What Is Mark Masonry and Royal Ark Mariner Masonry?

INFORMATION ABOUT MARK MASONRY

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 part in which he is acknowledged as a Mark Man and then 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. This mark not only acted as a trademark but probably also as a form of advertising.

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 Friendship Royal Arch Chapter No.257 in Plymouth. However, a minute book dated 1599 of the Lodge of Edinburgh states that several speculative brethren had appended their marks after their names.

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 a similar colouring 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

The order, of which HRH Prince Michael of Kent is Grand Master, is administered from Mark Masons' Hall in St James's, London

INFORMATION ABOUT ROYAL ARK MARINER MASONRY

The Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Royal Ark Mariners, more commonly known as RAM or Mariners, has been under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons since 1871 and governed by the Grand Masters Royal Ark Council. Lodges are attached to Mark Lodges assuming their Number in Roll and to be a member the candidate has to have been advanced as a Mark Master Mason. There the similarity ends. In chronological terms it precedes the Mark by hundreds of years because it relates to the building and voyage of Noah's Ark and the Great Flood and has none of the other characters we meet in Freemasonry.

Its early history is obscure. Statutes refer to Grand Lodge being reconstituted in 1772. The ceremony in which a brother is elevated is taken from the VSL and symbolises wisdom, strength and beauty, which are relevant not only in the construction of the ark but also for their moral significations to the candidate as an individual. The tracing board of the degree is unusual in that it contains symbols of many of the other orders in Masonry.

The regalia comprises an apron which is boarded by a rainbow ribbon with similar rosettes. The breast jewel is of a dove bearing an olive branch suspended from a rainbow attached to a rainbow coloured ribbon. Commanders and Past Commanders (who are the equivalent of Masters and Past Masters in the Craft) exchange the rosettes on the aprons for silver triangles and wear a breast jewel of a triangle surmounted by the letter N. Provincial Officers wear a collarette from which is suspended a silver ark. Grand Officers exchange the silver detail for gold. There are no individual ranks within either Province or Grand Lodge. Brethren holding those ranks suffix their name with Royal Ark Mariner Provincial Grand Rank or Royal Ark Mariner Grand Rank.

The Provincial Grand Master of the Mark, is ipso facto, the Provincial Grand Master of the Degree of Royal Ark Mariners.