Mark Degree
The Order of
Mark Master Masons is an
appendant order of
Freemasonry which requires its candidates for admission to be Master Masons.
Structure
Throughout the majority of the Masonic world the Order is, as with most appendant bodies, an independent and sovereign entity; in the
United States it forms part of the aggregation of bodies into the
York Rite.
Where the order is independent it is governed in a similar manner to
freemasonry with a
Grand Lodge structure supported by Provincial Grand Lodges and private
lodges.
In Scotland the degree is worked in both
craft lodges and in
Royal Arch Chapters according to the requirements of the candidate, being a pre-requisite for admission to the Royal Arch.
The Order comprises two grades conferred in a single ceremony:
*Mark Man
*Mark Master
Many Mark Lodges have an associated Lodge of the Royal Ark Mariners degree. A RAM Lodge must necessarily be
moored to a Mark Lodge, bearing its number and, usually, name. However the connection is purely administrative and neither historical nor philosphical, and some Mark Lodges do not choose to obtain a warrant to work the RAM degree.
Allegorical Legend
Similarly to Craft Freemasonry the Mark degree ritual conveys moral and ethical lessons using a ritualised allegory based around the building of King
Solomon's Temple. Although only open to Master Masons, the events of the ritual require the candidate to undertake the role of a Fellowcraft. The degree is seen therefore as a completion of the Fellowcraft and the philosophical lessons conveyed are appropriate to this stage in a Freemason's development.
History
There are many old masons' marks on buildings, and references to formally making or registering marks in operative Scottish minute books and by-laws and in old statutes and rituals. However it is not known when the status of Mark Mason was first formally conferred in Freemasonry, although Thomas Dunckerley was certainly active in 1769.
Thereafter the degree, like many of the appendant degrees, was worked in craft Lodges. It was outlawed by the Articles of Union of the
United Grand Lodge of England in 1813. Following the Union and the formation of Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter as a complement to UGLE, many Lodges and Chapters claimed inherent jurisdiction to confer the Mark. In 1856 UGLE resolved that the degree should be a graceful addition to Craft Masonry, however the Grand Lodge minute was not later confirmed and as a result the order continued as an independent body. Mark Grand Lodge was immediately established with a separate administration.
As Freemasonry spread around the globe in the 18th and 19th Centuries, Mark Masonry became well established and now has a worldwide presence. Since all Mark Masters are necessarily first Master Masons, the relationship between the separate Grand Lodges is naturally close and fraternal. In England, the current Mark Grand Master, HRH Prince Michael of Kent, being the natural brother of the Craft Grand Master, HRH the Duke of Kent.
*
Mark Province of Hertfordshire website
