                         The Tyler
                     by Auri Spigelman


THE Masonic poet, Rob Morris, romanticized the tyler in his immortal 
poem:

   God bless the Old Tyler! How long has he truged 
   Through sunshine and storm with his "summonses due" 
   No pain nor fatigue the Old Tyler has gruged 
   To serve the great Order, Freemasonry, and you.

   God bless the Old Tyler! How oft he was led 
   The funeral procession from Lodge door to grave! 
   How grandly his weapon has guarded the dead 
   To their last quiet home where Acacia boughs wave.

   God bless the Old Tyler! How oft he has knocked 
   When, vigilant, strangers craved welcome and rest! 
   How widely your portals though guarded and locked, 
   Have swung to the signal the Tyler knows best!

   There's a lodge where the door is not guarded or tyled, 
   There's a land without graves, without mourners or sin, 
   There's a Master most gracious, paternal and mild 
   And he waits the Old Tyler and bids him come in!

   And there the Old Tyler no longer outside, 
   No longer with weapon of war in his hand, 
   A glorified spirit, shall grandly abide 
   And close by the Master high-honored, shall stand.

Historically, we know that the medieval operative craft guilds jealously 
guarded their trade secrets. They would post a sentry outside the 
meeting place to protect it from inspection or intrusion by the 
uninitiated. He was known as an "outer guard", "guarder" or "doorkeeper" 
and often was the most junior apprentice, who was not eligible to attend 
the trade discussions.
   From a Masonic perspective, the tyler continued this "guarding" 
tradition. In the 1723 "First Book of Constitutions", Dr. James Anderson 
mentioned "another brother to look after the door, but shall not be a 
member of it" and in Regulation XXVI charged the use of "porters or 
doorkeepers." The English Grand Lodge, in 1728, ascribed him more 
importance as an "officer who kept the door" and in its minutes of June 
8, 1732, initially referred to his specific title as "the Tyler." In 
1738 he was described as "brother the doorkeeper to lock up all aprons." 
The word "tyler" first appeared in print in new Regulation XXVI of the 
1738 "Second Book of Constitutions." Here Anderson recalled "Old 
Regulation XIII" of the first Grand Lodge of 17l7, which required that 
"another brother and Master Mason, should be appointed the Tyler, to 
look after the door." And so our ritual today tells us that he is "a 
brother without the door."
  The early tylers wore very colorful clothing. The Grand Lodge Tyler of 
1736, for example, was described as wearing a red waistcoat under a dark 
blue coat trimmed with gold lace, yellow trousers and a large triangular 
hat. He even wore this uniform in public, as when delivering summonses 
or in processions, and was often subject to ridicule.
   The ritual tells us that he is "armed with the proper implement of 
his office", not only to ward off potential intruders but also to 
symbolically guard the Book of Constitutions from alteration. This was 
described as "a sharp instrument', initially a pointed trowel and later 
a sword. It gave him such great authority that even our military 
brethren of yesteryear were required to relinquish their swords before 
entering the lodge room. Today our tyler uses only an emblem of his 
position, a single unsheathed sword. However in other jurisdictions it 
may be crossed swords, right over left. Before opening some English 
lodges, a sword lies on the Master's pedestal. At the proper moment, the 
tyler is summoned into the lodge and must answer certain questions as to 
his place and duties. Then the Master hands him the sword, investing him 
with the power to ward off intruders and "suffer none to pass but such 
as were duly qualified." It is interesting that English, Irish and 
Scottish lodges have an "Inner Guard" posted within the lodge room door, 
under the direction of the Junior Warden. He shares responsibilities 
with the tyler, monitoring member's entry and exit, announcing visitors 
and advising entrants as to which degree the lodge is working on.
   Who is this tyler and what are his duties? He is appointed to his 
office and compensated for his duties and "lonely position." He is a 
Master Mason, usually a Past Master, who is respected and well-informed 
in Masonic law and custom. His qualities must include a good memory, 
trustworthiness, dignity, geniality, understanding, sympathy, patience 
and dedication. He need not be a member of the lodge, but if so, has the 
right to debate and vote. He recognizes and greets the brethren, 
assuring that they are "duly qualified" by being clean, not inebriated 
and properly clothed with aprons. He is a "one-man welcoming committee' 
for visitors, giving them the first and most important impression of his 
lodge. He assures that members and visitors sign the "Tyler's Register." 
In the old days, when taverns and other non-permanent places were used, 
it was the tyler's charge to "form" or "draw" the lodge with chalk and 
charcoal. Within a rectangle he displayed various Masonic emblems of the 
proper degree level. His classical duties included the preparation and 
service of notices and summonses. He had the key to the "apron box" and 
was in charge of the lodge's possessions, arranging them properly for 
upcoming meetings and securing them afterwards. He gave notice of the 
times of "calling on" and "calling off", oversaw the proper preparation 
of candidates and even collected visitor's dinner fees! The special 
"Tyler's Knock" signals the lodge already in-session that a qualified 
brother requests admission. He will refuse entry to anyone whom he does 
not personally recognize or who cannot be "properly vouched for" by 
another brother. If this visitor is subsequently cleared by an ad-hoc 
examining committee, he will administer the "Tyler's Oath." This will 
ascertain that the brother was "regularly" initiated, passed and raised 
in a "just and legally-constituted lodge", that he stands not suspended 
or expelled from his own lodge, and that there is no other reason why he 
cannot hold Masonic communication with the brethren of this lodge.
   The tyler is specifically warned to "observe the approach of cowans 
and eavesdroppers" and not allow their entry into the lodge. What is a 
"cowan"? Theories abound in the Masonic literature about the word's 
