THE BUILDER MAY 1927

The Precious Jewels

BY BROS. A. L. KRESS AND R. J. MEEKREN
(Continued)

IN the previous articles we have discussed the tradition that the
Jewels of the Lodge were the Rough Ashlar, Broached Thurnel or
Dornal and Trestle Board, and we saw reason to believe that this
was very close to genuine Operative usages. But this being accepted
how are we to interpret the other tradition, so much more fully
represented, which speaks of a Square Ashlar, a Diamond and a
Square. Not only, as we have seen, do the larger number of the
documents concur in this--there are only two that give the other
list-- but there are additional references that give evidence of
its existence. Prichard in his third part inserts a bit of doggerel
verse which runs as follows:

Exam. R. An enter'd 'Prentice I presume you have been Jachin and
Boaz I have seen A Master Mason I was made most rare With Diamond,
Ashler and the Square.

Another version of this appears in the preparatory matter of the
Examination, which thus parallels the accounts of the jewels in
this catechism:

An enter'd Mason I have been 
Boaz and Jachin I have seen 
A Fellow I was sworn most rare 
And know the Astler, Diamond and Square 
I know the Master's part full well 
As Honest Maughbin will you tell.

Still another variant was brought to light by the Procession of
Scald Miserable Masons, at least it was recorded in the
letter-press accompanying the engraving that professed to picture
this elaborate mockery of the Craft:

Jachin and Boaz I have seen 
An enter'd 'Prentice I have seen 
A Fellow Craft I am most rare 
By Perpentashler and the Square.

The term Perpentashler at once recalls the Chetwode Crawley MS.

Q. 12th. Are there any Jewells in yor Lodge?
Ansr. Three, Perpendester, Square Pavement and an Brobed Mall.

"Ester" is undoubtedly a form of "ashlar," a word with a remarkable
number of variant forms; no less than sixteen are given in the New
English Dictionary. This form exactly is not included among them,
but the very similar one "estler" is, of which it is possibly a
corruption. Other forms are "aselar" and "aislar" which are much
closer to the original French form "aisselle." This shows that the
dental sound or aspirate that English dialect was inclined to
insert did not always appear. This will be referred to again later.

The last quotation may be compared with Prichard and the
Confession. We have here a Square Pavement, an ashlar with a new
qualification, perpend, and finally another mysterious object, the
Brobed Mall. Bro. Dring gives it as Brohed Mall, and it will
strengthen the following argument if he be right in this. In making
a copy from a photograph of the MS. the fourth letter appeared to
be intended for a "b." At the time of writing this there is no
opportunity to make sure which reading is correct, that is whether
it be "brobed" or "brohed."

Mall again recalls another passage in the Confession:

Q. Where lies the cappell-tow?
A. Eighteen or nineteen feet and a half from the lodge door and at
the end of it lies the cavell-mell to dress the stones with.

The word gavel occurs in the dialect forms of Kevel or cavel,
described as "an axe hammer, or stone mason's hammer," and we could
possibly accept this phrase cavell-mell as equivalent to
gavel-mall, or gavel mallet. Mallet, though now restricted to a
percussion tool made of wood, is from the Latin malleus, a hammer;
so that this instrument is undoubtedly the "common gavel," as the
description of its use would by itself imply.

But are we justified in explaining "brobed" or "brobed mall" as the
same thing as the gavel ? It seems plausible, but the fact that the
other two items with which it is associated correspond to two of
the jewels as given by Prichard and the Confession prompts a closer
consideration. If, as we have thought, "Broached dornal" appears in
the "Porch, Dormer, and Square Pavement" listed among the Master's
jewels [in printed works later than Prichard they are called the
"Ornaments" of a Master's Lodge] it does not seem impossible that
the first syllable of "dornal" has suffered elision following the
similar sound in the termination of "broached," just as "an apron"
is really derived by mispronunciation from "a napron," and this of
course would bring it back to something like the original "ornal."
The change would be very easy if the accent had come to be placed
on the last syllable of the word. If we suppose (which in view of
the manifold mispronunciations of these phrases is quite possible)
that there was a form "dormal" it would account both for "mall" and
"dormer" as variations, as the sounds of "I" and "r" are easily
taken one for the other. The transformations of broached into
"brobed" or "brohed" is harder to account for; but the latter form
might well have been written at some time as an abbreviation. Some
of these corruptions seem best explained as due to oral
transmission and some as due to copyist's errors. The two
explanations are by no means incompatible if we assume, as is
inherently very probable, that the various traditions were passed
along in both ways, with constant reactions on each other.

