MASONIC RITUAL
On the Nature of Ritual
MASONIC RITUAL EXPLAINED BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE CUSTODIANS OF THE WORK
Why Do Masons Wear Aprons?
Aprons of one kind or another have been worn for centuries to protect bodies from injury and clothing from being soiled with the by-products of the artisan’s work. Freemasons today wear Aprons—most commonly in the familiar rectangular shape with a triangular flap—for symbolic reasons, as well as to connect with our traditional past, and there is no doubt that the Freemason’s Apron evolved from the working aprons worn by European craftsmen.
Medieval working aprons were commonly fashioned from the tanned leather skin of an appropriately-sized animal, most likely a sheep, and the whole hide was used with minimal trimming. During these early times, the artisan’s apron was therefore worn as a full skin extending from chest to ankles. The fall was typically held up by means of a leather thong around the wearer’s neck, and the apron was fastened around the back using a strip of leather attached at the forelegs on either side. If the artisan did not wish to have his chest covered, the fall was allowed to hang forward, creating the familiar apron flap.
This somewhat shapeless affair sufficed for many centuries, although refinements gradually began to appear. The simple tanned hides were increasingly trimmed and finished, and different kinds of artisans began to modify their aprons to suit their needs. For example, a blacksmith would still want full protection from chest to ankles whereas a wright (carpenter) might prefer a short apron that favored mobility. By the late seventeenth century, a typical stoneworker would have worn a full apron extending to the knees, with a fall in the front. There also began to appear buttonholes at the tip of the fall so that the flap could be turned up and secured to a button on the wearer’s coat or waistcoat when needed to protect the clothing.
Early speculative Aprons at the beginning of the eighteenth century were much the same as their operative counterparts, as reflected in engravings of the period: full, long and with a fall in the front. Gradually, these speculative Aprons became smaller and more refined over the course of the century. The fall began to be trimmed to a triangular or semicircular flap, or removed altogether, and the bottom of the Apron began to be squared off or cut to a rounded shape. By the middle of the century, speculative Masons were decorating the edges of their Aprons with colored ribbon and illustrating them with elaborate depictions of symbolic designs, and the Apron continued to evolve further from a working man’s covering into a purely symbolic adornment.
And that’s what brings us to today.
Response provided by RW Samuel Lloyd Kinsey
Chairman, Custodians of the Work, Grand Lodge of New York
