| Citation |
PG-P.732.014
4-11 May 1732:22 (180)
London. . . At the Lodge near Tower-Hill, a musical
instrument-maker was lately made a Free-mason in the
following manner; first the door-keeper pull'd off his wig,
and held a drawn sword over his head, while the two wardens
led him from one end of the Lodge Room to the other; then
they put him on Hiram's Mask, which is painted half black
and half white, with three noses, the inside was very
redolent with an ointment of foecal matter of a citron hue,
and at the same time the master pinn'd a fox's tail to his
coat; when the mask was taken off the poor man began to
complain of filthy usage, but to quiet him they ty'd him to
his chair, and the master held a pair of red hot tongs so
near his cheek as to be ready to burn him, which put him
into a terrible fright; the wardens immediately roar'd in
his ears Swanko three times, then they aspersed his face
with a saline liquor of a diaphanous nature, saying, Now,
Brother, you are in urine. The wife hearing of this
disaster, was afraid they had made him only fit for the
opera, but all was reconciled by using some means not proper
to mention here.
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