A
FIRST FOR MARK MASONRY IN LINCOLNSHIRE
On saturday 25th April 2009,
a new Mark Lodge was consecrated at Grantham. The Mayflower
Lodge of M.M.M. No. 1899 was consecrated by the Provincial
Grand Master, R.W.Bro. The Rev. Trevor John Walker, assisted
by his Provincial team.
The picture
shows the PGM,R.W.Bro. the Rev. Trevor Walker; the Deputy
PGM, V.W.Bro. Trevor Kitchen; the Provincial Chaplain,
R.W.Bro Gordon Walkerley Smith and the Past Provincial
Grand Master R.W.Bro. Raymond Leonard Ringrose as the
W.Master, Ian Charlton receives the warrant from the PGM.
It is a first for the Province
in that it will be held in "daylight" hours
at Spilsby.
The consecration was followed by installation and W.Bro.
Ian Charlton was installed as the first Master by the
Deputy Provincial Grand Master, V.W.Bro Trevor Harold
Kitchen. The first meeting at Spilsby takes place on Tuesday
5th May at 11am.
V.W.Bro.Trevor Kitchen conratulates
W.Bro Ian Charlton after installing him as the first Master
of the Mayflower Lodge MMM No:1899.
ST
WITHUNS LODGE OF MMM NO:445 CELEBRATES 100TH ANNIVERSARY
St Swithuns Lodge MMM No:445 had a wonderful
night of celebration to mark their 100th Anniversary.
In addition to the ceremony, the evening
was made all the more special by the presentation of a
'50Years Certificate' to W.Bro. Victor Hirst PGStB by
V.W.Bro. Trevor Kitchen the Deputy Provincial Grand Master
together with a Rose Bowl and Stand which W.Bro. Cliff
Reeves (WM) presented to W.Bro. Hirst on behalf of the
Brethren of the Lodge.
Left to right: W.Bro.
J. C. Board GSD the Provincial DC, V.W.Bro. T.H. Kitchen
the DPGM, W.Bro. C.V. Hirst holding the Rose Bowl and
W.Bro. C.M. Reeves.
St Swithuns Lodge of MMM No:445 meet on the fourth Wednesday,
September (I), October, March, May and June at the Masonic
Hall Crowle.
TRAVELLING
GAVEL MOVES ON AGAIN
Urania Lodge of MMM No 326 from Louth reclaimed
the Travelling Gavel from St Wilfrids Lodge of MMM No
209 from Alford on Monday 24th November.
It was not planned, it was their Installation Evening
and when in the Temple it was discovered that the Worshipflu
Master, Bro.Les Darby, plus 7 other brethren of Urania
Lodge were present so he reclaimed it from the new Worshipful
Master of St Wilfrids, Bro.Gerald Howden.
As W.Bro. Ian Casteldine said in his report...."Sorry
about the picture no one had a camera so I took it with
my mobile phone you may be able to clean it up but at
least we will have a record of it. It is our Installation
Evening on Tuesday 9th December so I don't think we will
be in possession for very long.
PREVIOUS HOLDERS OF THE TRAVELLING GAVEL.
On Tuesday 14th October Bro.Philip Odling
and 12 of his Brethren from St Wilfrids Lodge of Mark
Master Masons No: 209 of Alford went to Urania Lodge MMM
No 326 at Louth and successfully claimed the travelling
Gavel.
The Worshipful Master of St Wilfrids
Lodge, Bro. P. Odling, receiving the gavel from the Master
of Urania Lodge, Bro. Les Darby watched by other Mark
Master Masons. Two of the St Wilfrids members are not
shown in the photograph.
The Travelling Gavel can be claimed whenever a visiting
Master and four of his Lodge Brethren attend the Lodge
holding the gavel. If two Lodges were to arrive to lay
claimthen the largest number takes the gavel. If both
Lodges have the same number of Brethren then the Lodge
having travelled the farthest distance gets the gavel.
The idea is to promote travelling betwen Mark Master Masosns
Lodges.
AND BEFORE THAT........
The WM along with 10 brethren of Urania
Lodge No:326 of MMM went to St Swithuns Lodge No:445 of
MMM at Crowle on Wednesday 26th March, 2008 and successfully
claimed the Travelling Gavel which will be taken to Provincial
Grand Mark Lodge of Mark Master Masons at North Hykeham
on Saturday 12th April to be presented to the Right Worshipful
Provincial Grand Master.
W.Bro.Cliff Reeves
WM of St Swithuns Lodge No. 445 of MMM presenting the
Travelling Gavel to W.Bro.Les Darby WM of Urania Lodge
No.326 of MMM.
At Crowle that night there were 41 members of St Swithuns
Lodge present and 39 visitors, and a very enjoyable evening
was had by all.
