A skirret is an archaic form of chalk line, consisting of a wooden tool shaped like the letter "T", historically used in construction to ensure that the foundation of a building was straight by laying down string as a marker. Today it is largely obsolete and little known outside of its symbolic use in some Freemasonry ceremonies.
Description and Use
The tool is shaped like the letter "T", with two horizontal pieces of wood at the top and about halfway down the vertical stake. The two horizontal cross-pieces are connected by a dowel at each end, around which a long length of string is wound. To use it, the craftsman unwound the string from its spindle and used it to lay out the dimensions of the structure being built. The skirret acted on a centre pin, from which a line was drawn out to mark the ground. In certain instances, with the spindle as the centre, the skirret could also have been used for drawing a circle.
Freemasonry
In some Grand Lodges' adopted forms of ritual, the skirret is presented as one of the "Working Tools" of a Master Mason. It is not, however, one of the universally recognized working tools used in the ritual of all Grand Lodges. Symbolically, it is said to represent a straight and undeviating line of conduct, as laid down in the volume of the Sacred Law. The earliest known Masonic text mentioning the skirret by name as a working tool dates to 1825.
Etymology
The word "skirret" as applied to the tool is distinct from the homonymous plant Sium sisarum (also called skirret), a root vegetable. The origin of the word in the context of the tool is uncertain, though it may share a common root with the Old English or Middle English terms for a measuring or marking device.
