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

760
Chapter 9 - Masonic and Anti-Masonic Literature
In this short paragraph, several Masonic customs and formulas are
interwoven, e.g. that a Masonic candidate is divested of all his metals (i.e. money
or other valuables like rings and watches; symbols of evil and worldly riches);
that a Masonic candidate is neither "naked or clothed" (i.e. his breast and knee
are bare, and he wears a cabletow); that a Masonic candidate is neither "barefoot
nor shod" (i.e. "slipshod," the Biblical sign of a covenant); and that he has to
give distinct knocks on the door of Masonry in order to be received. In imitation
of the Masonic custom of sending the candidates through the lodge room from
the West to the East for further instruction, the Populist is also sent around: "I
was conducted to the Senior Warden of the jail, who told me how I might
approach my wife's relation in the East for further assistance, and directed me to
meet the Worshipful Majors at the soldiers' union." 1890
This concludes the discussion of satires on Freemasonry and its peculiar
language. Our next topic will be Masonic jokes. In the following we are going to
enumerate a few which we have classified into three different categories. At first,
we are going to deal with jokes that ridicule Masonic phraseology and technical
terms. Secondly, we shall analyze jokes on Masonic slips of the tongue. Thirdly,
we will examine jokes concerning Masonic customs.
Jokes on Masonic phraseology and technical terms
The first joke, "Royal Lodge," is a pun on the technical term "tiled," which
we have explained in our chapter 5.1 on architectural technical terminology as
meaning "secured against cowans and eavesdroppers." Here, the builder of the
King's hunting lodge takes the wish of the King to have his lodge "properly
tiled" literally and covers the wall of the room with tiles:
Royal Lodge
After a long day's hunting, a very tired King entered his favourite
hunting lodge, only to find all of the walls - in fact the whole place -
covered like the inside of a bathroom. 'What's the idea of all this?' said
the King to his valet. 'Well, the builder heard you say to the Prime
Minister, 'Make sure the lodge is properly tiled.' 1891
Another joke headed with the antithesis "Operative - speculative" makes fun
of these two technical terms. We have explained the difference in our chapter 5.8
("Names of Persons and Institutions") on technical terminology: operative
masons were the early stonemasons and cathedral builders of Europe, whereas
speculative Freemasons evolved from the latter and were the ones who admitted
non-professionals like noblemen and members of other fields of business than
stonemasonry into their philosophical and moral institution. In this joke, an
1890 Pettibone, p. 168.
1891 Buchanan, p. 30. Bold print added.