The next meeting of Urania Lodge when visitors can turn
up to claim the Travelling Gavel will be on Tuesday 14th
October 2008 so how about forming a raiding party to see
if your Lodge can lay claim to the gavel!.
AND BEFORE THAT:
In November at St Oswald's Mark Lodge No:387 which the
Provincial Grand Master had arranged to visit, there were
an unusally large contingent of visitors as well as the
P.G.M. and the Pr.G.D.C. This was probably down to the
Travelling Gavel which had started out at Scunthorpe earlier
in the year.
The idea behind the Travelling Gavel is to encourage
visiting between Mark Lodges in the Province. The contest
was keenly fought on this occasion with W.Bro. E.C. Coleman
of Whitestone Lodge MMM No:1203 making a claim on the
Travelling Gavel followed by W.Bro. C.M. Reeves of St.
Swithun's Lodge MMM No:445 also making a claim. It came
down to the rule which states that the largest amount
of members with their Master, wins.
The Travelling Gavel
is passed from (left) the acting W.M. of St. Oswald's
Mark Lodge No:387, W.Bro. D. Metcalf, to W.Bro. Cliff
Reeves of St. Swithun's Mark Lodge No:445.
On counting the numbers of visitors from each MMM Lodge,
Whitestone totalled 12 while St. Swithun's totalled 15,
so W.Bro Reeves was the first to claim it for St. Swithuns.
Battle is now joined and St. Swithuns expects an invasion
from Lincoln and elsewhere to claim the Gavel for themselves.
We shall keep you posted as details come in.
THE
MARK MASTER MASON DEGREE
Whilst the Mark degree in some form had been practised
over the years from the eighteenth century, specifically
as part of the workings of Royal Arch Chapter No: 257
in 1769 and subsequently under the old Grand Lodge at
York, the Union in 1813 between the Antients and Moderns
recognised only the three Craft degrees, including the
Holy Royal Arch, but not the Mark Degree.
In June 1856 several leading Mark Masons founded their
own Grand Mark Lodge and the English Grand Mark Lodge
and the Grand Chapter of Scotland entered into a common
ceremonial. Many freemasons consider this to be the most
dramatic in its ceremony and it teaches particularly that
education is the reward of labour and that fraud and deception
does not succeed.
Every candidate to be advanced to the degree of a Mark
Master Mason must be a Master Mason of a regular and recognised
Craft Lodge. In practice, but only with dispensation,
a candidate for the Master's chair in a Mark Lodge need
not have been through the chair of a Craft Lodge before
his installation.
REGALIA
OF A MARK MASTER MASON
The regalia worn by the Brethren is a white apron with
a blue surround edged with red. The apron bears three
blue rosettes edged in red.
The Brethren also wear a breast jewel on a red and blue
ribbon from which is suspended a keystone.
2008
PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF MARK MASTER MASONS HELD AT ROBERT
PATTINSON SCHOOL IN LINCOLN.
The 135th Provincial Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons
was held at the Robert Pattinson School, Moor Lane, North
Hykeham, Lincoln on Saturday 12th April 2008.
Aerial View of Robert Pattinson
School
2008 ADDRESS BY THE PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER,
Rt.W.BRO. THE REVEREND
TREVOR JOHN WALKER 
"What a most splendid day this is brethren. It is
a pleasure and a privilege for me to enter this 135th
Meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons
of Lincolnshire as your Provincial Grand Master and to
welcome you all.
Brethren, I wish to say the most important thing first
-Thank You! I say thank you to all present for your support
today and thank you to all those who have worked tirelessly
to ensure the smooth running of this Provincial Grand
Lodge. As always we are indebted to the Lincoln Mark brethren
who are now experts at local arrangements. I thank the
Worshipful Master and brethren of the St. Wulfram's Lodge
of M.M.M. Grantham for hosting today’s event; for their
work in manning the car park, stewarding the entrance
and the myriad of other duties they have undertaken.
I have learned over the last year that as Lincolnshire
Mark Master Masons we are all indebted to those who work
so hard for us. The officers of the province undertake
their duties with quiet efficiency and we record our thanks
to them all at this annual meeting. It perhaps is unfair
to single any one of them out - so I shall mention two;
our Provincial Grand Secretary W. Bro. Roy Eaton and our
Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies W. Bro. John Board.
These two brethren work so hard for us and we offer them
our thanks for their efforts on our behalf.
I also wish to offer some personal thanks to our Past
Provincial Grand Masters. I say personal thanks because
I know you all treasure them dearly - but I especially
value their wise counsel and advice they have given me
since I accepted this office and the duties it entails.
Those duties have been made all the easier by the assistance
given by my Deputy V.W. Bro. Trevor Harold Kitchen. I
thank him for his help to me and on your behalf for all
he does for the province and have been more than pleased
to reappoint him today.