Now the doggerel verses just quoted are all so very similar in
content that it seems justifiable to assume that they come from a
common tradition, if not from a common original. Taking first the
connection of the last one with the list in the Chetwode Crawley
MS., we are inclined to conclude that the "Square" coupled with
"Perpentashlar" is to be equated with the "Square Pavement" that
follows the "Perpendester," and that it is not the tool that is
intended. This is obviously a perfectly possible meaning even
according to present day usage. The word square is ultimately
derived from the Latin quadrus through the form exquadere, to make
square or four sided, and the old French esquierre. Its use as a
name for the implement would thus seem really to be in origin a
secondary one. Incidentally it may be remarked that the usage is
quite modern which limits the word when applied to a figure to one
that is equal sided as well as rectangular; so that the phrase a
"long square," or what is more familiar, an "oblong square," is
perfectly correct. Indeed the term "oblong," as meaning a rectangle
longer than wide, is really only an abbreviation of the older and
more definite phrase still retained in Masonic formularies, where,
that is, these have not been marred by corrections and emendations,
such as "regular parallelepipedon !"

The conclusion that "square" in this connection is the same thing
as the "square pavement" is strengthened somewhat by the fact that
in several cases the implement is also quite definitely mentioned
elsewhere in the same document as part of the necessary "furniture"
of a lodge; though this latter term itself, it must be remembered,
does not appear before Prichard. The Mystery and the Examination
both have the following question:

What makes a just and perfect lodge?

To which the second gives the answer:

A Master, two Wardens and four Fellows with Square, Compass and
Common Gudge

the first adding "five Apprentices" to the list.

The group to which the Grand Mystery belongs all have, with some
slight and unessential variations, the following:

Where were you made a Mason?
In a just and perfect lodge.
How many makes a lodge?
God and the Square with Five or Seven right and perfect Masons on
the highest mountains or the lowest valleys in the world.

This reminds us of the phrase from the Confession quoted previously
in another connection:

The Square our Master under God.

Again the Dumfries Kilwinning MS. No. 4 has this:


Q. How many pillars in your lodge?
A. Three.
Q. What are these?
A. Ye square, the compass and ye Bible.

Which recalls at once Prichard's second list of "furniture."

Q. What is the other Furniture of a lodge? 
A. Bible, Compass and Square.
Q. Who do they properly belong to?
A. Bible to God, Compass to the Master, and Square to the Fellow
Craft.

And finally the Sloane MS. No. 3329, which contains two catechisms,
has in the one:

Q. What were you sworn by?
A. By God and the square

and in the other:

Q. How many lights in your lodge?
A. Three, the sun, the mast'r and the square.

All these quotations in spite of their great divergence in
nomenclature or classification evidently speak of essentially the
same thing, that is of the requirements necessary to make a lodge
"just and perfect." Spoken of variously as lights or pillars or
furniture, or merely included in a general definition, they all
tend to indicate a substantial unity of actual practice; which in
effect seems to be that when a lodge was formed to "enter" or
"make" Masons the chief working tools of the Craft were necessary
requirements, presumably because used in some way in the
ceremonies. The Bible, which is mentioned only twice, does not
appear to be really an innovation, however, as all the Old Charges
imply that the oath was sworn on a "Book," undoubtedly in earlier
days the Book of the Gospel; but the discussion of this question
will be more appropriate in another connection. The special point
to note here is that in all these places the square, meaning
certainly the implement, is emphatically referred to as necessary
in a lodge. It is not of course a conclusive argument considering
the many parallels and overlappings we have already noted, but it
does help to strengthen the supposition that the square referred to
as one of the jewels is the same thing as the square pavement.

TABULATION OF RESULTS

The results that we have arrived at in the course of this
necessarily lengthy discussion can perhaps be best recapitulated in
the form of a table. We can divide the different references into
five groups according to their similarity in phraseology, thus:

I.

Confession 
Prichard (A) 
French Version 
Prichard (D)

Square Pavement
Trestle Board
Tracing Board
Square Pavement

Dinted Ashlar
Rough Ashlar
Brute stone

Broached Dornal
Broached Thurnel
Pointed Stone
Porch Dormer

II.

Chetwode Crawley MS. 
Scald Miserables

Square Pavement
Square

Perpendester
Perpentashlar

Brobed Mall


III.

Grand Mystery Group
Examination Group
Prichard (C)

Square
Square
Square

Square Asher
Astler
Ashler

Diamond
Diamond
Diamond

IV

Sloane MS.
Prichard (B)
French Version

Square Pavement
Mosaic Pavement
Mosaic Pavement

Danty Tassley
Indented Tessel
Dentelated Tassel

Blazing star
Blazing star
Blazing star


These four groups represent fifteen different references, or
sixteen if we allow the reconstruction of the missing answer in the
Catechism of the Mystery. In three of these it may be noted, there
is no classification; in one the term furniture, in another
ornaments, is used as a description, while in the remaining eleven
they are definitely called jewels, so that there is in favor of
this last appellation a considerable consensus of the evidence.

