10/28/2024
The Lodge of St. Martins Loving cup!
At the October meeting of the Lodge of St Martin 7986, the members were treated to a fascinating history of the lodge’s ’Loving Cup’ presented by Mark Giddings.
The Loving Cup was presented to the lodge in 1970 and is made from Cornish pewter and is engraved with the Lodge’s Roman Soldier.
Traditionally it would be used at the meon nights of Initiation into the Lodge of St.Martin No 7986.
The local origins of a loving cup dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, when on the 18th March 979 AD King Edward the Martyr went to visit his half-brother and was assassinated at the gates of Corfe Castle whilst drinking out of a chalice which he held with both hands.
The Lodges of Mark Master Masons & Royal Ark Mariners which meet in Shaftesbury are named after him as his body was buried at Shaftesbury Abbey.
The ceremony of the lodge’s loving cup which has three handles (like the football league cup) is as follows….
The Chalice was filled with both red and white wine, spirits and beer… the significance of this is meant to signify sweet and sour tastes representing good times and bad through life.
The attendees would sing the initiates song and then the Master would rise so would the initiate and the Immediate Past Master (IPM) (last years Master) The Initiate would have his back to the Master and the IPM would be facing the Master while he took a sip from the chalice, the Master would the turn to face the IPM who would the take the cup by the third handle and face forward the Chaplain would rise and face the IPM the Master would be facing away to guard his back, this would be repeated all the way round the dining room until it reached the Initiate, who would also drink from the cup which was turned into a spectacular moment for the Initiate to try and drain the chalice!
Due to health concerns of the time, the loving Cup was retired in 1984 to a display cabinet where it has remained for forty years however it’s retirement lead to the lodge adopting the lovely and much more welcoming Initiates Chain.
The Lodge of St. Martins meets in
Grateful thanks to Mike Parkes for the words and pictures