I was starting to become concerned over the Christmas
period when the Past Provincial Grand Master and the Deputy
Provincial Grand Master both were in hospital receiving
heart treatment. I was concerned for them and then wondered
if it was something that went with the job! Well brethren
here they both are and we rejoice that they are fully
recovered and as they would say better than new. I know
they are very grateful for your kind thoughts and prayers
when they were ill. We are so very pleased you are both
back in good health and wish you many happy healthy years
ahead.
One of the great joys in being Provincial Grand Master
is visiting. I really do enjoy travelling around the province
- one of the largest in England being nearly a hundred
miles north to south. On all my visits I, my D.C.s and
travelling companions have been so well received and the
hospitality you have extended has made me work hard to
see the waistline has not extended proportionately!
The puddings at Grantham - and elsewhere continue to
be delicious! Thank you sincerely brethren for the way
you have looked after us.
I should also wish to take this opportunity of letting
you know that I have tried to represent you around the
country and again am most grateful for the wonderful welcome
and hospitality received from other provinces. It is a
joy to welcome visitors from some of those provinces here
today and to thank them for their attendance and to wish
them a most happy visit to Lincoln.
My thanks too go to those Grand Lodge officers who have
undertaken the responsibilities of Sphere of Influence
Officer and those who along with the Provincial Wardens
for the year have represented me at your lodges. Their
reports make valuable reading and keep me well informed.
I am pleased to say that from these reports I know the
lodges are in good heart and therefore so is the province.
Last June we travelled to Great Queen Street for the
annual investiture when W. Bros. Greswell, Marks, Kaye,
and Geelhoed received Grand Rank. V.Wor. Bro. Kitchen,
and W. Bros. Vergette, Rodgers, and Corfield were promoted
in Grand Lodge. It was a splendid day which as usual was
completed by a celebratory dinner at Baldock. Our gratitude
goes to Bro. Roger Key for making the arrangements. Brethren
I am very pleased to report that though Br. Key has been
rather seriously ill recently - he is now making a speedy
recovery and we are delighted he is with us today. Br.
Key has made the arrangements for our next trip to Grand
Lodge for the Annual investiture in June. Let us show
our appreciation for all his efforts in his adversity
by fully supporting this trip and those receiving honours
this year.
Last December a group travelled to London for the Annual
Royal Ark Mariner meeting when we were proud to witness
W. Bros. Topliss, Paterson, Brader and Harris being invested
with Royal Ark Mariner Grand Rank by the Most Worshipful
Grand Master. W. Bro. Parsons made arrangements for us
to celebrate that occasion with a most splendid dinner
in London at the Farmers' Club. We do thank him.
The Provincial Team has worked hard over the last twelve
months. In September they visited Alford for the centenary
of the St. Wilfrid's Lodge of R.A.M. The team went to
Crowle in October for the centenary of St. Swithun's Lodge
of M.M.M. A further visit was made to White Stone Lodge
Lincoln in November and then it was off to the seaside
to join the Earl of Scarborough Lodge at Skegness in February.
Additionally the Ark Mariner members supported the Millennium
Lodge in December for the investiture of recipients of
Royal Ark Mariner Provincial Grand Rank.
At the beginning of the proceedings this morning the
Worshipful Master of Urania Lodge, Bro. Les Darby, presented
me with this fine gavel. We are very grateful to W. Bro.
Alan Birkett who was the instigator of the idea of a Provincial
travelling gavel and along with W. Bro. Derek Bontoft
brought the idea into reality. Here it is brethren and
already it is proving its worth by being hotly contested
for. It has been a great joy to be present more than once
at a regular Mark Lodge Meeting when some eighty brethren
have dined together! I stated earlier that visiting is
one of the joys of masonry and especially in our happy
Mark Degree. The travelling gavel is there to promote
this happy tradition and I hope there will be a flood
of visitors to the next meeting of Urania Lodge to claim
the gavel so it can continue its travels around the province.
During my advancement into Mark Masonry I was taken to
the Senior Warden to receive my wages. I am afraid I very
quickly used them up and did not prudently save them.
It was perhaps because I was longing for a pipe and had
just received a polo mint and not being able to light
my pipe I availed myself of the mint. I think we would
all agree that an advancee is worth more than a polo mint;
so I am very grateful to W. Bro. Derek Bontoft who has
made all the arrangements for the Lincolnshire Provincial
Mark Token. You will have noticed these on sale today
brethren, and I do hope that all lodges will now present
one of these to each candidate and that the polo mint
as a fitting wage will be a thing of the past. These tokens
will be a lasting souvenir of this most important moment
in a Mark Masons Masonic career. If like me you were the
recipient of a mint - then like me please buy a token
from W. Bro. Bontoft.
