It is always a delight to meet up with old friends. I had not seen Peter Marks, now Chairman of the Dorset Masonic Museum and Library, for the best part of 10 years. He reminded me that we had last met at the wonderful surroundings of the Masonic Hall in St Hélier, Jersey. Since then there have been interesting developments.
    Situated almost exactly half way between Poole and Bournemouth, and a walking distance from Branksome Station, the Dorset Museum belongs to the Province: it is, however, a totally independent entity, both financially and administratively. A small number of Brethren, under the guidance of Peter, have created a success story. Last year, the professional and well-organised running of the Museum shop generated a healthy £ 41,329.00 – as recorded in the 2002 yearbook. These funds have been used to pay for the running costs, improve facilities and make the occasional new acquisition. It is a system that works and the Province can rightly be proud of an exceedingly well-equipped Masonic Museum.
    The Branksome Masonic Hall served as a Chapel until 1926 when it was leased by the St Aldhelm’s Lodge, No. 2559. The opportune purchase of the Masonic collection of one of the Lodges most respected Past Masters, Col. Sir William Watts, was the incentive to the formation of the Dorset Provincial Museum and Library on this site. The single Lodge room on the first floor has a most wonderful atmosphere of calm and serenity; the décor in the East consists of stupendously carved oak stalls and screen. The Master’s chair is a Museum piece in its own right. The seat has a detailed carving of Salisbury cathedral, which can only be seen when the Master has left his chair and the seat lifted. The whole ensemble, dated 1870, originally belonged to the St Edmund’s School Chapel in Salisbury.
    The most striking feature on entering the Museum is the carefully and tidily arranged exhibits. The strong light enhances the overall atmosphere, which is very viewer-friendly. Every available space in the rather constricted room has been well and economically utilised without giving the impression of being overcrowded. The majority of the items are clearly and accurately labelled. High along the four sides of the walls hang a wide range of aprons, some well known types and makers, such as Moira, Newman and Hixon, and others covering various periods together with a significant number of Orders, several quasi-Masonic.
    In 1987 an anonymous benefactor enabled the Museum to install new display cases running the whole length of the room. These cabinets have shelves dedicated to specific themes. Thus a shelf on domestic objects in common use in the 19th century covers an abundance of items ranging from masonic match boxes and smoking implements to brass iron stands and toasting forks decorated with pierced Masonic designs. Another shelf has an array of Masonic glass with some curious examples with dice embedded in the base.
    The west wall displays an impressive range of china and pottery with examples from Wedgwood and Royal Doulton and classical pieces of Liverpool, Sunderland and Worcester ware, among others. Here you will also find a comprehensive collection of the quaint frog mugs all with masonic transfers on the outside of the colourful drinking utensils. On a separate shelf is another impressive exhibit of the popular Goss crested ware, all bearing Masonic emblems. These were produced at the Falcon Pottery in Stoke on Trent by William Henry Goss who set up his business in 1858 at the tender age of twenty five.
    A large unit is dedicated to the Masonic jewels of the Province. Its centrepiece is the chain of office, apron and the Masonic paraphernalia of the Earl of Shaftsbury (1869-1961), who served a record fifty years as Provincial Grand Master from 1902 to 1952. Another highly respected Provincial Grand Master was William Williams who was in office from 1812 to 1839, the year of his death. These were crucial years in the formation of the United Grand Lodge of England in which Bro. Williams took an active part.
    He is commemorated by a splendid candelabrum presented to him by the Brethren of the Province which was originally given on load by the family to the Museum of the United Grand Lodge of England; it was recovered by Peter Marks some years ago and is now an important piece in the Museum’s collection.
    This three foot high candelabrum, with the dedication dated 4 September 1835, consists of various sections, many hallmarked. Its base is adorned
    with three well-executed figurines representing hope, charity and prudence. At the top stands the allegorical figure of culture and education, a female figure reading from a book and instructing a child.
    Prominent in the Museum room are two English long case clocks, popularly referred to as grandfather clocks. These were originally nicknamed coffin clocks due to their shape; in 1876, Henry Clay Works wrote a song titled My Grandfather's Clock and the popularity of the song gave the long case clocks the name by which we now refer to them.
    The examples in the Museum consist of one decorated with popular Masonic emblems and another which belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. This latter clock has the digit VII repeated twice on the face of the clock, omitting the digit VIII. Peter Marks is convinced that this was intentional and has some significance within that fraternity. I am not persuaded and would be glad to hear of any information available on this particular subject.
    Standing next to the clocks is an attractive and very convenient revolving glass cabinet. The four trays in the circular case each display carefully laid out examples of smaller objects. The first shelf is dedicated to watches and clockwork, with excellent examples of unusual mechanisms, many delicately pierced with familiar Masonic emblems. These are complemented by a good range of wrist and pocket watches, including several examples of the rare triangular watches. The next shelf which contains a striking and particularly spectacular 18th century snuff box produced in the Meissen factory in Germany.
    The Museum is improving in all its facets all the time. The computerised inventory is now complete, new worthwhile acquisitions are made as regularly as opportunities permit. Ron Kiver and Fred Russell continue their professional management of regalia sales and Ron Adlam keeps a close eye on a functional Library. Peter Marks, meanwhile, has just stepped down as Chairman of the Masonic Library and Museum Group, which he conceived and helped to create in 1998. It is an exceedingly successful and useful body, which meets regularly to listen to expert talks and discuss matters of mutual interest to the benefit of the entire Museum network spread across the United Kingdom and in which the Dorset Provincial Museum leads the way.

