . The second is , as asserted by Anderson , * 1738 , but not authenticated since his work , that the register of William Molart , t Prior of Canterbury Cathedral , records that a respectable lodge of freemasons was held in that citin 1429 under
y , the patronage of Henry Chichele , the Archbishop , at which were present Thomas Stapylton , master , the warden , fifteen fellow-crafts , and three entered apprentices . After this investigation , I think some hesitation will be felt at receiving these statements to the extent intendedand conclude in both cases that
, the lodge , or whatever it may be called , is simply the staff formed to carry on the works at those cathedrals , as already shown at York , and were quite distinct from the trade guild or company which might have been in existence hi those towns at the same periods . In fact each cathedral had its own staff of permanent
workmen , and " took on " additional hands whenever the edifice was to be added to , or to be rebuilt ; I say rebuilt , because I have not met with any accounts of restorations . In my previous paperf I explained that the household of the monarch comprised an office for carrying out royal works ; and many of the king ' s
masons have been mentioned herein . A Guild of Masons was undoubtedly in existence in London in 1375 , 49 th Edward III ., when an enactment passed the whole assembled commonalty of the City of London , transferring the right of election of all the city
dignitaries and officers , including members of Parliament , from the ward representatives to the trading companies ,- a few members of which were directed to be selected by the masters or wardens to attend Guildhall for election purposes . A list , drawn up in Erench , of the number of persons chosen by the several mysteries to be the Common Council the next
year , 1376 , shows that the companies sending members were increased from thirty-two to forty-eight ; they sent 14 S members , or about an average of three a piece ; the masons sent four members and the freemasons two members , thus establishing the fact of two societies . It is stated by my authorit ! ^ athe
y ^ latter , the freemasons , merged afterwards into the former , the masons ; the time of this amalgamation , however , is not named , but it may perhaps have occurred between the above date of 1376 and of that of 1421-2 , 9 th Henry V ., for in a document in the possession of the Brewers' Companyof that yearthe
, , masons stand 29 th on a list of 112 companies , while the freemasons are not mentioned . Halliwell instances a single statement , that " a company of under masons was formed in London 12 Edward IV ., " 1473 , fifty years after the date of the above-named list . The incorporation of the Masons' Company in London is
sometimes stated as having taken place as late as 1677 or 1678 , but this date is without doubt the period when its charter was renewed by Charles II . That of 1411 is recorded in the usual subscription to the coat of arms , and it would accord with the supposed amalgamation above noticed . It is worth noting
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masons Of England And Their Works.
says the extract , which I have not been able to verify . * In 1432 , a "loge " was erected in the cemetery garth at Durham . In 1470 , a " warden of the lodge of niasons " at York Cathedral is mentioned . In 1529 , an item occurs for " mending and repairing old blocks and hinges to serve for doors in Peckwater Inn , for the masons' lodingsxviii d . ob . " and lastlin
g , ; y , 1542-3 , when Coventry Cross was to be built , the freemasons were at their own charges to procure , find , and make " au house or lodge for masons to work in " during the time of erecting the cross . The York documents- already dwelt upon have clearly shown what the masons had to do when in lod and lastly
ge ; , the manuscript constitutions referring to the subject of customs of trade , contain a provision that " no mason work moulds square or rule to any rough layers" ( but these are dated so late as about 1646-59 ) , or as it is expressed in one of still later date , about 1670 , " you shall not make any mould square or rule
to mould stones withal , but such as is allowed by the fraternity . " The former codes also prescribe that " no mason set no layers within a lodge or without to hew nor mould stone with a mould of his own making ; " but in the later manuscript this paragraph is wanting ; whilst in the original manuscript poem ,
dating about 1400 , and the original manuscript history _ lately published , dating about 1500 , there is nothing of the kind mentioned , but rather the reverse , and exhibiting a more liberal spirit ; as , " a cunning mason seeing his fellow at work , " or , " working with him in his lodge , " according to the later manuscript , " and at the point of spoiling the stone ,
he is to teach him how to amend it , for love , and that the work of the lord be not lost . " Into this lodge the mason out of work is to be received , should there he employment for him ; but if there be none , then money is to be given to him to help him forward to the workshop in the next town . The next subject ¦ is the guilds and companies
. When investigating , last year , in the first portion of this paper , the meaning of the word supervisor , I endeavoured to establish an understanding that a large number of the ecclesiastics and noblemen had no just claim to be considered as the architects of the buildings which were erected under their supervision .
