MY STORY OF THE CABLETOW
Masonic Philatelic Club Magazine - Apr'96

In Craft Freemasonry today the cabletow is a running noose placed about the candidates' neck to render any attempt at retreat fatal. A symbol which had a place in a.ocient mysteries but which is hardly known apart from Freemasonry.

When a candidate is about to enter the Lodge the Inner Guard tells us he comes of his own free will. When he is admitted the question is asked "Are you a free man of mature age" etc. But there he stands a rope about his neck for all to see. Symbols of serfdom, capativity and slavery yet proclaiming himself to be free. At a glance this appears to be a paradox! But it isn't. The man stands before us not as a slave but as a man bound by ignorance of the Craft.

It is generally believed that the earliest written reference, to a rope being used as a piece of equipment in the preparation of the candidate was in the D:umfries Lodge No.4 MSin 1710.

An explanation given by Worshipful Brother Alan Yates when he presented the Royal Naval LOdge, Yeovilton with their cabletow reads as follows :-

"I present to the Lodge this cabletow. It is made with seaman's knots to which I have attached Masonic significance. It is formed from white rope to denote purity and . innocence'. The noose is formed from a Running Turks head, a three parted knot which represents the three who rule the Lodge. At the tail end there are five continuous Wall Knots which represent the five who hold a Lodge. When fully extended the cable tow has a length of seven feet in order to represent the seven who make it perfect. The Wall knots each being formed o,Lthree parts represent the fifteen Fe-How craft who were sent in search of our Master HiramAbif..Finally,. the tasseled end formed from the many strands emanating from the globe represent Freemasonry universal. "

I think this poem, recently published in "The Masonic Square", nicely sums up the true meaning of our cable tow :

WHAT IS THE LENGTH OF MY CABLETOW
A FELLOW CRAFT MASON WANTED TO KNOW
AN AGED MASON, WITH SNOWY HAIR
POINTED AND SAID FROM THERE TO THERE

FROM THE FIRST BRIGHT RAYS OF THE RISING SUN
TILL THE LAST RAYS SIGNAL THAT DAY IS DONE
YOUR CABLETOW REACHES FROM MORN TILL NIGHT AND FROM NIGHT
TILL MORN IF YOUVE LEARNT IT RIGHT

A TIME FOR REFRESHMENT AND A TIME FOR SLEEP
A TIME FOR GOD, AND MAN'S SERVICE TO KEEP
THE ONE'S YOU CAN HELP ALONG THE WAY
SETS THE CABLETOWS LENGTH, AT THE HOUR OF THE DAY

IF YOU CAN HELP HIM, WITHOUT DAMAGE TO YOU
YOUR LENGTH IS JUST, HOW MUCH GOOD YOU CAN DO
THOSE WHO DEPEND ON YOU, MUST ALWAYS COME FIRST
NEGLECT OF THEM AND YOUR CABLE WILL BURST

IF YOU REMEMBER THIS, AND ADJUST IT SO
YOU WILL SOON LEARN THE LENGTH OF YOUR CABLETOW

^TOP