lewis

Last time I spoke to someone near your office, that person was away and one of the secretaries picked up on his email and reported me to my District (via the Grand Secretary) that I had communicated with UGLE without going through the proper channels and had a sever warning raised against me.

Hopefully, after many badgering, my District has.

Maybe Martin Cherry could respond?

somehow it went into the wrong part of the forum. Can one of our moderators put it in its rightful place. (Not file 13!)

Came across this the other day and thought you might also find it interesting. The Union of the Grand Lodge of England between the Ancient and Modern branches of English Freemasonry in 1813 brought into many effect many changes in dress and ritual which still prevail to this day. In respect to the Masonic apron it was felt necessary to have these standardised and the resulting effort are the aprons we have in use today. Nevertheless, even though we may assume that today’s aprons are but a shadow in respect to the decorative beauty of 18th century aprons they still contain much Masonic symbolism and inner meaning. The Masonic apron referred to is strictly that as worn by Masons of the English Constitution. Many Brethren still believe that the present apron was the result of an accident and that no deliberate attempt at symbolism was envisaged. However, you will see that those who designed it had a much deeper knowledge of symbolism than the apparently ‘simple’ Master Mason apron leads us to believe. Firstly, let us consider the colour of the Master Mason’s apron, which is that of Cambridge University, and likewise that used by Parliament when fighting King Charles, has a much deeper significance than is generally known. It is closely related to the colour of the Virgin Mary, which in itself has been brought forward from Isis, Astarte and other Mother Goddesses of the ancient world, whose symbol was always the moon and seven stars. You may have noticed that many statues of the Virgin Mary show her wearing a diadem or crown of seven stars on her head and her cloak is light blue, the colour of our Masonic apron. In contrast, the aprons of Grand Lodge Officers have Garter Blue, often connected with certain Orders of Knighthood, but also this blue is the colour of Oxford University, and the colour associated with the Royalist cause during the Civil War Thus the two aprons in use amongst Brethren of the English craft employ the colours of the two great Universities of England. The dark blue colour therefore can be said to represent the rulers in the Craft, and represent the masculine element. Light blue, on the other hand, represents the feminine or passive aspect, and is most appropriate for the ordinary Master Mason, whose duty it is to obey and not to command. The other significant emblems representative of the female aspect are the three rosettes, symbol of the rose itself, itself a well known substitute for the Virgin Mary herself as the Mystic Rose. The three rosettes on a Master Mason’s apron are arranged so as to form a triangle with the point upwards, interpenetrating the triangle formed by the flap on the apron, alluding to the square and compass. The two rosettes on a Fellow Crafts apron stress the dual nature of man and have a clear reference to the two Pillars. The two rosettes also point out that the Fellow Craft has not yet a complete Freemason as it requires a third rosette to form a triangle. The Fellow Craft’s apron thus represents the wearer’s status as being superior to an Entered Apprentice but inferior to that which in due time he will attain and which the third rosette will invariably complete in the form of the interlaced square and compass. As the Master Mason advances and becomes Master of his Lodge, the rosettes of his apron give way to three Taus or levels as they are generally called. The Tau is the symbol of the Creator and also the symbol of the Royal Arch to which all Masters had to be exalted to that supreme degree before he could accept the Chair in a Craft lodge. Another important feature of the apron was the tassels which originally represented the ends of the string used to tie the apron round the waist. It was only a matter of time before these strings were decorated with tassels and even today certain aprons, such as those worn by members of the Royal Order of Scotland use this type of string with ornamental tassels which when properly tied together at the front cause the two tassels to stick out from under the flap. Craft aprons have now replaced the string or cord with a band attached to a hook and eye and so tassels have been replaced by two strips of ribbon on which are attached seven chains. The seven chains themselves are full of symbolic meaning and represent various Masonic allegories such as the 7 liberal Arts and Sciences, the number of Masons required to make a perfect lodge, the number of years it took king Solomon to build the temple, etc. The two ribbons and chains are also representative of the old pillars that used to adorn the apron before these were replaced with the existing form. Finally we arrive at the band with the hook and eye attachment that is also full of symbolic significance. It is no accident that the snake was selected for this purpose. The snake is the traditional symbol associated with wisdom. Thus the serpent in our apron denotes that we are encircled by Holy wisdom. You will also notice that the serpent is biting its own tail, thus forming a circle which has always been regarded as the emblem of eternity, and more especially the Eternal Wisdom of God. As you can see Brethren the apron is not just a piece of regalia we wear simply to distinguish the different grades of Freemasons or even for cosmetic effect and pomp. It is a vital part of our ritual and why any Mason in a lodge who is not wearing his Masonic apron is considered quite rightly to be improperly dressed. Thus it will be seen that our apron is a very honourable garment, one that we should treasure. It is an apron made of lambskin, pure white, without fault or stain - the colour of the Soul as mortal man sees it. It is ours and it now depends upon each of us to keep it without blemish - to keep it as a mirror of our soul that we may stand the final test when we reach into Life Eternal. by W Bro Keith Sheriff