The application of this investigation to at least one well-known name was not accepted by those who held to the old opinions , founded , as was submitted , chiefly upon tradition and the misinterpretation of technical words . If , for what was then said , the execration of some four hundred Wkehamists has been promised
y , I may be permitted to fear the concentrated ire of some thousands of the members of that fellowship so well known in modern times , which availed itself of the name of Ereemason , should I meddle with its history as usually received ; but as I am now occasionally about to appear doing so , it is necessary to state that
whenever the word freemason , simply , occurs , it must be understood only to apply to the practical mason who worked freestone ; the reason for this will be developed presently . Two instances of an early date have been put forward of so-called fraternities of masons . The first is , that Godfrey de Lucy , Bishop of Winchester , formed , in 1202 , a confraternity for
Masons Of England And Their Works.
repairing Ins church during the five years ensuing . Such , says Milner , was probably the origin of the Society of Ereemasons . The second is , as asserted by Anderson , * 1738 , but not authenticated since his work , that the register of William Molart , t Prior of Canterbury Cathedral , records that a respectable lodge of freemasons was held in that citin 1429 under
y , the patronage of Henry Chichele , the Archbishop , at which were present Thomas Stapylton , master , the warden , fifteen fellow-crafts , and three entered apprentices . After this investigation , I think some hesitation will be felt at receiving these statements to the extent intendedand conclude in both cases that
, the lodge , or whatever it may be called , is simply the staff formed to carry on the works at those cathedrals , as already shown at York , and were quite distinct from the trade guild or company which might have been in existence hi those towns at the same periods . In fact each cathedral had its own staff of permanent
workmen , and " took on " additional hands whenever the edifice was to be added to , or to be rebuilt ; I say rebuilt , because I have not met with any accounts of restorations . In my previous paperf I explained that the household of the monarch comprised an office for carrying out royal works ; and many of the king ' s
masons have been mentioned herein . A Guild of Masons was undoubtedly in existence in London in 1375 , 49 th Edward III ., when an enactment passed the whole assembled commonalty of the City of London , transferring the right of election of all the city
dignitaries and officers , including members of Parliament , from the ward representatives to the trading companies ,- a few members of which were directed to be selected by the masters or wardens to attend Guildhall for election purposes . A list , drawn up in Erench , of the number of persons chosen by the several mysteries to be the Common Council the next
year , 1376 , shows that the companies sending members were increased from thirty-two to forty-eight ; they sent 14 S members , or about an average of three a piece ; the masons sent four members and the freemasons two members , thus establishing the fact of two societies . It is stated by my authorit ! ^ athe
y ^ latter , the freemasons , merged afterwards into the former , the masons ; the time of this amalgamation , however , is not named , but it may perhaps have occurred between the above date of 1376 and of that of 1421-2 , 9 th Henry V ., for in a document in the possession of the Brewers' Companyof that yearthe
, , masons stand 29 th on a list of 112 companies , while the freemasons are not mentioned . Halliwell instances a single statement , that " a company of under masons was formed in London 12 Edward IV ., " 1473 , fifty years after the date of the above-named list . The incorporation of the Masons' Company in London is
sometimes stated as having taken place as late as 1677 or 1678 , but this date is without doubt the period when its charter was renewed by Charles II . That of 1411 is recorded in the usual subscription to the coat of arms , and it would accord with the supposed amalgamation above noticed . It is worth noting