Most Worshipful Grand Master, Brethren and Guests Good Evening.

The title of tonight’s talk is “Freemasonry and the Table Lodge Meet, Eat, Drink and Be Merry”

Some would say the Table Lodge or Festive Board is historically and traditionally one of the essential elements of a successful Masonic meeting. I for one would have to agree having attended a few over the years.

If you take the opportunity to do some research online about Table Lodges you will see common themes of singing, jokes, toasts and Masonic fire.

Hundreds of years ago Freemasons met in Taverns and from these meeting places Modern Freemasonry was born.

The four London Lodges that formed the Grand Lodge of England met in the Apple Tree Tavern in 1716.

Probably the first Lodge in the colonies to meet was in the Old Tun Tavern in 1731 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite formed at the site of Shepheards Tavern in 1801 in Charleston, South Carolina.

Some meetings apparently went on for hours. The members would dine, drink and attend to business at hand. One would assume then that the drink assisted in suffering through the reading of minutes, bills and communications.

Seriously though, there was a ritual to when one would eat, when one would sing and when toasts would be given, to whom and how many.

Stewards had the duty of making sure the Members glasses were charged.

Wardens kept a watchful eye to see that none present took none to excess and imposed nominal fines not to penalize but to reinforce the seriousness that you were attending a lodge meeting.

The Table Lodge therefore is the present day link to our history.

No longer do we meet in Taverns but the traditions are now carried over to the Festive Board. A regimental, ritualized dinner to round off the meeting night. We eat, drink and toast because in these simple acts we reinforce the ties that bind us together as Masons. We laugh, talk and sing and build that camaraderie amongst us that is foreign to the outside world.

Eating together is a communal act like ancient man around the fire. Toasting is an act of well wishing to the health of our leaders, each other and the Fraternity in general. And Masonic Fire reminiscent of loading and firing cannon is just plain fun.

Two of the most memorable times I can remember at a festive board are as follows. In 2001 in England I was at a Festive Board where the ceremony of the loving cup was performed. A large silver bowl, chalice type thing with a concoction of spirits was produced and passed to each member in the room. In an old Anglo-Saxon tradition three men would stand. Two men back to back and the third presented the loving cup. The man would take a drink wipe the rim with a towel and pass along the cup. According to tradition this was so that the man would have his back guarded and not be assassinated. These steps were repeated each time the cup was presented. When the cup arrived at the head table it was presented to the Master who would then drain the remainder in the cup. Maybe unbeknownst to him the cup was refilled about half way through the tables. I might add the poor fellow performed admirable even though he was all of five foot five.

The second was at the installation of our Deputy Grand Master Brother Cook as Master of Sentinel Lodge in Stockport England. A Brother at the festive board sang a song called “To his health”. The song was probably thirty minutes long and involved complicated clinking of glasses with your neighbor that eventually had the entire room singing in chorus. And there were probably over one hundred Masons in the room.

In every thing that we do the real secrets of Freemasonry are internal. Things that we cannot explain to the profane let alone reveal. I have heard it said by many a Mason wiser than me that more “Freemasonry” is practiced over coffee or around a dinner table than in any Lodge room. And I am sure that tonight all of you would agree.

Here is a quote from Brother Ben Franklin that I have trying to work in all year that didn’t seem appropriate till tonight, “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy”.

Thanks for listening and have a good evening.

Sources:
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/godolphin.lodge/html/festive_board.html

http://www.stjohn788.org.uk/humour.htm

http://renewal.gl-mi.org/lodge%20festive%20board%20package.pdf

http://www.masonmusic.org/festive.html

http://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/toasts.html

http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/table_lodge_history_ritual.htm

Valley of Craftsmen copyright 2001 Supreme Council AASR of Freemasonry SJ, USA