Lewis Jewel

     The Lewis is a Masonic pocket jewel that denotes a connection between a father and son. As with all Masonic symbols it relates to a tool of the ancient stonemasons, but carries a deeper significance to Freemasons.

     The working lewis is a simple but ingenious device forged from iron or steel. With it a large block of dressed masonry may be liked by a crane and safely placed into posion. It consists of a ring holding three metal shims. Firstly a hole is chiseled into the top of the stone. The hole has tapering edges into which the left and right shims are inserted, with the middle shim securing the !rst two. A crane hook is inserted into the ring and the block is raised without a possibility of the lewis releasing its secure hold. You can begin to see the profound meaning of this symbol to Freemasons.

     Not every Mason can be awarded a lewis jewel. It is worn only by the son of a Mason, and it bears the name of the father and son.

     It is normally awarded in the East in the presence of the father and son. And, yes, lewis is a regular uncapitalized word that you’ll find in the Oxford English Dictionary, unfortunately without a given etymology. Masonic writers suggest that it relates to Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales (heir-apparent to the British throne) in the 18th century. Anderson’s Constitutions of 1738 contains these lines:

Again let it pass to the ROYAL lov’d NAME, Whose glorious Admission  has crown’d all our Fame: May a LEWIS be born, whom the World shall admire, Serene as his MOTHER, August as his SIRE.

     The Prince of Wales’ father being George Augustus (King George II), and his mother who was formerly Her Serene Highness Markgräfin Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline of Brandenburg- Ansbach.

     Admission here refers to the fact that Prince Frederick Lewis became a Freemason, along with his brothers. There is also an important reference to the jewel in the Second Degree lecture, written in the 1780s by eminent Masonic author William Preston.

     The use of the lewis in Masonic circles is certainly of ancient usage, and the jewel is proudly worn to this day to commemorate a father-son Masonic connection.