Page 6 - Thinking of becoming a Freemason
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Those who support the indirect As stonemasons were accustomed to This theory is based on information from
link believe the originators travelling all over the country and as there Scotland where there is ample evidence of
were no trade union cards or certificates of Scottish operative Lodges – geographically
of Freemasonry were men
apprenticeship, they began to adopt a private defined units with the backing of statute law
who wished to promote tolerance word which they could use when arriving at a to control what was termed The Mason Trade.
and build a better world in new site to prove they were properly skilled
There is also plenty of evidence that these
which men of differing opinions and had been a member of a hut or Lodge.
Lodges began to admit gentlemen as
could peacefully co-exist It was, after all, easier to communicate a accepted Masons.
and work together for the secret word to prove who you were and that
There is no evidence, so far, that these
betterment of mankind you were entitled to your wages, than it was accepted members were other than honorary
to spend hours carving a block of stone to
masons, or that they in any way altered the
demonstrate your skills.
nature of the operative Lodges.
It is known that in the early 1600s these
Furthermore, no evidence has come to light,
operative Lodges began to admit non-
after a hundred years, for a similar
stonemasons. They were Accepted or
development in England.
Gentlemen Masons. Why and what form the
ceremony took is unknown. Medieval building records have references to
stonemason’s Lodges, but after 1400, apart
As the 1600s drew to a close, more
from Masons’ guilds in some towns, there is
gentlemen joined the Lodges, gradually
no evidence for operative Lodges.
taking them over and turning them into
Lodges of free and accepted, or speculative
...It was easier to communicate a
Masons. The Lodges no longer had any
connection with the stonemasons’ craft. secret word to prove who you were
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