Tyler (Masonic)

Office of outer guard of a Masonic Lodge

Part of a series on

Freemasonry

Overview

* Grand Lodge
* Masonic lodge
* Masonic lodge officers
* Grand Master
* Prince Hall Freemasonry
* Regular Masonic jurisdiction
* Anglo-American Freemasonry
* Continental Freemasonry

History

* History of Freemasonry
* Liberté chérie
* Masonic manuscripts

Masonic bodies

Masonic

* Masonic bodies
* York Rite
* Order of Mark Master Masons
* Holy Royal Arch
* Royal Arch Masonry
* Cryptic Masonry
* Knights Templar
* Red Cross of Constantine
* Scottish Rite
* Knight Kadosh
* French Rite
* Societas Rosicruciana
* Order of Royal and Select Masters
* Grand College of Rites
* Swedish Rite
* Order of Saint Thomas of Acon
* Royal Order of Scotland
* Order of Knight Masons
* Research Lodge
* Corks

Side degrees

* The Shrine
* Royal Order of Jesters
* Tall Cedars of Lebanon
* The Grotto

Masonic groups for women

* Women and Freemasonry
* Order of the Amaranth
* Order of the Eastern Star
* Prince Hall Order of the Eastern Star
* Co-Freemasonry

Masonic youth organizations

* DeMolay
* A.J.E.F.
* Job's Daughters
* International Order of the Rainbow for Girls

Views on Masonry

* Anti-Masonry
* Anti-Masonic Party
* Grand Anti-Masonic Exhibition
* Masonic conspiracy theories
* Christian attitudes towards Freemasonry
* Papal ban of Freemasonry
* Taxil hoax

People and places

* Masonic Temple
* James Anderson
* Prince Hall
* William Preston
* Thomas Smith Webb
* Albert Mackey
* Albert Pike
* John the Evangelist
* John the Baptist
* William Schaw
* Elizabeth Aldworth
* List of Freemasons
* Lodge Mother Kilwinning
* Freemasons' Hall, London
* Mark Masons' Hall, London
* House of the Temple
* Solomon's Temple
* Detroit Masonic Temple
* List of Masonic buildings

Related

* Masonic ritual and symbolism
* Great Architect of the Universe
* Square and Compasses
* Pigpen cipher
* Eye of Providence
* Hiram Abiff
* Chamber of Reflection
* List of Masonic Abbreviations
* Sprig of Acacia
* Masonic Landmarks
* Pike's Morals and Dogma
* Propaganda Due
* Dermott's Ahiman Rezon
* Volume of Sacred Law

By country

* Barbados
* Belgium
* Canada
* China
* Croatia
* Cuba
* Denmark
* France
* Finland
* Germany
* Iceland
* India
* Indonesia
* Israel
* Italy
* Japan
* Lebanon
* Luxembourg
* Malaysia
* Malta
* Mexico
* North Macedonia
* Philippines
* Portugal
* Romania
* Russia
* Scotland
* South Africa
* Spain
* Sri Lanka
* Sweden
* Thailand
* Turkey
* Ukraine
* Venezuela
* United States

* v
* t
* e

Tyler (also spelled Tiler) is the name of the office of outer guard of a Masonic Lodge. Masonic lodges may meet in rooms in taverns and other public meeting places, and all Lodges appoint a Tyler to guard the door from the outside against ineligible masons or malicious or curious people, to check the eligibility of latecomers, and to ensure that candidates for ceremonies in the Lodge are properly prepared. Although a junior Officer of the Lodge and often a highly experienced Past Master, he may often be considered akin to a sergeant: in some cases the Tyler may not be an unpaid member of the lodge, but a mason from another lodge employed for the purpose. Other duties often involve preparing the room for meetings, supplying regalia and equipment, serving as bar steward or acting as permanent, and sometimes resident, caretaker of the furniture and premises.

## Duties of the post

[edit]

Night, a print by William Hogarth. The figure on the left, carrying a lamp and a sword, is probably a Tyler, escorting his Master of a lodge.[1]

In some Jurisdictions the Tyler is appointed by the Worshipful Master, while in others he is elected by the members of the Lodge. He is charged with examining the Masonic credentials of anyone wishing to enter the Lodge and keeping unqualified persons from infiltrating Masonic meetings, and admitting only those qualified to attend the current business.

In most jurisdictions, the Tyler is required to be outside the Lodge door for large portions of the meeting, although usually in a position to overhear the proceedings. The position has often been given to a deserving Mason who has fallen on hard times, such as the original Grand Master Anthony Sayer, or to a senior Lodge member who can help and advise those kept waiting outside.

In some jurisdictions, the Worshipful Master has the authority to permit or direct the Tyler to "tyle from within" during the non-ritualistic portions of a meeting. If tyling from within, the Tyler must first secure the outer doors of the Tyler's anteroom. He would then leave the inner door open between the lodge room and the Tyler's anteroom, and sit at the seat closest to the door, still holding his drawn sword. Tyling from within enables the Tyler to participate in the business portions of the meeting, voice his opinions, volunteer for committees, deliver reports, and receive instruction if any be given. In other jurisdictions, such as the United Grand Lodge of England, the Tyler is always expected to be outside the closed door of the lodge; on the rare occasions when the Tyler enters the lodge room, another lodge member (typically the Inner Guard or, in the U.S., the Junior Deacon) goes outside to take temporary responsibility for guarding the door.

In some jurisdictions and lodges, the Tyler is the lodge process server; he can be tasked with serving the membership with Masonic summons, messages, or notices at their home or at work when directed by a vote of the lodge or the Worshipful Master.[2][3]

## Origins of the term

[edit]

The origins of the term are uncertain and a number of hypotheses have been presented over time. Masonic lodges originally met in inns or taverns, and Tyler is an Old English word for the keeper of an inn door.[citation needed] Alternatively, the name may simply come from the occupation of tyler—a person who lays roof and floor tiles. More fanciful suggestions have included:

* In operative Masonry, the Tyler would draw out the blueprints for the Temple/cathedral in chalk on the floor.
* Possibly related to the name of Wat Tyler, or Walter the Tyler, the leader of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381.[4]
* Possibly a revision of the word tether, used to tie the door closed.[citation needed]
* Possibly owing to the tiles being those stones or bricks which seal the structural masonry, whether they be on floors, walls or roofs. Likewise, the Tyler seals the remainder of the activities of the lodge.[citation needed]

## In popular culture

[edit]

William Hogarth's famous print of Night shows a drunken Mason being helped home by the Tyler, from one of the four original Lodges in 1717 at the Rummer & Grapes tavern.

The first name of the character Tyler Durden in the movie Fight Club is believed to be the a symbolic reference to the Tyler's duty of enforcing secrecy and discretion and preserving the lodge.

## See also

[edit]

* Masonic Lodge Officers
* Sergeant-At-Arms
* Bailiff (Phaleristic)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "William Hogarth's "Night"".
2. ^ "The Tyler and His Duties" (PDF). Staffordshire Provincial Vault. Scotland. pp. 3–4\. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 8, 2024.
3. ^ "The Tiler" (PDF). February Masonic Minutes. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 1, 2021.
4. ^ Born in Blood: Lost Secrets of Freemasonry by John J Robinson pub 1999

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template