Mason, Bison and Elk... and more

The Cape Cod Mystery, pg 44.

He was neither a Mason, a Bison, or an Elk.

Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century.

What's a Fraternal organization? (There are known fraternal organizations which existed as far back as ancient Greece and Rome, and analogous institutions in the late medieval period called confraternities, which were lay organizations allied to the Catholic Church. These confraternities evolved into purely secular fraternal societies.

The development of modern fraternal orders was especially dynamic in the United States, where the freedom to associate outside governmental regulation is expressly sanctioned in law. There have been hundreds of fraternal organizations in the United States, and at the beginning of the 20th century the number of memberships equaled the number of adult males. (Due to multiple memberships, probably only 50% of adult males belonged to any organizations.)

In 1944 Arthur M. Schlesinger coined the phrase "a nation of joiners" to refer to the phenomenon. Alexis de Tocqueville also referred to the American reliance on private organization in the 1830s in Democracy in America.

There are many attributes that fraternities may or may not have, depending on their structure and purpose. Fraternities can have differing degrees of secrecy, some form of initiation or ceremony marking admission, formal codes of behavior, disciplinary procedures, very differing amounts of real property and assets).

Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 in Scotland and Ireland, over a quarter of a million under the jurisdiction of the United Grand Lodge of England and just under two million in the United States.

The fraternity is administratively organised into independent Grand Lodges or sometimes Orients, each of which governs its own jurisdiction, which consists of subordinate (or constituent) Lodges. The various Grand Lodges recognise each other, or not, based upon adherence to landmarks (a Grand Lodge will usually deem other Grand Lodges who share common landmarks to be regular, and those that do not to be "irregular" or "clandestine").

There are also appendant bodies, which are organisations related to the main branch of Freemasonry, but with their own independent administration.

Freemasonry uses the metaphors of operative stonemasons' tools and implements, against the allegorical backdrop of the building of King Solomon's Temple, to convey what has been described by both Masons and critics as "a system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.


The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE; also often known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks) is an American fraternal order and social club founded in 1868. It is one of the leading fraternal orders in the U.S., claiming nearly one million members.

The Elks had modest beginnings in 1868 as a social club (then called the "Jolly Corks") established as a private club to elude New York City laws governing the opening hours of public taverns. After the death of a member left his wife and children without income, the club took up additional service roles, rituals and a new name. Desiring to adopt "a readily identifiable creature of stature, indigenous to America", fifteen members voted 8-7 to favor the elk above the buffalo. Early members were mostly from theatrical performing troupes in New York City. It has since evolved into a major American fraternal, charitable, and service order with more than a million members, both men and women, throughout the United States. (Blacks and women are allowed, but atheists are excluded.)

As for Bisons, I'm unable to find any historical record of when the Bison Lodge was first founded. There are a few in existence today.)

In the pillory, and was lucky 'twastn't the bilboes.

The pillory was a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse, sometimes lethal.

The word is documented in English since 1274 (attested in Anglo-Latin from c. 1189), and stems from Old French pellori (1168; modern French pilori, see below), itself from medieval Latin pilloria, of uncertain origin, perhaps a diminutive of Latin pila "pillar, stone barrier.

Bilboes (always plural) were iron restraints placed on a person's ankles or wrists. They were used to restrain prisoners and slaves, and for public corporal punishment for men and women alike.

Bilboes consisted of a pair of "U"-shaped iron bars (shackles) with holes in the ends, through which a bolt was inserted. The bolt had a large knob on one end, and a slot in the other end into which a wedge was driven to secure the assembly. Bilboes were made in many sizes, ranging from large ones suitable for a large man's ankles, to ones small enough to fit children.

Bilboes used as public punishment combined physical discomfort with social humiliation; they were popular in England and America in the colonial and early Revolutionary periods (such as in the Boston Bay colony) until they were superseded by the use of stocks.

There was Sough Sullivan all dressed up in his reg'mentals to greet us.

Battledress, or fatigues in the general sense, is the type of uniform used as combat uniforms, as opposed to 'display' dress or formal uniform worn at parades and functions. Display uniforms were also called "regimentals."

"Everyone can't get to Corinth, but you can read the signposts."

I have been unable to find out who said this first, or even what it means. I'm assuming it has something to do with 1st Corinthians, but I'm not sure.