It is now possible to condense these groups somewhat. Taking them
in succession, Group I has been reduced to the form Square
Pavement, Dinted Ashlar and Broached Dornal. Group II we are fairly
justified in representing by Square Pavement, Perpendester and
Broached Dornal. But as has been pointed out "ester" is only a form
of ashlar, and in the Scald Miserables version it actually is
Perpentashlar. Group III is Square, Square Ashlar and Diamond. But
we have found reason for assuming that Square here means the same
thing as the Square Pavement or Flooring which may thus be
substituted for it. Finally the prototype of Group IV we take to be
Square Pavement, Danty Tassley and Blazing star, as we have
supposed that Indented Tessel and such variants are only attempts
to rationalize this obscure and presumably corrupt phrase. We may
now retabulate as follows:

I. Square Pavement     
II    "     "
III   "     "
IV    "     "

Dinted Ashlar
Square Ashlar
Perpend Ashlar
Danty Tassley

Broached Dornal
Broached Dornal
Diamond
Blazing star

From this it certainly begins to seem as if all versions, if not
originally the same in form, were at least equivalent. But it may
be possible to bring them into still closer accord. We have
interpreted the "dinted" ashlar as a worked or finished stone,
which is equivalent to a square, or squared, ashlar, so that I and
II may be taken as really amounting to the same thing.

In III we have instead of this a "perpend" ashlar and this seems
connected in sound with a later description, i. e. Perfect Ashlar.
Now "perfect" as applied to a stone, though it might seem
appropriate enough to the layman (apparently it has so seemed from
all that has been written about it) would be a rather meaningless
term to an operative craftsman. A "square," or "finished" stone
would be significant to him, but "perfect" is altogether too vague
and general a term for technical use. "Perpend," "perpent," or
"parpent," is actually such a technical term and may even yet be in
common use. It is a bonding stone, one that goes all through a wall
and has an exterior face at each end. We presume that whoever first
employed the term "perfect," also used the light of imagination to
interpret a term he did not understand instead of consulting a
dictionary !

A Perpend Ashlar is therefore a stone finished with some extra
care, at least in one particular, its length. It is in other
respects a square stone, and also finished or "dinted." It would
probably be longer in proportion to height and breadth in
comparison with other stones cut for the same wall, and just such
a stone set up on end would appear to be the most suitable for the
purpose of a testing block. This therefore falls into line with
Groups I and II.

The Diamond however remains unexplained. It is possible to suppose
that it might have been intended for a diamond-shaped paving block
or tile. However, though such tiles were frequently set diagonally,
or diamond-wise, they were generally square and not true rhombs.
But church pavements very frequently had borders, which when the
tiles were placed diamond fashion would be "indented." Also there
were often enough center patterns which were quite frequently based
on the triangle as a motif. Two triangles base to base would make
a diamond, interlaced they form a star. Such an idea certainly
seems to have underlain the later versions, represented as
ornaments in the French catechism we have quoted, which give us
mosaic or chequered pavement, indented or tessellated border and
central ornamental (or flaming) star. The diamond might then have
been regarded as a variant of this last, depending only on a
slightly different arrangement of the two basic triangles.

However this may be there are sundry scraps of evidence outside of
the Catechisms which point to some recognition of a diamond as
having something to do with the primitive Masonic system. For
example in illustration on page 136, which is part of the design on
a late 18th century "tracing board," we see, among the other
emblems a distinct diamond in white against the black background.
In the old French design that was shown on page 87 of THE BUILDER
for March will be noticed a rhomboid figure marked (6). In the
letter-press accompanying the original wood cut this is said to be
the Planche a tracer, pour les Maitres. In later French designs,
such as that given on page 120 last month, it is shown as a drawing
board, in a truer perspective and with some odds and ends of curves
depicted upon it. In the earlier form it is actually a diamond, and
calling it a planche a tracer may have been in the first place an
attempt to give it some interpretation. It may be noted also in
passing that the square and compasses when combined into the well
known figure that has come to be so closely connected with the
Craft form interiorly a diamond-shaped space, though it is not at
all probable that this has anything to do with the matter. There
is, however, one other echo of the diamond in relation to Masonry
that may be mentioned. In old monitors that include the Mark
Master's Degree are found two paragraphs about the working tools
that from their verbiage are obviously inheritances from the 18th
century. In the first of these we are told that:

The mind like the diamond in its original state is rude and
unpolished; but as the effect of the chisel on the external coat
soon presents to view the latent beauties of the diamond, so
education discovers the latent virtues of the mind . . .

and so on and so forth. We should, by the way, like to see a
lapidary undertaking to cut a diamond with a chisel. Nevertheless
there does seem, under the pure absurdity, a faint trace of some
tradition that what was called a "diamond," or whatever the
original term may have been for which diamond here stands, was
something that was worked with a chisel. Presumably, therefore, it
was a stone, though most certainly not a gem. There is another
ridiculous phrase connected with the Mark Degree still extant and
though entirely aside from the subject we cannot resist pointing
out its nonsensical character; it runs:

. . . the point of the chisel, under pressure of the mallet.

This is like the famous definition of a crab; it is a very good
description, excellent indeed, with the exception only that a
chisel has an edge not a point, and a mallet is an implement of
percussion not of pressure. "On the edge of the chisel under impact
of the mallet" would at least be sense. This phrase, by the way,
has no great antiquity; it was originated at the earliest when this
side degree was organized in the latter part of the eighteenth
century.

