Monday, 10 February 2025, 10:24 AM
Site: The Mason Word
Course: 1. Freemasonry for Non-Masons (Freemasonry for Non-Masons)
Glossary: Some Jargon Explained

Craft

This term is often used to describe the practice of Freemasonry, e.g. becoming a member of the Scottish Craft.

It refers to the series of degrees practised by lodges operating under the Grand Lodge of Scotland.

Freemasonry originated in Scotland as lodges of stone-masons started to admit gentlemen who were not operative stonemasons.  The use of the term Craft' to describe the system may be said to hark back to this learning of a skill, or craft.

In Anglo-Saxon, craft meant cunning, skill, power, dexterity, etc. The word became applied to trades and occupations calling for trained skill on the part of those practicing it. The distinction between such trades and those not requiring trained workmen, so rigidly maintained, was one of the hallmarks of the Middle Ages.

Freemasonry is called a Craft, partly for historical reasons, partly because, unlike so many fraternities, it requires a training (given in the form of initiation ceremonies) of those seeking its membership.


Grand Lodge of Scotland

Grand Lodge of Scotland CrestThe Grand Lodge of Scotland has 32 Provincial Grand Lodges in Scotland itself, and 26 District Grand Lodges overseas, each headed by a Provincial Grand Master or District Grand Master. Private lodges belong to a Province or District, through which they report to the Grand Lodge in Edinburgh.

The Grand Lodge of Scotland, together with the United Grand Lodge of England and the Grand Lodge of Ireland, is one of the three senior Regular Masonic jurisdictions, commonly known as the 'Home' Grand Lodges. The three operate closely together, through a formal memorandum of cooperation and common rules for recognition of Masonic bodies internationally. Inter-visitation rights with the Home Grand Lodges are generally considered the chief mark of masonic regularity

Operative Mason

An operative mason is an individual involved in working as a stonemason - actively involved in fashioning and building in stone.

Speculative Freemason

The term 'speculative' refers to those gentlemen who joined lodges of operative masons in the seventeenth century.  By association the term is also applied to present-day Freemasons (sometimes also called Masons).

The terms Freemason and Mason are often used interchangeably, however sometimes for disambiguation the term Freemason is used for the Speculative lodges, and Mason used to describe Operative stonemasons.

Cowan

Cowan is not a word we encounter much nowadays. It originated back in the days of mediaeval stonemasons. Building in stone required training and long and patient study, to understand how a building’s structure and stability depended on geometry. This understanding was known as a ‘secret art and hidden mystery’, not to be shared by the stonemasons with their untrained and unskilled fellow workers, known as cowans.

The word was also used to refer to dry stone wallers, who built walls by piling up field stones, a technique that is still used today in many parts of the UK. These workers did not use mortar and shaped stones (‘ashlars’) that were used by stonemasons to build churches, castles and cathedrals. Hence, among stonemasons, a cowan was an outsider who must be kept at a distance.

In Scotland, the word was used to refer to stonemasons who had never completed their apprenticeships, but who worked alongside qualified stonemasons. They were the ‘cowboy builders’ of their time.

Degree

One of a series of three progressive stages in becoming a Freemason.  The ceremonies consist of morality 'plays' using ritual.

Entered Apprentice

The first of the three Degrees involved in becoming a Freemason.  When a candidate is initiated he is 'Entered' an apprentice in the same way that the operative mason would become indentured to a stonemason to learn his skills.

Fellowcraft

The second of the Degrees involved in becoming a Freemason.  Having undertaken further study the apprentice would advnace to become a Journeyman, or Fellow of the Craft.  The term us sometimes referred to in a Speculative lodge as Fellow Craft, or Fellowcraft.

Master Mason

The third of the Degrees involved in becoming a Freemason.  While the earlier terms (Entered Apprentice and Fellowcraft) originate from the operative mason, the Third Degree dates only from the Eighteenth Century, and is wholly speculative.

Harmony

St David (University Lodge) HarmonyIn Scotland the social meal following a Lodge Meeting is referred to as "Harmony".

Bear in mind that Harmony after a Lodge Meeting is a continuation of the Meeting so although a relaxed and social atmosphere is appropriate, and indeed desirable, loud, coarse or intemperate behaviour is unacceptable.