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The Quatuor Coronati

The Aprentice Pillar - Historical Note  The Prince's Pillar, or as it is now known, the Apprentice Pillar, gets its name from a legend involving the Master Mason in charge of the stonework in the Roslyn Chapel and his young apprentice. According to the legend, the Master does not believe that the apprentice can perform the complicated task of carving the column, without seeing the original, located in Rome, which formed the inspiration for the design. Upon his return he is enraged to find that the upstart apprentice has actually completed the magnificent column, and in a fit of madness and jealous anger the Master takes up his mallet and strikes the apprentice on the head, killing him.

In addition to the pillars, there are carvings of what could be ears of North American corn or maize in the chapel. This crop was unknown in Europe at the time of the Chapel's construction, and was not cultivated there until several hundred years later. Consequently, there are some Masonic scholars who believe these carvings are evidence supporting the idea that the noted Freemason, Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, William Sinclair's grandfather, and/or the Knights Templar had traveled to the Americas hundreds of years before Columbus.

The Quatuor Coronati (The Four Crowned Martyrs)  When in 298 A.D. the Roman Emperor Diocletian was building his baths on the necks of the Quirinal and Virminal hills he included within its vast circuit a temple to Æsculapius, the god of health. He ordered the five sculptors, Claudius, Nicostratus, Sinforianus, Castorinus, and Simplicius to execute the decorative work and make the statue of Æsculapius. Being Christians they refused to fashion the statue of a pagan god, and in consequence they were put to death on the 8th November, 298. Three were beheaded and two were scourged to death. Other artists were found who executed the work for the Emperor. On the return of Diocletian to Rome in 300, finding the works completed, he issued an order for their dedication, and commanded that all the soldiers in Rome should be present, who, as they marched past, were to throw incense over the alter of Æsculapius. As soon as this command was propagated, four brothers, who were Master Masons, and held the position of Corniculari, or wing-leaders of the city militia, met to decide what they should do under the circumstances. These brothers were named Severus, Severianus, Carporferus, and Victorianus, who, besides being Masons, had embraced the Christian faith. They all agreed to abstain from throwing the incense over the alter, it being against their principles to assist in any way at pagan ceremonies of a religious nature. This determination they made known to their centurion, who communicated it to the tribune, Lampadius, who reported the matter to Diocletian. The emperor ordered them either to sacrifice or suffer death. They, steadfast to their faith, suffered death by being scourged with leaden thongs. Their bodies were then enclosed in leaden cases and thrown into the river Tiber. A brother, Nicodemus, recovered their bodies from the river, and they were interred by the side of the five sculptors previously martyred, and other saints, in the catacombs on the Via Labricana, which from the four Master Masons are to this day known as the Catacombs of the Quattro Coronati.

The Festive or Social Board   Long ago, in the middle ages in England, before domestic furniture was commonplace, only the very rich had even very rudimentary items of furniture. Tables, as we know them today were not called tables, but rather known as 'boards', because they were constructed of several planks of wood joined together to make a large flat board, which was placed on trestles to form a table.

Hence was derived several saying which exist today.

Houses that acted as small hotels may have had several 'tables' or 'boards' and were known as 'Boarding Houses'.

The term 'Bed & Board', or 'Board and Lodging' meant that visitors slept and dined in that house.

In business, sometimes a large table was placed in a certain room, known as The Board Room, with a 'board of directors or governors'.

Chairs, or thrones were usually the sole preserve of Monarchy, with common people using simple benches or stools to sit on whilst eating. However, as land owners became more wealthy, a chair may have been commissioned, at considerable cost, and most likely used only by the head of the household. - The Chairman - of the Board.

As furniture was very expensive, tables were used for not only dining, but also for entertainment after dinner. The playing of games, - these were known as 'Board Games' and were quite common. Playing card games was very popular, and players were expected to be honest and not cheat or hold their cards under the table, but rather to have them 'above board'.

Boards often became very dirty and sticky with spilt food deposits, which made the playing of games, especially cards, very unpleasant. However as the table top was a large flat board placed on trestles, it was a simple matter to 'turn the tables' on someone for the purpose of entertainment.

If

A Poem by Rudyard Kippling, a famous Freemason

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,

If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: Hold on!

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If all men count with you, but none too much,

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!