Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

184 CRAFT
CREED
Now, Jamieson, in his Scottish Dictionary,
gives us the following meanings of the word :
"CownN, s . 1 . A term of contempt ; applied
to one who does the work of a Mason,
but has not been regularly bred.
"2 . Also used to denote one who builds dry
walls, otherwise denominated a dry-diker .
"3 . One unacquainted with the secrets of
Freemasonry ."
And he gives the following examples as his
authorities :
"`A boat-carpenter, joiner, cowan (or
builder of stone without mortar), get 18 . at
the minimum and good maintenance .' P .
Morven, Argyles. Statistic . Acct. ! X ., 267 . N .
"`Cowans . Masons who build dry-stone
dikes or walls.' P. Halkirk, Carthn . Statistic .
Acct., XIX ., 24. N ."
In the Rob Roy of Scott, the word is used by
Allan Inverach, who says :
"She does not value a Cawmil mair as a
cowan ."
The word has therefore, I think, come to
the English Fraternity directly from the Operative
Masons of Scotland, among whom it
was used to denote a pretender, in the exact
sense of the first meaning of Jamieson .
There is no word that has given Masonic
scholars more trouble than this in tracing its
derivation . By some it has been considered to
come from the Greek ec4wv, kuon a dog ; and
referred to the fact that in the early ages of the
Church, when the mysteries of the new religion
were communicated only to initiates under
the veil of secrecy, infidels were called "dogs,"
a term probably suggested by such passages
as Matthew vii . 6, "Give not that which is
holy unto the dogs" ; or, Philip. iii . 2, "Beware
of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the
concision ." This derivation has been adopted
by Oliver, and many other writers . Jamieson's
derivations are from the old Swedish
kujon, kuzhjohn, a silly fellow, and the French
coion, coyon, a coward, a base fellow. No
matter how we get the word, it seems always
to convey an idea of contempt . The attempt
to derive it from the chouans of the French Revolution
is manifestly absurd, for it has been
shown that the word was in use long before
the French Revolution was even meditated .
[Dr . Murray in the New En~lish Dictionary
says that the derivation of the word is unknown.-E
. L . H .]
Craft. It is from the Saxon craft, which
indirectly signifies skill or dexterity in any
art. In reference to this skill, therefore, the
ordinary acceptation is a trade or mechanical
art, and collectively, the rsons practg it .
Hence, "the raft" in Speculative Masonry,
signifies the whole 'body of Freemasons, wherever
dispersed .
Craft Masonry, Ancient . See Ancient
Craft Masonry .
Craft Statistics . See Statistics of Craft
Masonry.
Crafted. A word sometimes colloquially
used, instead of the Lodge term "passed," to
designate the advancement of a candidate to
the Second Degree .
Craftsman . A Mason . The word originally
meant anyone skilful in his art, and is
so used by our early writers. Thus Chaucer,
in his Knights' Tale, v. 1897, says :
"For in the land there was no craftesman,
That geometry or arsmetrike can,
Nor pourtrayor, nor carver of images,
That Theseus ne gave him meat and wages .
The theatre to make and to devise ."
Crata Repoa . See Egyptian Priests, Initiations
of the.
Create. In chivalry when anyone received
the order of knighthood, he was said
to be created a knight . The word "dub" had
also the same meaning . The word created is
used in Commanderies of Knights Templar to
denote the elevation of a candidate to that
degree . (See Dub .)
Creation . Preston (Illust ., B . I . Sect. 3)
says : "From the commencement of the world,
we may trace the foundation of Masonry.
Ever since symmetry began, and harmony displayed
her charms, our Order has had a
being." Language like this has been deemed
extravagant, and justly, too, if the words are
to be taken in their literal sense . The idea
that the Order of Masonry is coeval with the
creation is so absurd that the pretension cannot
need refutation. But the fact is, that Anderson,
Preston, and other writers who have
indulged in such statements, did not mean by
the word Masonry anything like an organized
Order or Institution bearing any resemblance
to the Freemasonry of the present day . They
simply meant to indicate that the great moral
principles on which Freemasonry is founded,
and by which it professes to be guided, have
always formed a part of the Divine government
and been presented to man from his first
creation for his acceptance . The words quoted
from Preston are unwise, because they are liable
to misconstruction . But the symbolic
idea which they intended to convey, namely,
that Masonry is truth, and that truth is coexistent
with man's creation, is correct, and
cannot be disputed .
Creed, A Mason's. Although Freemasonry
is not a dogmatic theology, and is tolerant in
the admission of men of every religious faith, it
would be wrong to suppose that it is without a
creed . On the contrary it has a creed, the
assent to which it rigidly enforces, and the
denial of which is absolutely incompatible
with membership in the Order . This creed
consists of two articles : First, a belief in God,
the Creator of all things, who is therefore
recognized as the Great Architect of the Universe
; and secondly, a belief in the eternal
life, to which this present life is but a preparatory
and probationary state . To the first of
these articles assent is explicitly required as
soon as the threshold of the Lge is crossed .
The second is expressively taught by legends
and symbols, and must be implicitly assented
to by every Mason, ~especially by those who
have received the Third Degree, which is altogether
founded on the doctrine of the resurrection
to a second life.