I did refer last year to the standard of the presentation
of our Mark ritual. I believe it is important to our reputation
in masonry in general that our ceremony is performed with
dignity and care. From my visits to lodges and the reports
I have received I am happy that the standard of the delivery
of our ritual continues to improve. I find learning ritual
difficult as do we all and none of us can be perfect.
However we can all try and there will always be someone
to prompt if we are stuck - perhaps sometimes too many
prompting! I do urge the lodge Directors of Ceremonies
to help the brethren and to organise before the meeting
who is to do the prompting. I also recommend the Sutcliffe
Lodge of Mark Masonic Instruction which has helped many
members with ritual. It is still my hope that a similar
lodge might be formed in the south of the province and
this is something I hope to address this coming year.
I congratulate all those appointed and promoted today
in Provincial Grand Lodge. I hope this will be a year
of happiness and enjoyment in Mark Masonry for you. I
can assure you brethren that all the appointments are
awarded on merit and are a reward for past service and
an incentive for future service. There are several events
planned for the coming year. These include a new banner
to dedicate at St. Guthlac Lodge and a lodge anniversary
at Urania Lodge. I know we shall have as happy a time
in the team visits in the year ahead as we have enjoyed
this last year.
Of course some members of the team from last year will
be absent this year and I should like to just pay tribute
to V. Wor. Bro. Denis Askew who for many years was Provincial
Grand Chaplain. Denis has moved away but I have been pleased
to appoint our Immediate Past Provincial Grand Master
as his successor whom I know will bring the right gravitas
to the office. It is also a joy that he is back on the
Provincial Team. I also wish to especially thank W. Bros.
Lacey and Charlton for their dedicated hard work as Provincial
Wardens. I hope you have enjoyed your year of office and
from your reports I believe I know you have. I also know
you will join with me to wish your successors W. Bros.
Burnett and Baxter the same happiness in their year.
Last year I asked that we do our best to be seen as the
caring degree as much as we enjoy being the happy degree.
I am pleased that an item on the agenda of most lodges
is the Almoner's Report. However this is not yet universal
and I do urge each lodge to include this item so that
all the brethren might be aware of the needs of others
and to be able to offer necessary assistance. I also urge
all the brethren to keep their Lodge Almoner informed
when they know of any brother’s need.
A new venture this coming year will be a Provincial Assembly
of Royal Ark Mariners to be held at Grimsby on Friday
30th. May. It is at this meeting that recipients of Royal
Ark Mariner Provincial Grand Rank will be appointed and
invested. It is also from this day that they will be entitled
to wear the Provincial Jewel. I do hope all the Royal
Ark Mariners will support this meeting. It is our hope
that having a separate Ark Mariner Assembly will enhance
the importance of this beautiful degree. Your ladies are
invited to join with us and we hope this will be a very
enjoyable addition to the Masonic calendar.
I now have the pleasure to announce the list of appointments
to Grand Rank for this year.
W. Bro. Barry Topliss PAGDC, W. Bro. Keith Robinson PAGDC,
W. Bro. Peter Coggon PAGSwdB and W.Bro. Robert Paterson
PAGSwdB.
Promoted in Grand Lodge W. Bro. John Board to GSD., W.
Bro. Alan Chick to PGSD. and a most deserved appointment
of PGJD. to W. Bro. Raymond Windsor. We congratulate all
these brethren. As I said earlier I do hope many of you
will come to Grand Lodge in June to support these worthy
brethren. There will be the usual celebratory dinner at
Baldock on the way home.
The Mark Degree is to my mind both the happiest in freemasonry
and the one I find to be the most Christian. I know you
agree with me about the former otherwise you would not
be here today and as far as the latter is concerned I
shall elaborate on that elsewhere. However a concern in
freemasonry in general is a decline in candidates. I know
that the fellowship I found in Mark masonry enabled me
to see more of the benefits of freemasonry in general.
The discipline of the Craft and the solemnity of the Royal
Arch all join with the Mark to form the whole beauty of
freemasonry.
If we encourage the right new mason to join the Mark
then hopefully it might give him a deeper understanding
of the whole of his freemasonry and keep that new mason
a keen member of all his degrees. I urge you brethren
to look for those new made masons and if you think it
will be to their benefit and that of freemasonry in general
to encourage them to join the Mark.
I am delighted that with us here today are so many heads
of the other orders in freemasonry. It seems to me that
we must work together in all the orders in masonry because
that can only be for the benefit all. I can assure you
brethren that is the wish of those other leaders here
today. I too look forward to working closely with them
over this coming year for the advancement of freemasonry
in general and the Mark degree in particular.
I do thank you brethren for your presence here today
and for your work and support in all your lodges where
I look forward to meeting you through the coming year.
As always I wish you success, health and happiness in
that year ahead".