After doing my own research this is what I've managed to find out. 250th ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE JEWEL On 14 June 1967 the 250th anniversary of Grand Lodge was celebrated at the Royal Albert Hall. Centrepiece of the celebrations was the installation as Grand Master of HRH The Duke of Kent, who still holds that office today. In 1966 in celebration of Freemasonry's 250th anniversary, Lord Scarbrough, launched a charitable appeal in February 1966 to mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Grand Lodge of Freemasons. It was marked with a massive donation by the Craft to the Royal College of Surgeons to endow a research chair at the College for the benefit of mankind as a whole. "The College has a long and special relationship with Freemasonry in England with the advancement of surgery, owing much to the generosity and constant support of Freemasons, who have contributed money and time to the College over many years. "He proposed that every English Freemason should give £1 towards `the betterment of human health and `happiness." The purpose of the appeal was to establish a charitable fund with the income being made available to the College for research. The appeal was enthusiastically embraced by Freemasons, and resulted in the establishment of the 250th Anniversary Fund for "research into the science of surgery". This fund is used for non-Masonic charities and endows research units under the auspices of the Royal College of Surgeons. More than £580,000 was raised, and used to create the first Masonic charity with exclusively non-Masonic objectives. In its first years, the fund gave £25,000 to the Royal College of Surgeons of England, financing the first three Freemasons’ surgical research fellowships, a dental research fellowship and a library grant to help with the research process. The donation took the form of a collection equal to £1 per member of the Lodge to the Grand Master’s Fund. Lodges achieving their own target in this respect were accorded the right to a 250th Anniversary Commemorative Jewel; to mark this event the Jewel now adorns the Master’s collar. The medallion is in ‘Red and Blue’ enamel showing the Arms of the Premier Grand Lodge and the years 1717 to 1967. The charity’s objectives remain ‘to further, in conjunction with the Royal College of Surgeons, research in the science of surgery’. The following address is suggested as being suitable for the use at Installation of the new Worshipful Master and could be delivered by the Installing Master, at his option, immediately after the presentation of the Warrant, Book of Constitutions and the By-Laws and Hall Stone Lodge Jewel if appropriate. (Extract from the Emulation Ritual Book) Worshipful Master, during the Ceremony of Installing you into the Chair of this Lodge, I had the honour of investing you with the Collar and Jewel of your office. In addition to the Square, that collar is adorned with the Commemorative Jewel indicating that the members of this Lodge played their part in establishing a Fund which commemorated the preservation of Freemasonry through two and a half centuries. The design of the jewel embodies the central theme of the Arms first granted to the ‘Hole Crafte and Fellowship of Masons; in 1472. As you are aware, the income from this very substantial Fund is placed at the disposal of the Royal College of Surgeons of England to further research into the science of surgery as a real and practical contribution for the betterment of the health and happiness of humanity. I feel sure, Worshipful Master, the members will always feel great pride and satisfaction that the adornment to the Master’s Collar marks the Lodge’s participation in this great enterprise. Personally I think that this jewel for those Lodges between 1918 & 1967 should prize this Jewel as those Lodges that have the Hall Stone Jewel. By the way, my District has now applied to UGLE for further information on the presentation within our District. Hopefully I'll get some more information shortly

A Lodge contributed to this fund, in and around 1967 and as a result was awarded the 250th Anniversary Commemorative Jewel to wear on the WM's collar. Does anyone know how I can find out which Lodges contributed and were awarded this Jewel. I have recently come across the jewel discarded in the waste bin but no one claims ownership.

Interesting story. If he was indeed a Freemason before 1958 he would have registered in his REAL name. There lies the problem. With out this detail it will be impossible to search the records to find him. Sorry

Note that you do not need to be awarded Provincial Honors. A MM has has been outstanding for many many years can be promoted to a Past Provincial Grand Pursuivant with rosettes on his apron. Very rare but can be. Sorry, didn't see the post above before I posted my comments

I don't get involved with politics

Well said

Only the last one is recognised by UGLE

No toast are to be given when the waiting staff are in the dining room. This should be down to your DoC. There is a laid out procedure for toast giving when having a function with non-masons in attendance as stated above by Sontaran

This was sent out via my District. You might enjoy the read Jan._2019.pdf