Corby Masons
The Mark Degree is the third largest Degree in Freemasonry and is considered by those who are members of it to be “the fourth regular step in Freemasonry”.
The Mark Degree is one of encouragement and the Ritual is built on a single verse from Psalm 118 “ The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner” It deals with the building of King Solomon’s Temple and the various craftsman employed – but its real message is one of the contemplation of human strengths and weaknesses.
After the three degrees of Craft Freemasonry, many brethren look to make a daily advancement in masonic knowledge as instructed in the Charge after Initiation. The United Grand Lodge actively encourages Master Masons to complete the Third degree by seeking exaltation in a Royal Arch Chapter; its makes no suggestion that they should complete that of a Fellow Craft, by advancement as a Mark Master Mason. However one would hope that all Master Masons would want to do so, as it is simply an accident of history that those masons in England and Wales who are exalted in the Royal Arch have not previously taken the Mark Degree.
Based on an article found on http://www.northants-huntsmark.org.uk/