Order of Mark Master Masons
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The Order of Mark Master Masons is an appendant order of Freemasonry that confers the degrees of Mark Man and Mark Master.
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[edit] Administrative structure
In England, Europe and Australasia, The Mark degree is conferred in separately warranted Lodges of Mark Master Masons. The candidate for Advancement is required to be a Master Mason. In England and Wales, the governing body is The Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of England and Wales and its Districts and Lodges Overseas, which also controls the Royal Ark Mariner degree - conferred in separately warranted Royal Ark Mariner Lodges.
In Canada, the Royal Ark Mariner degree is conferred by a Council of Royal and Select Masters.
In Scotland, The Mark degree is conferred in a Craft lodge and is seen as completion of the Fellowcraft degree, although the candidate for advancement is required to be a Master Mason. The Mark degree may alternatively, and exceptionally, be conferred in a Holy Royal Arch Chapter as a prerequisite for Exaltation to the HRA. His entry into the Chapter is preceded by a short ceremony of Mark Lodge Affiliation.
In the US, this degree forms part of the York Rite, and the Royal Ark Mariner degree forms part of the rite of The Allied Masonic Degrees (AMD).
[edit] Allegorical legend
Similarly to Craft Freemasonry the Mark degree ritual conveys moral and ethical lessons using a ritualised allegory based around the building of King Solomon's Temple. Although only open to Master Masons, the events of the ritual require the candidate to undertake the role of a Fellowcraft. The degree is seen therefore as a completion of the Fellowcraft and the philosophical lessons conveyed are appropriate to this stage in a candidate's Masonic development.
[edit] History
There are many old masons' marks on buildings, as well as references to formally making or registering marks in operative Scottish minute books and by-laws and in old statutes and rituals. However it is not known when the status of Mark Mason was first formally conferred in Freemasonry, although Thomas Dunckerley was certainly active in 1769.
Thereafter the degree, like many of the appendant degrees, was worked in craft Lodges and Royal Arch Chapters. It was outlawed by the Articles of Union of the United Grand Lodge of England in 1813. Following the Union and the formation of Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter as a complement to UGLE, many Lodges and Chapters claimed inherent jurisdiction to confer the Mark. In March 1856 UGLE resolved that the degree should be "a graceful addition" to Craft Masonry under proper regulations; however the Grand Lodge minutes were not confirmed at the next meeting in June, so that the degree continued to be unrecognised and disorganised. The first Mark Grand Lodge was immediately established for the separate administration of the Order, and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2006.
As Freemasonry spread around the globe in the 18th and 19th Centuries, Mark Masonry became well established and now has a worldwide presence. Since all Mark Masters are necessarily first Master Masons, and must remain so, the unofficial relationship between the separate Grand Lodges is naturally fraternal. In England, the current Mark Grand Master, HRH Prince Michael of Kent, is the younger brother of the Craft Grand Master, HRH the Duke of Kent.