derivations from one of several languages, with diverse meanings such as 
"dog", "wretch" or "silly fellow." It probably was a sixteenth-century 
Scottish operative term of contempt, given to the ignorant or partially 
instructed laborer, who hadn't completed the proper period of 
apprenticeship and who was perhaps skilled in only one  facet of 
masonry. He was also known as "rough mason" or "dry-diker", who built 
structures with unhewn stones and without mortar, the stones keeping in 
position only by their own weight. His exclusion from guild membership 
was a necessary means of trade protection from competition by unskilled 
laborers. Some "cowans", though, were Master Masons who had been 
expelled or moved to another area without joining the local lodge. The 
old Lodge of Kilwinning warned that, under penalty, a Master Mason 
should not employ a "cowan" unless a regular craftsman was not found 
within fifteen miles of the building site. In later times, though, they 
were employed by the guilds for their specific skills, at lower 
compensation rates. Speculatively, the term "cowan" refers to one who is 
not yet a Master Mason, a Master Mason dropped for cause, or one who has 
unlawful Masonic knowledge, having been initiated or having 
communication with an "irregular" or "clandestine" lodge. The 
"eavesdropper", however, is a more suspicious character. "Eaves" 
describes the space between a building's wall and the line where the 
rain-water "drops" of the roof. Here the surreptitious listener could 
position himself, monitoring conversations in the lodge from which he 
might learn some of its secrets or gather material to create slanderous 
tales. 'The modern eavesdropper receives his information from various 
sources and then masquerades as a Mason in order to obtain charity or 
other means of help.
   The spellings "tyler" and "tiler" are interchangeable, with the 
former an older usage. The Masonic application of the word, subject to 
much uncertainty and speculation as to its symbolism, may somehow derive 
from the interdependent working relationship of the operative masons and 
tilers. Indeed, their regulations and ordinances, called "poyntz", were 
quite similar (these survive today in such expressions as "arts, parts, 
and points", "points of entrance" and "five points of fellowship"). The 
most prominent etymologic theory is that "tile" was derived from the 
Latin 'tegula', meaning "to cover". With the Roman occupation of 
Britain, bricks and tiles were introduced as permanent building 
materials. But after the Romans' withdrawal, the style reverted to 
wooden buildings covered with reeds and straw. Unfortunately, these 
combustible buildings were set quite close together. After a series of 
devastating fires in London an ordinance was passed in 1212 requiring 
that roofs be covered with tiles, lead, shingles or plastered straw. The 
operative Tiler Guilds were formed at about that time (and existed until 
the mid-1800's). So, it was thought, that as the operative tiler covered 
the roof of a building with tiles to conceal its interior and protect it 
from the elements, so the Masonic tyler figuratively "covers" or 
protects the secrets of the lodge by guarding it from inspection or 
intrusion by the uninitiated. The strange Masonic word "hele" had a 
relation to the word "tile", in that the Latin 'helan' also meant "to 
cover or conceal." Tradesmen known as "helyers" (equivalent to 
"roofers") thatched with reeds, heled with tiles, or daubed with plaster 
to cover a building. To "heal" a wound, with modern spelling, is to 
"cover it". 'Hele' does not mean 'accost" or "salute".
   Another theory comes from a book entitled "Proces de Templier", which 
discussed early French knighthood. While Chapter meetings were being 
held, a sentry known as the "Tuiller" was posted on the roof, on the 
tiles. From this lofty position he could easily observe the approach of 
any unauthorized person. It is thought that the English adopted this 
French custom for the craft lodges. Although their functions are 
similar, it seems somewhat far-fetched that our "guarder of the door" 
was derived from the "sentry on the roof"!
   I would like to propose a new theory about the tyler's origin, having 
nothing to do with tiles or its craft. Consider that the word "tiler" 
was derived or misspelled from the word "tiller"! Even if spelled with a 
'y', 'tyller', the phonetics of the 'y' need not be 'eye' but rather 
'ih', like the first 'y' in the words 'sympathy' or 'tympany' The tiller 
of a boat is defined as a lever that steers the rudder and a tiller of 
the earth describes one who properly cultivates it. From the first 
meaning, we can make the speculative analogy that as the boat's tiller 
properly sets its course to a proposed destination guiding it to avoid 
obstacles and thereby guarding it from harm, so our tyler cares for each 
worthy brother and candidate. In his ante-room he registers, clothes and 
then directs him on a proper course into the lodge room. From the second 
meaning, we learn about proper preparation by the dispersion of impeding 
growth conditions. We may speculate that as the tiller plows and hoes, 
uprooting the weeds and loosening or removing the stones, and then 
fertilizes and sows the earth, so our tyler protects the lodge from 
intrusion of improper influences and correctly prepares each brother and 
candidate. Then, the analogy continues, as the earth has thus become 
receptive to plant growth, so may the brother or candidate be considered 
qualified to undergo a symbolic passage or transition from the mundane 
physical world to an environment conducive to spiritual growth within 
the lodge. Our tyler, therefore, can be thought of as a "tiller of men." 
Although I have no historical evidence to substantiate this etymological 
insight, I believe that the theory well describes the position and 
duties of our tyler
   Since we learn the value of proper preparation and the virtue of 
caution from him, then each of us should, in a way, be our own tyler. 
Let us tyle ourselves when recommending and investigating candidates. 
Let us tyle our discussions about the ritual. Let us tyle the business 
discussed in lodge, especially that which relates to our members and 
candidates. Let us tyle our words and actions to foster harmony, as this 
will not only preserve our own integrities and reputations, but also 
that of our beloved Fraternity.

