Ye Antient Order of Noble Corks
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Ye Antient Order of Noble Corks also known as The Cork, is an informal degree allied to Freemasonry.[1] It is described as "fun". Distinctly nautical in form, its membership is open to Master Masons in good standing who are either a companion in the Holy Royal Arch or a Warden, Master or Past Master of a craft Lodge. The Cork or Corks is derived from the organisation's emblem of a cork with a corkscrew inserted at an angle.[2] Membership is not onerous—the only costs on top of membership being dining fees, drinks, etc. The idea and aim being to raise money for children's charities, and with Corkies having fun in so doing.[3][4]
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[edit] Origins and Degree of The Cork
The origins of the degree are unknown, the ritual is satirical and based around the era of Noah and the great flood.
Candidates can be proposed and initiated on the same night. Compared with masonic meetings, dress is informal - as meetings tend to be boisterous affairs, in good spirits. The ritual and initiation part takes up the first part of the evening, followed by festivities that are “closer to a Scottish Harmony than an English Festive Board”.[3] Hats are worn during the meeting, with head-gear style being of personal choice - the sillier, the better.[3][4]
All lodge officers have naval titles, roughly equating to the Officers in a craft Lodge, with jewels of the office being borne on strings of corks:
- Rather Worshipful Admiral
- Uncommonly Worshipful Mate
- Highly Worshipful Purser
- Hardly Worshipful Lookout
- Nearly Rather Worshipful Vice Admiral
- Undoubtedly Ship's Writer
- Little Less Worshipful Doctor
- Barely Worshipful Cook
- Mainly Worhsipful Bosun
- Particularly Worthy Screw
- Almost Worthy Carpenter
- Particularly Worthy Shipmate
The Cork tradition is stronger in Scotland than elsewhere and there the Cork Lodges come under the supervision of Royal Arch Masonry. In the US, it forms an informal part of the Allied Masonic Degrees.[5] In England there is no formal organisation.[3]
[edit] Charity
All fees received by the Lodge must be paid, in full, to the treasurer of a charity, preferably a children's charity with no deduction being made for administrative expenses. Members are required to carry the jewel of the order, a piece of cork in a silver ring, at all times and be able to produce it on demand. Any member being unable to produce the jewel is fined, this being given to the Lodge treasurer at the next meeting for contribution to charity.[6]
[edit] Cork Lodges
The following are some examples of Cork Lodges.[3][7]
[edit] Scotland
- Maeshowe Antient & Noble Cork Lodge, Kirkwall, Orkney
- Angus & Mearns Cork Lodge
- Eastmuir Cork Lodge & Chapter, Glasgow
- Lodge Oak, Kelty, Fife
- Dunearn Cork Lodge, Burntisland, Fife
- St Andrews Antient Cork Lodge, Glasgow
- Stirling Rock Royal Arch Cork Lodge, Chapter No 2
[edit] England
- Nelson Cork Lodge, Beaconsfield, Bucks
- Radlett Cork Lodge, Hertfordshire
- Wildfire Cork Lodge, Kent
- Itchen Cork Lodge, Hampshire
[edit] Belgium
- Lodge Belgian, Brussels, Belgium
[edit] A Cork poem
The Cork Degree[8]
You may climb the Mason's Ladder till you reach the highest point
And in toiling slowly upwards rack yourself in every joint
But I venture to inform you - if you've reached to thirty-three
The best of all the bunch is what is called the Cork Degree.
You ask me what it means? Well, Sirs, it means just what it says
You can booze yourself to blazes through a hundred happy days
You may stop your dinner or your tea and sell your knife and fork
But you mustn't venture out of doors without your Mason's Cork.
It's a circle and the centre that it holds is Fellowship
There are many signs and tokens which you may well give the slip
So long as you do not forget that the Cork, to have its due,
Must have safely in its centre what it seldom lacks - a screw.
For that means the bottle's open, and the drinks are going round
And the Corkites are delighted with the whiskey's gurgling sound
As it cluck clucks in Friendship's name and flows right merrily
And thus maintains the glories of the Almighty Cork Degree.
Then when heads are getting muzzy and when eyes are getting faint
And you're free to fight your damndest with a devil or a Saint
If some kindly Christian Soul enquires how many moons you see
You may bet your empty tumbler he's got the Cork Degree.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ York Rite Freemasonry: description of degrees, (accessed 16 Oct 2006)
- ^ Emblem, used in the USA, from Allied Masonic Degrees web,(accessed 17 Oct 2006)]
- ^ a b c d e The Nelson Cork Lodge (accessed 17 Oct 2006)
- ^ a b [1] Sep 2005, "A New Cork Lodge", The Square Magazine, pub Lewis Masonic.
- ^ Webpage of National Capital Council No. 296, AMD
- ^ General rules and regulations of the cork degree, Itchen Cork Lodge
- ^ Eastmuir Cork Lodge & Chapter (accessed 17 Oct 2006)
- ^ Geocites.com, Masonic Poems (accessed 16 Oct 2006)
[edit] External sites
- Eastmuir Cork Lodge & Chapter, webpage. [2]
- Nelson Cork Lodge, webpage. [3]
- St. Johns Masonic Lodge, webpage. [4]
- Degree structure, webpage. [5]
- Internet Lodge, webpage. [6]
- US AMD emblem. [7]
- US AMD Cork emblem. [8]
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