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NM Freemason · Skills & Drills · Chapter 11

The Common Gavel and the Rough Ashlar

Drawn from published Masonic monitor content. See site Credits for source citations.

Vocabulary (6)

Common gavel
A stone-mason's hammer with one flat and one tapered end, used to break off the rough corners of stone newly taken from the quarry. In speculative use, the published emblem of the labor by which the workman fits himself for that spiritual building made without hands.
Rough Ashlar
A stone in its natural state as taken from the quarry: rough, irregular, unfit for a building. The published emblem of the candidate as he stands at the threshold, before instruction has begun.
Perfect Ashlar
A stone made smooth and square by the workman, ready to be tried by the Square and set in the building. The published emblem of the cultivated Mason, what the rough ashlar may become.
Setting Maul
In some published lectures, the common gavel is distinguished from a larger setting maul used to drive stones into place. The Master's gavel is often called a Hiram in some monitorial works.
Master's gavel
The gavel carried by the Worshipful Master in Lodge. Used to open and close, to call to order, and to give the signal at which the brethren rise or are seated. Distinct from the operative common gavel but shaped like it.
Moral application
The published lecture: as the gavel breaks off the rough corners of the stone, so the Mason is to break off the rough corners of his own character. The instrument is identical; the object of work is the workman himself.

Multiple-choice (4)

1. What does the common gavel teach the Mason to break off?
  1. The chains of unworthy companions
  2. The rough and superfluous parts of his character ✓
  3. The lies of the world
  4. The barriers between languages
2. What does the Rough Ashlar represent?
  1. A Mason ready to be raised to the third degree
  2. The candidate in his natural state before instruction ✓
  3. An officer about to be installed
  4. An unfinished Lodge building
3. What does the Perfect Ashlar represent?
  1. A stone fresh from the quarry
  2. The cultivated Mason, what the rough ashlar may become ✓
  3. A relic from Solomon's temple
  4. A model used by the Master in degree work
4. How does the published lecture describe the operative use of the common gavel?
  1. Pounding mortar into the joints
  2. Breaking off rough corners of stone newly taken from the quarry ✓
  3. Driving large building stones into place
  4. Tapping out the lines on the drafting board