What is the Mark degree?

The Mark Master Mason degree is an additional degree in Freemasonry open to Master Masons, built around the biblical theme from Psalm 118 concerning the stone which the builders rejected becoming the headstone of the corner, according to markmasonshall.org.

Historically, the practice of selecting and recording a mark derives directly from operative stonemasons, who chiselled distinctive marks onto the stones they fashioned to identify their workmanship 1. The Schaw Statutes of 1598 mandated that a craftsman's mark be recorded upon his reception into a lodge, a practice documented in early Scottish lodge records such as those of the Lodge of Edinburgh in 1600 and the Lodge of Aberdeen in 1670 1. Although worked within Craft lodges or Royal Arch chapters during the 1700s, as markmasonshall.org and Quatuor Coronati Lodge record, its exclusion from the Craft system under the English Articles of Union of 1813 led to dedicated governing bodies 1. In the English Constitution, the degree is administered today by the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons, headquartered at Mark Masons' Hall in London, according to markmasonshall.org.

Central to the degree is the mark itself—a device selected by the Mason and recorded permanently in a Book of Marks 1. The chosen mark is inscribed within a circle containing designated letter initials 1. Modeled on the ancient *tessera hospitalis* or token of hospitality, the mark serves as a sacred pledge of friendship and mutual assistance 1. A Mark Master may pledge his mark to a brother when requesting aid, though Masonic law prohibits pledging a mark a second time until the first pledge has been redeemed 1. Symbolically, the degree connects the theme of the rejected stone with the keystone and the ancient white stone of victory, absolution, and reward 1.

The earliest available record of Mark Masonry being conferred in England dates to 1769, when Thomas Dunckerley worked the degree at Portsmouth under the authority of a Royal Arch warrant attached to Craft Lodge No. 259, as Quatuor Coronati Lodge records.

The degree's eventual separation from the main English governing bodies stemmed from the 1813 Articles of Union between the "Moderns" and "Antients" Grand Lodges. Article II of the Union explicitly restricted pure ancient Masonry to the three Craft degrees, including the Holy Royal Arch, thereby omitting the Mark degree, according to Quatuor Coronati Lodge.

In 1856, a motion was brought to have the United Grand Lodge of England officially recognize the Mark degree. Quatuor Coronati Lodge notes that this attempt was negatived because of the restriction in Clause II of the 1813 Articles. Because the United Grand Lodge of England refused to incorporate the degree into the Craft system, an independent Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons was formed in 1856 to govern and work the degree separately.

The Mark Master Mason degree is worked across several distinct recognized structures around the world today.

In England and Wales, along with its overseas districts, the degree is administered under the independent jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of England and Wales, as stated by the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons. The same body notes that in Scotland and Ireland, the Mark degree is integrated into Craft and Royal Arch Masonry as part of completing a Freemason's credentials. Quatuor Coronati Lodge records that within Scotland, the degree is worked under the authority of warrants belonging to either Craft Lodges or Royal Arch Chapters.

Internationally, the degree is also conferred in special historical settings. The Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon notes that Mark Masters from around the world gather annually in Jerusalem to confer the Mark Master degree underground in King Solomon's Quarries, held under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of the State of Israel.