REFERENCES: CAR, H. "The Freemason at Work" Lewis Masonic, London 1981. 
pp. 86-89, 282-283, 396-397. Carter, C.J. "The Inner Guard and Deacons". 
Lewis Masonic, London 1990. pp. 1-17. Coil, H.W. "Coil's Masonic 
Encyclopedia" Macoy Publishing, New York 1961. pp. 149, 216, 654-655. 
DePace, M. "Introducing Freemasonry" Lewis Masonic, London 1988. pp 67-
68. Haywood, H.L. "Symbolical Masonry" Southern Publishers, Kingsport, 
TN 1923. pp. 292-293. Jones, B.E. "Freemason's Guide and Compendium" 
Harrap, London 1956. pp. 387-393, 420-425. Macbride, A.S. October 1929. 
Ibid. "The Sword in the Craft" Short Talk Bulletin, 8:1 January 1930. 
Ibid. "Old Tyler Oddities" Short Talk Bulletin. 21:2 February 1943. 
Ibid. "Tylers Operative and Speculative" Short Talk Bulletin, 69:8. 
August 1991. McNulty, W.K. "The Way of Craftsmen" Arkana, London 1988. 
pp 39-40, 96. Murray, A.A. "Freemason and Cowan" Ars Quatour 
Coronatorum: 21 1908. pp. 195-203. Ward, E. "The Tylers" Ars Quatour 
Coronatorum: 74 1961. pp. 73-86. Wells, R.A. "The Tyler or Outer Guard 
(Prestonian Lecture for 1977) The Collected Prestonian Lectures, 1975-87 
(Volume 3) Lewis Masonic, London 1988. pp. 34-33.

AUTHOR NOTE: Auri Spigelman is senior warden of Composite Lodge No. 595. 
Los Angeles of the Grand Lodge of California. He is also a member of the 
Grand Lodge Education Committee.       (uploader note 04/17/93)

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