THE BUILDER MAY 1916

DISCUSSING THE PREVIOUS QUESTION

BY BRO. R.I.CLEGG, OHIO

"TIDES EBB AND FLOW TWICE IN THE TWENTY-FOUR HOURS."

WHEN I ran across this reference some months ago in The Builder I
promptly made a note of it for future comment. But man proposes and
man procrastinates. Since then several of the brethren have
mentioned the matter, and thus there is less than ever for me to
say about it. Nevertheless, not all the interest has been squeezed
out of the original query.

First of all, I beg of our Editor to be patient with me when I
respectfully demur to his use of the word "exaggeration" as applied
to sundry items, "errors" in his opinion, that have for "emphasis"
crept into our practices. While I will not deny that much of what
we say and do is open to attack upon one ground or another, yet I
must confess that there are several points of primarily a
mystifying character that on extended inquiry have disclosed a very
reasonable basis. So frequently has this been the case in my own
experience that I am now the slower to assume that a puzzling
expression may be but an error.

Certainly there are examples most perplexing. Take the 47th
proposition. Gow, in his "History of Greek Mathematics," points out
that the Pythagoreans were opposed to the shedding of blood. But
the sacrifice of a hecatomb is commonly understood to imply the
death of oxen or even a greater offering. It may be that the
followers of Pythagoras adopted the rule as to blood spilling after
the Master of their School had shown his appreciation bloodily of
his great discovery. I will not dogmatize on the subject. In fact,
I confess I wonder why as much or more is not said by us of Euclid
as is reported of Pythagoras.

Then, too, there is the maiden weeping beside the broken column. I
am not yet ready to answer all mine own questions about that
striking symbol that come to mind.

Having pointed out a few of the other difficulties in the way of
the student, let us return to the tides. If there be any doubt as
to the sequence twice in the day, then consult the scholarly
article in the "Encyclopedia Brittanica." Probably that authority
will be sufficient to demonstrate the accuracy of the phrase as
applied to certain places.

Some inquiry into "imprecations" long ago led me to collect a
number of significant instances that will, I am sure, be of
interest to the brethren in general. Particularly should these be
noteworthy to the correspondents who have already considered the
"tides" reference in these columns.

Death by slow drowning where the tide ebbed and flowed was once by
legal authority established as a proper punishment. There is even
of record an instance where to be cast into the sea after
mutilation was prescribed for those who by the imprecations of
their own mouths had invited its application should they be
forsworn.

Consider the following: In the curious ordinances which were
observed in the reign of Henry VI for the proper conduct of the
Court of Admiralty of the Humber, are enumerated various offenses
of a maritime connection and their due punishments. To adhere
closely to the character of the Court, and to be within the proper
jurisdiction of the Admiralty, the punishments were generally
inflicted at low-water mark. Be it further understood that from the
year 1451 the Mayor of Hull also officiated as the Admiral of the
Humber.

Andrews, in his exceedingly interesting study of "Bygone
Punishments," tells us of the ordinances that were to be enforced
by the Admiralty of the Humber. Among them were these: "You shall
inquire, whether any man in port or creek, have stolen any robes,
nets, cords, etc., amounting to the value of ninepence; if he have,
he must be hanged for the said crimes, at lowwater mark."

"If any person has removed the anchor of any ship, without licence
of the master or mariners, or both, or if any one cuts the cable of
a ship at anchor, or removes or cuts away a buoy, for any of the
said offenses he shall be hanged at low-water mark."

Remarkable as are these references from the standpoint of our
investigation, they do not comprise the whole of the material left
to us by the Admiralty of the Humber. The Court at its regular
sessions consisted of "Masters, merchants, and mariners, with all
others that do enjoy the King's stream with hook, net, or any
engine." The latter word, be it understood, had a broader meaning
than is now usually applied to it. But the Court being assembled
for obligation they were thus addressed:

"You, Masters of the Quest, if you or any of you discover or
disclose anything of the King's secret counsel or of the counsel of
your fellows (for the present you are admitted to be the King's
Counsellors) you are to be, and shall be, had down to the low-water
mark, where must be made three times, O Yes ! for the King, and
then and there this punishment, by the law prescribed, shall be
inflicted upon them; that is, their hands and feet bound, their
throats cut, their tongues pulled out, and their bodies thrown into
the sea."

The reader will see that there is a distinction in some way between
the two sets of criminals, those guilty of divulging the Royal
secrets, and those convicted of moving a buoy--a river or sea mark
comparable with a landmark in importance. Hanging has so
usually been deemed the most ignominious of deaths that the student
may right here ask himself, why it was that the disloyal
"Counsellor" was not choked by the rope rather than killed by the
knife and the wave. However, we will not just now discuss the
relative enormity of the two crimes, save only to say that there
is, I believe, a distinction made between the two classes of
persons; a difference indeed of much interest to Freemasons. Of
this I shall say a word or two later.

