SHORT TALK BULLETIN INDEX
Vol. XXIX No. 8 — August 1951
The Table Lodge
The Table Lodge
Carl H. Claudy
Civilized people the world over cherish the family feasts; Christmas and New Year, Harvest Home and, in this country, Thanksgiving Day. Such gatherings are more than mere opportunities to eat; they are spiritual solidifications of family ties, opportunities for mutual rejoicing, a means by which the family becomes more closely knit.
Most American lodges know “the fourth degree” in which lodge members mingle in an anteroom or dining room for the after-meeting coffee and sandwich or more pretentious meal.
The Masonic banquet, in which an elaborate menu is served, followed by the introduction of one or more speakers by a toastmaster, the whole in commemoration of some anniversary, such as St. John’s Day observance, or as a commencement of a new year, is common.
The feast as a function, a ceremonial, an occasion, is very, very old. How old it is is not necessary here to attempt to determine, but older by far than any Masonry we know, so that the lodge feast but carries out a custom in Masonry which was old when the pyramids were built. From the idea of a feast in which brethren broke bread together and drank in common, came the Table lodge of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.
Famous Masonic authority H. L. Haywood in More About Masonry says:
In the Eighteenth Century lodges the Feast bulked so large in the life of the lodge that in many of them the members were seated at the table when the lodges were opened and remained at it throughout the communication, even when the degrees were conferred. The result was that Masonic fellowship was good fellowship in it, as in a warm and fruitful soil, acquaintanceship, friendship, and affection could flourish — there was no grim and silent sitting on a bench, staring across at a wall. Out of this festal spirit flowered the love which Masons had for their lodge. They brought gifts to it, and only by reading of old inventories can any present-day Mason measure the extent of that love; there were gifts of chairs, tables, altars, pedestals, tapestries, draperies, silver, candlesticks, oil paintings, libraries, Bibles, mementos, curios, regalias, and portraits. The lodge was a home, warm, comfortable, luxurious, full of memories, and tokens, and affection, and even if a member died his presence was never wholly absent; to such a lodge no member went grudgingly, nor had to be coaxed, nor was moved by that ghastly, cold thing called a sense of duty, but went as if drawn by a magnet, and counted the days until he could go.
What business has any lodge to be nothing but a machine for grinding out the work? It was not called into existence in order to have the minutes read! Even a mystic tie will snap under the strain of cheerlessness, repetition, monotony, dullness. A lodge needs a fire lighted in it, and the only way to have that warmth is to restore the lodge Feast, because when it is restored good fellowship and brotherly love will follow, and where good fellowship is, members will fill up an empty room not only with themselves but also with their gifts.
In a few grand lodges in the United States the ancient custom of the Table lodge is still preserved; some Masonic authorities believe that it might be revived in all grand lodges to the enlightenment and pleasure of the brethren.
The table lodge is no mere banquet with entertainment; it is a special lodge ceremony in itself, with a ritual, formalities and a special terminology which is of some interest.
The Iowa Grand Lodge Library possesses "A Ritual for a Table lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons,” translated and adapted from an old French ritual in possession of the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, by R.W. Frank B. Crandall, past master of Caleb Butler Lodge, AF & AM, of Ayer, Massachusetts. Somewhat abbreviated, it is as follows:
⁎ ⁎ ⁎
Arrangements for a Table Lodge
As a table lodge is a part of the mysteries of the order, the lodge should be held in a place as securely tyled as the lodge-room. The table is set up in the shape of a horseshoe and is large enough, if the place will allow, permitting all to be seated on the outer side of the table. The worshipful master is always placed at the East, facing the middle of the table, with the chaplain at his right and the wardens at the two ends of the table in the West. The Master Masons occupy the South, taking care to yield the places nearer the East to guests, if any be present. The Entered Apprentices should be on the North near the chaplain and the Fellowcrafts occupy the rest of this part of the table.
All that constitutes the table service should be set in three parallel lines, that is to say, the plates form the first line, the bottles and glasses, the second, and the food and lights, the third.
Everything that is used at the banquet changes its name: glasses are called cannons; bottles, casks; red wine, red powder; white wine, strong powder; bread, rough ashlar; food, materials; lights, stars; plates, tiles; knives, swords; and salt, sand.
Opening
Invocation. (When everything has been arranged, the worshipful master rises, raps three times on the table, and the wardens reply in like manner. )
WM. — Brothers senior and junior wardens, invite our Brethren on the Columns of the North and South to assist us in opening a lodge of Entered Apprentices and one of Table Instruction.
(Senior and junior wardens repeat.)
W.M. — Brother senior warden, are you a Mason?
S.W. — All my Brethren know me to be such.
W.M. — What is the first care of a Mason?
S.W. — To see if the lodge is tyled.
W.M. — Satisfy yourself.
S.W. — It is Worshipful.
W.M. — What is the second?
S.W. — To see if all the Brethren are in order. (After looking about.) They are, Worshipful.
W.M. — Why are we met together?
S.W. — To erect Temples to virtue and dig dungeons for vices.
W.M. — How long must we work?
S.W. — From midday to midnight.
W.M. — How long a time is required to make an Entered Apprentice?
S.W. — Three years.
W.M. — What is your age?
S.W. — Three years.
W.M. — What is the hour?
S.W. — Almost midday.
W.M. — In consideration of the hour and age, inform our Brethren that a lodge of Entered Apprentices and one of Table Instruction are open and that we are about to begin our works in the usual manner.
(Senior and junior warden so inform. The Brethren show the signs of an Entered Apprentice, then give the Battery, three times three, and cry “VIVAT.”)
