H. Warren Tool, Jr., 33°
6053 Wilora Lake Road, Ste. 130-132, Charlotte, North Carolina 28212-2801

Throughout history, as in Freemasonry, the gavel has been
a powerful symbol of authority.
Ceremonial gavel used by Bro. George Washington in laying the cornerstones
of the White House (1792) and United States Capitol (1793).

Webster's Dictionary defines gavel as "the mallet of the presiding officer...." Another dictionary defines the gavel as "a small mallet used by a presiding officer to signal for attention or order." Dr. Albert G. Mackey, 33°, who wrote the popular and thorough Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, says, "the common gavel is one of the working tools of the Entered Apprentice. It is made use of by the Operative Mason to break off the corners of the rough ashlar, and thus fit it the better for the builder's use, and is therefore adopted as a symbol in Speculative Masonry, to admonish us of the duty of divesting our minds and consciences of all the vices and impurities of life, thereby fitting our bodies as living stones for that spiritual building not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

Dr. Mackey, who was a distinguished authority on Freemasonry, especially as to the changes which it had undergone since the period of its revival at the commencement of the 18th century, says the gavel borrows its name from its shape, being that of the gavel or gable end of a house; that the word comes from the German word which means a top or peak. The true form of the gavel is that of the stonemason's hammer, which has a cutting edge "to break off the corner of rough stones," which could not be done by use of a common hammer or mallet. The gavel of the Master is also sometimes referred to, at least anciently so, as a "Hiram" because, like that architect in the building of King Solomon's Temple, it governs the Craft and keeps order in the Lodge, as did Hiram. However, there is no place in the ritual, that I have able to find at least, that alludes to the gavel as an instrument of authority. But we as Masons recognize the gavel primarily as the badge of power and authority of the Master of the Lodge and, to a lesser degree, of the Wardens of the Lodge.

In common usage, the gavel can be made of a variety of materials including wood, metal, plastic, or other synthetics and all in various sizes, shapes, and ornamentations to suit the maker and/or its user. The gavel is the symbol of authority in our day and is used as such in our judicial and legislative halls. It is even used by the auctioneer to finalize the sale of an item. It is not so important that the Master of the Masonic Lodge have a particular symbol, that is, that he carry a "common gavel" or a "setting maul," but that he have always in an open Lodge, in his possession, some instrument with which blows may be struck as a symbol of his power, his authority, his right to be in charge, to lead, and to govern.

Some contend, as did Mackey, that the "common gavel," or the mason's hammer with one sharp edge, is one of the Working Tools of an Entered Apprentice and that the "setting maul" is not classified a Working Tool. Therefore, it is the common gavel rather than the setting maul which should be the symbol of the Master in governing a Lodge of Masons.

As the symbol of authority, the hammer is as old as mythology. In Scandinavian mythology, the hammer was the instrument used by Thor who threw it to do his will. The hammer has been associated with the control, in mythology of course, of thunderbolts and lightning. According to writings of the Masonic Service Association, the use of the hammer is not confined either to Masonry or to Norse mythology. The hammer has also been associated with the right of possession. Thor, the god of lightning, by virtue of his control of fire, was also the god of the domestic hearth. In ancient days, a bride, on taking possession of her new home, received a hammer thrown in her lap as a symbol of possession, and when her husband purchased land, he took symbolic possession by throwing a hammer over it. And so, when the Master of the Lodge first brings down the gavel to convene the Brethren, he says, in effect, that he is taking possession of the Lodge, as its then leader, and is about to rule and to govern it. Bro. George W. Speth, the famous English Masonic writer, details some interesting rules drawn up by operative stonemasons in Saxony in 1462. One such rule stipulated that no master should allow a harlot to enter his lodge, but that if anyone have need to commune with her, he should depart the lodge, "so far as one may cast a gavel."

Grand Lodges are, of course, sovereign within their jurisdictions. It is, therefore, not always necessarily required that the Grand Master use the "common gavel" as his instrument of authority. If nothing is said in the statutes of a Grand Lodge stipulating that a "common gavel" be used, then the familiar form of mallet or hammer, which is the most common form of a presiding officer's instrument, is as correct as any other. Certainly, no gavel of wood can do other than symbolically to "break off the corners of rough stones." Its composition is not so important except that the Brethren understand the authority inherent in its use by the Master.

The Master should always retain possession of the gavel, no matter its form, and never have it beyond reach. He should carry it with him when he moves about the Lodge, whether during the conferring of a Degree or when the Lodge is in charge of a Junior Warden at refreshment. The Master has the authority to transfer his power temporarily. He can honor a visitor by presenting him the gavel, at which time the Master should always remove his hat. By having the authority to transfer his power temporarily as Master, he must always also be in a position to exercise and preserve it, and to repossess his symbol of authority on request or demand. The Master's authority comes from his election and his installation as Master under the powers and the authority of the Grand Lodge. And so, once installed, a Master cannot be deprived of his gavel of authority except by the Grand Lodge, or Grand Master, or a Deputy of the Grand Master.

It is a sorry and despicable Mason who would tolerate disobedience to the authority of the gavel by any member of the Lodge. The Master has the authority to ask the removal of any member or Brother who would defy the power of the gavel. Such an offender is subject to charges of un-Masonic conduct and a Masonic trial as a result of his behavior. The Master may do what he wants in his Lodge. He has the authority to cut off discussion, to rap a Brother down, rap a Brother up, dismiss a Brother from the Lodge, to refuse to put a motion, to declare a recess, to control argument or debate, to refuse permission of one to speak, to arrange the work, and to open and close the Lodge at his pleasure, all with the use of the gavel.
Gavel made of wood from Shepheard's Tavern, site of the founding of the Supreme Council, 33°, in Charleston, South Carolina, on May 31, 1801.

The Master can pay no higher tribute to another Brother than to relinquish and entrust him with the gavel. The Master presents the gavel to the Grand Master, or to his Deputy acting for him, as a matter of respect, but also because it is the right of such a dignitary to preside in any Lodge of Masons within his jurisdiction. When the Master offers his gavel to another to preside at the conferring of a Degree, or to a distinguished visitor, it is an act of the greatest respect and confidence in the selectee.

Finally, let us remember that a gavel is not an absolute necessity in the opening and governing of a Lodge of Masons, although, as stated earlier, it is the symbol of authority itself. And so, we as Freemasons revere the hammer, mallet, setting maul, or common gavel. It symbolizes the height of Masonic authority and power, "the wisdom of Light which rests in and shines forth from" the Master in the East.

H. Warren Tool, Jr.
is a Past Master of McLeod Lodge No. 424, Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and a Past Presiding Officer of all the Gulfport, Mississippi, Scottish Rite Bodies. He is currently a member of the Charlotte, North Carolina, Scottish Rite Bodies, Wahabi Shrine Temple (Past Potentate), Jackson, Mississippi, and Oasis Shrine Temple, Charlotte, North Carolina (Associate Past Potentate and Life Member). Ill. Tool is a retired Special Agent of the FBI.