Freemasons throughout the world are finally able to study a six-hundred-year-old manuscript of The Old Charges thanks to an unprecedented translation in modern English that has preserved the original rhyme scheme. For these Brothers, it may provide new and meaningful insight into the history of the Craft from a medieval perspective, which is more about the actual dos and donts for ancient stonemasons than todays Brotherhood and its symbolism. Nonetheless, it offers a lot of recognition when it comes to the origin of modern Masonic practices.
Ever since James Halliwell (1820 1899) discovered The Regius Poem in 1842, English-speaking Masons have had to make considerable effort to cope with its language, which dates back to approximately 1425. Until now, the manuscript could only be read in its original wording, in modern prose or in attempts that failed to qualify as poetry. This implies that, in actual practice, the earliest document of The Old Charges has mostly been appreciated for its wisdom and strength - at the expense of its beauty.
To reinstall this trinity, Brother Harry G. de Vries has translated the old text from rhymed Middle English to rhymed Modern English for the first time. It was his aim, he says, to facilitate his English-speaking brothers with a version in which the essential literary ingredient of rhyme would be revived in order to rekindle the poem's 600-years-old beauty. As a result, it helps bring today's Masons much closer to the impact the poem would have had on its medieval audiences.
In the foreword, the Dutch author explains why being a native speaker of Dutch may have been a considerable help to understand and translate the language of The Regius Poem. You can check the results of his labour in this edition, in which each left-hand page has the original text and each right-hand page displays the modern translation.
Brother Harry takes you back to a medieval lodge where a travelling word artist served masons the history of their craft as it was seen at the time - after the day's work had ended. At Lewis Masonic we are sure that this unique version in rhymed modern English will provide Freemasons with a new perspective on the beauty of their Craft.