SCRIMSHAW EXHIBITS The pair of beautifully engraved Scrimshaw in the Museum are rare and unusual pieces. Scrimshaw is correctly defined as the carving of ivory, and more specifically of whale tooth. It originated as the work of art of American sailors in the mid 18th century on whaling expeditions. Life on these vessels was often monotonous and scrimshawing become a satisfying occupation. It is only the Sperm whales that have teeth so that scrimshaw spread to other media, mostly bone or ivory. The engraving on the tooth is often primitive in nature and usually achieved with a jack knife or a sail needle. The scrimshaw was sold when the sailors reached port and thus made its way to the general market. Today, older pieces of scrimshaw are expensive and rare. Other materials have been substituted for whalebone, including walrus and mammoth tusks and a pair of walrus drinking cups accompanies the scrimshaw pieces in the Museum. There have been various plastic forgeries and reproductions of ivory pieces. There is a simple test to identify a genuine piece: place a red-hot pin on the surface of the Ivory. It will not damage an ivory piece but will sink through a plastic object.

FROG MUGS The Frog mugs in the Dorset Museum collection are all Masonic mugs as identified by the transfer designs on the outside of the drinking utensil. The origin of these charming vessels is thought to have originated as a joke of dropping a live frog or toad into someone’s drink. Such an incident is described as early as September 1666 in Samuel Pepys diaries in which he says: …another time, he and Pinchbacke and Dr Goffe, now a religious man, Pinchbacke did begin a frolick to drink out of a glass with a toad in it…The frequent incidents of these drinking challenges and the fun associated may well have inspired potters to produce these amusing and highly popular, though now rare, Frog Mugs. The examples in the Museum are all of the 19th century and include the production of many lifelike creatures with others painted with striking red eyes.

SNUFF BOXES The practice of taking snuff became popular in England around the seventeenth and early eighteenth century and Freemasonry, a social ‘club’ by any standards, adapted to it from the beginning. Fortunately the authorities in England were tolerant, compared, for instance, to the Tsar Michael I of Russia who decreed that smokers should be whipped for the first offence and executed for the second, whilst snuff takers should be treated more leniently by merely having their noses cut off! By the eighteenth century snuff-boxes, usually highly decorative, were prized as examples of the work of the finest miniature artists and jewellers. They were given as valuable gifts and often the lids were also decorated with miniature allegories, romantic scenes and floral designs. The Dorset Museum possesses one of the most classical and rare triangular snuff boxes dated between 1735 and 1756 and produced by the German Dresden or Meissen Porcelain factory. The delicate and typical Meissen work is executed on both the lid and the edges of the box. When the box is opened a quaint and beautiful Masonic figure appears on the inside of the lid, dressed in his apron surrounded by emblems of the Craft.

The Dorset Provincial Museum Masonic Hall, 57 Ashley Road, Parkstone, Poole, Dorset, BH14 9BT Telephone 01202 736323. It is open every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm. Special Arrangements for visits can be made: contact the Curator: Peter Marks, 34 Chander Close, Ferndown, Dorset, BH22 8DW. Telephone 01202 876580