Monday 7th August 2017 saw ten brethren from the Province meet for a very convivial get together dinner at Ye Olde Turk restaurant in Trafalgar Road, Greenwich.
The special reason behind the dinner was these brethren were all potential joining members of the Greenwich Mark and Royal Ark Mariner Lodges. They, along with seven other brethren, will be joining as part of a recovery project led by our Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies, W.Bro. Perri Ahmet.
The purpose of the project is to reinvigorate one of our Province's oldest Lodges - The Greenwich Lodge No. 332 which meets at Mark Masons Hall in London and received its warrant on 23rd February 1884. The theme of the recovery is to make it a Fine Dining Lodge with an emphasis on Excellent Ritual.
You would not imagine that a group who have chosen fine dining for their meetings in St James's would naturally have got together in a Greenwich Kebab Restaurant, but the background to this is that in the Royal Ark Mariner Centenary history produced earlier this year, it is reported that a group of the Mark Lodge members met at the King William IV Hotel in Trafalgar Road, Greenwich to discuss the potential formation of a Royal Ark Mariner Lodge to be moored to the Greenwich Mark Lodge.
After some online research it was discovered that the hotel was still in existence, with the aforementioned Turkish restaurant operating from the ground floor. Hence, it was decided that this would be the perfect venue for an out of Masonic season get together.
As you can see from the accompanying photograph, an excellent time was had by all present, including our Provincial Grand Master, RW Bro. Archie Torrance, who is to be installed as Master on the 28th September 2017.
The Degree of Mark Master Mason is open to all Master Masons. The ceremony, in which a Brother is 'advanced', can be said to comprise two Degrees; the first in which he is acknowledged as a Mark Man, followed by the second where he becomes a Mark Master Mason. The Mark referred to in its title takes its name from the mark or symbol with which the stonemason identified his work and can still be found in many cathedrals and important buildings.
Much use is made of Holy Writ to instruct the Candidate and Brethren in the story which serves to teach that the real message is one of contemplation of human strengths and weaknesses. In chronological terms the Degree follows that of the Second Degree in Craft masonry. There is reputedly some evidence that the Degree is 400 years old but the earliest English records stem from 1769 when it was first worked in Chapter of Friendship, Royal Arch Chapter No. 257 (formerly No. 3) in Portsmouth. However, a minute book dated 1599 of the Lodge of Edinburgh states that several speculative brethren had appended their marks after their names.
The first meeting of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons was held on Monday, 23 June 1856.
The ordinary members' regalia comprises an apron and breast jewel. The apron is of white kid with a triangular flap bordered with a two inch ribbon of light blue with crimson edges. It has rosettes of the same colour whilst Masters and Past Masters have the rosettes replaced with silver levels. The jewel of the order is a key stone appended to a ribbon which matches the apron and bears a mallet & chisel which are the tools of the Order. The key stone, which bears certain characters, forms an integral part of the ceremony.
