The Universal Language of Freemasonry - ArchiMeD - Johannes ...

3. Cordonnite
Chapter 5 - Technical Terminology 305
A term ridiculing the vanity of Masonic career hunters is to be found in
French Masonry, where "le cordon" is the Masonic badge of honor: "
'Cordonnite'. Terme d'argot maςonnique, forgé pour railler les maςons trop
pressés d'accéder aux Hauts Grades. [...]" 913 We have found no synonym in the
English or German Masonic languages.
4. Jug Masons
This is a typical American expression stemming from the times of the scandal
about the abduction of William Morgan 914 in 1826, and was employed for a
group of mockers pretending to be Freemasons who initiated profanes allegedly
using Morgan's exposé as ritualistic background. Lodges established by them
were consequently called "Jug Lodges." The initiation fee consisted of a jug of
whisky or the equivalent in money, which shows the "sacrilege" of their
activities.
An opprobrious epithet bestowed, during the anti-Masonic excitement,
upon certain assemblages of worthless men who pretended to confer the
degrees upon candidates weak enough to confide in them. They derived
their instructions from the so-called expositions of Morgan, and exacted a
trifling fee for initiation, which was generally a jug of whisky, or money
enough to buy one. They were found in the mountain regions of North
and South Carolina and Georgia. 915
A similar explanation is also found in TRMC by Mackenzie 916 , in CME 917 ,
and in the French Masonic dictionary, which literally translates the term with
"Maςons de pichet." 918
5. Knife & Fork Masons
The mock expression Knife & Fork Degree, a jibe cast at Masons who attend
lodge meetings mostly because of the free dinner and refreshments instead of the
913 DFM, p. 104.
914 Cf. chapter on anti-Masonry.
915 EOF, p. 373.
916 Cf. TRMC, p. 394.
917 Cf. CME, p. 341.
918 DFM, p. 149.