Turn we now to an excellent book: "The Customs of Old England," by
Snell. On page 225 is this still more pertinent paragraph:

"Suppose that a thief had been taken in the soken, stocks and a
prison were in readiness for him; and he was thence carried before
the Mayor to receive his sentence, but not until he had been
conveyed to Fitzwalter's court and within his franchise. The nature
of the sentence, to which the latter's assent was required, varied
with the gravity of the offense. If the person were condemned for
simple larceny, he was conducted to the Elms near Smithfield--the
usual place of execution before Tyburn was adopted for the purpose-
-and there 'suffered his judgment,' i. e., was hanged like other
common thieves. If on the other hand, the theft was associated with
treason, the crime, it was considered, called for more exemplary
punishment, and the felon was bound to a pillar in the Thames at
WoodWharf, to which watermen fastened their boats or barges, there
to remain during two successive floods and ebbs of the tide."

That franchise enjoyed by Fitzwalter was bitterly resented by the
Freemen of London. On the feast of St. Matthew, in 1347, it was
announced to the Common Council that these franchises "were wholly
repugnant to the liberties of the City." One thing he seemed
willing to concede, and that strangely enough was the particular
point we have been considering, the slow drowning of traitors at
the double turn of the tides.

Note also the comment that Snell offers in another place:

"This punishment (by drowning), which was most likely of
Scandinavian or Teutonic origin, was not confined to the soken in
which the Fitzwalters exercised jurisdiction. In the Cinque ports
it was the privilege of freemen condemned on a capital charge to be
drowned in the sea, whereas nonfreemen suffered the usual penalty
of hanging. At Hastings and Winchelsea, however, this distinction
is said not to have existed; at both places all executions took
place by drowning."

There is an article by Cuming Walters on "The Stool of Repentance"
which has reference to the old idea of punishment involved in the
double tides, albeit not intended for the taking of life but of
inflicting severe penance:

"The nuns of St. Bridgets Convent were made to undergo a
particularly barbarous penance in olden time for the most trifling
of peccadilloes. A steep high rock projects over the sea at the
Howe of Douglas, and can only be climbed with much difficulty. Half
way up is a hollow, and near the top a chair-like cavity. The
offending nuns were brought to the foot of the rock when the tide
was out, and compelled to climb the rock, and sit in either the
lower or higher chair until the tide ebbed and flowed twice. It was
a terrible predicament. The climber was always in danger of falling
into the sea, and the exposure to the elements, especially when the
incoming waters were roaring through the cavities, was enough to
stagger the firmest resolution."

Much more could be said but this is perhaps all that need be told
in print. My brethren will read between the lines. To me the quaint
expressions of the Fraternity are to be cherished. Of such is the
oblong square. Hidden beneath them are rich mines of bygone
practices, of olden philosophy and early ethics. Let us lay hands
upon the ritual with reverence. What may seem a blemish may be a
relic to be revered, not ruthlessly removed for destruction.

Furthermore, as to criticism in general. Surely I am not
presumptuous in urging that the Society encourage vigorous
independence of research. Let us all avoid what may not inaptly be
termed the sheepwalking school. For example, there are those who
hold that certain characteristic Christian allusions have of recent
date, comparatively, been grafted upon an unsectarian organization.
Is it impossible that the tendency has been the other way ? Perhaps
the fragments now remaining are but the remnants of a Craft
ceremony peculiarly rich with the impress of Christian Knighthood.
Reflections such as these are by no means presented with any claim
that they are easily proven. At best they are suggested as fair
grounds for further inquiry. Investigation and independence are
essential to our satisfactory progress. The last word has been said
on no Masonic topic at last reports. There is much to do. Let
tolerance prevail.

A VISION OF THE FLAG

(An International Anthem.) 
I gazed beyond the strife of alien brothers, 
And a vision of the glories yet to come. 
I saw a flag in the breeze unfurl-- 
A blessed flag-- 
That unfurled, and unfurled, and unfurled, 
And I gazed in rapture, in realization, and in wonder. 
I saw one star unfurl--
And then another, in the blue, 
The blessed blue of the sky; 
Stars of a golden light; 
And of the soul's magnitude. 
One star for each land and country 
Was in this flag that covered all-- 
And then I looked again-- 
And knew that I was gazing at the Heavens.
Not that we should love our country less,
But that we should love our whole world more. 
--Julian P. Scott.
