Installation at Cumberland Lodge

This evening I was pleased to be able to assist in the Installation of Officers for Cumberland Lodge No. 12. The new Master for the year is Wor. Bro. Kurt Ringrose, a co-worker at DeLorme who contributes significantly to the product I oversee, so it thrilled me to be able to participate. The evening flowed very smoothly with Wor. Bro. Steven Cobb as the Installing Master and two experienced Past Masters assisting as the Installing Marshal and Installing Chaplain. Wor. Bro. Cobb performed very well particularly considering it was his first crack; he was far less nervous than I on my first attempt! I installed the Wardens and Secretary along with doing the candle charges for the Master and Wardens. A great time was truly had by all, which is to be expected for a lodge with so many young, excited officers! Wor. Bro. Ringrose is set to have a great year in the Oriental Chair.

So many Maine Masons have witnessed the installation ceremony without knowing much about its history. One of the earliest versions of the installation ritual can be found in Wor. Bro. William Preston's seminal work "Illustrations of Masonry" in Book 2, Section 6 "The ancient ceremonies of the Order". Though it is not quite the same as our ceremony, you can see our roots in its structure and language. Much of what Preston wrote way back in 1772 is still part of our installation today.

To all of the students of Masonic ritual out there, what was the next edition of the installation and why was that ritual so important in the 18th century?