The Ceremony of the Seven Toasts
First Toast
(The WM. raps once and the S.W and J.W. do the same.)
W.M. — Brothers senior and junior wardens, cause the arms to be charged and aligned for the first Toast.
(Senior and junior wardens so do. The cannons are charged.)
W.M. — Brothers senior and junior wardens, are the cannons charged and aligned?
S.W. and J.W. — Yes, Worshipful.
(All rise.)
W.M. — Brothers senior and junior wardens, announce to our Brethren that the toast that I have the pleasure to propose is that to the President of the U.S.
(Senior and junior wardens so do. )
W.M. — Right hand to arms. (The right hand touches the glass.) Ready. (The glass is raised, the arm extended to the height of the breast.) Aim. (The glass is brought to the lips) Fire. Good fire. Fire all! (All drink.) Present arms. (The glass is brought to the second position, all imitating the W.M. Then the glass is carried to the left breast, then to the right breast, and then again to the second position. so that the motion makes a triangle. When this has been done thrice, the glass is brought to the table in three movements, that is to say, at the first it is carried horizontally a little to the left, then to the right, and then forcibly to the table. The battery, three times three, is then given and the acclamation "VIVAT" is given thrice. The foregoing should be done with exactness and evenness so that the whole company may execute the same movements at the same time and that the glasses shall strike the table with one blow.) Advance swords. (The knife is raised, the arm extended to the height of the breast.) Poise swords. (The knife is elevated slightly.) Salute with swords. (Done.) Swords at rest. (The handles strike the table at the same time. Battery.)
Second Toast
(The W.M. raps once and the S.W and J.W. do the same.)
W.M. — Brothers senior and junior wardens, cause the arms to be charged and aligned for the second toast.
S.W. and J.W. — Brethren on my Column, in all your grades and stations, charge and align your arms for the second toast of obligation which the worshipful master is about to propose.
(The cannons are charged.)
W.M. — Brothers senior and junior wardens, are the cannons charged and aligned?
S.W. and J.W. — Yes, worshipful.
(All rise.)
W.M. — Brothers senior and junior wardens, announce to our brethren that the toast that I have the pleasure to propose is that to the most worshipful grand master and the most worshipful grand lodge.
(S.W and J.W. so do. )
W.M. — Right hand to arms.
(The ceremonies attending these commands are the same as in first toast.)
Third Toast
(The senior warden raps once. The J.W. does the same. Then the W.M. responds in like manner.)
W.M. — Brothers senior and junior wardens, what do you desire?
S.W. — Worshipful master, the junior warden and I beg to allow the arms to be charged and aligned for a toast that we wish to propose.
W.M. — Brethren, in all your grades and stations charge and align your arms for a toast that our Brothers, the wardens, wish to propose.
(The cannons are charged.)
W.M. — Brothers senior and junior wardens, are all the cannons charged and aligned?
S.W. and J.W. — Yes, Worshipful. (All rise.)
W.M. — The East yields to your desires. What is the toast that you wish to propose?
S.W. — It is to you, Worshipful. Brethren on my Column, in all your grades and stations, the toast which the junior warden and I have the pleasure to propose is that to our worshipful master.
J.W. — (Repeats.)
S.W. — Right hand to arms.
(Repeat procedure.)
(The ceremonies accompanying the foregoing commands are repeated. The W.M. does not drink. The W.M. responds with the same ceremonies.)
Fourth Toast
(The WM. raps once and the S.W and J.W. do the same.)
W.M. — Brothers senior and junior wardens, cause the arms to be charged and aligned for the fourth toast.
S.W. and J.W. — (So do.)
W.M. — Brothers senior and junior wardens, are the cannons charged and aligned?
S.W. and J.W. — Yes, Worshipful.
(All rise.)
W.M. — Brothers senior and junior wardens, announce to our Brethren that the toast that I have the pleasure to propose is that to the wardens.
S.W. and J.W. — (So do. Follow ceremony with all but the wardens drinking.)
Fifth Toast
(Same ceremony of having cannons charged, etc.)
W.M. — Brothers senior and junior wardens, announce to our brethren that the toast that I have the pleasure to propose is that to our brethren in the Armed Forces of the United States.
(Same procedure.)
Sixth Toast
(Same ceremony of having cannons charged, etc.)
W.M. — Brothers senior and junior wardens, announce to our brethren that the toast that I have the pleasure to propose is that to the other officers, new initiates and visiting brethren.
(Same procedure.)
Seventh Toast
(Same ceremony of having cannons charged, etc.)
W.M. — Brothers senior and junior wardens, announce to our brethren that the toast that I have the pleasure to propose is that to all Masons wheresoever spread over the face of the globe.
(At swords rest, the W.M. and all present cross their arms, joining the right and left hands, and form a chain. The serving Brethren also join in the chain, swinging the arms back and forth, they sing.)
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
An’ never be brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot.
An’ days o’ auld lang syne?Chorus:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne.
Closing
W.M. — Brothers senior and junior wardens, are all the Brethren in order?
S.W. and J.W. — They are, Worshipfull.
W.M. — What is the hour?
S.W. — Midnight.
W.M. — What is your age?
S.W. — Three years.
W.M. — In consideration of hour and age, inform all our Brethren both on the Column of the North and South, that we are about to close this lodge, ending our work in the usual manner.
S.W. — Brethren on my Column, I inform you, on behalf of the worshipful master, that we are about to close this lodge, ending our work in the usual manner.
J.W. — (Repeats.)
(All show signs of Entered Apprentice, give battery, cry “VIVAT" thrice. )
W.M. — My Brothers, the lodge is closed.
S.W. and J.W. — (Repeat.)