The Yorkshire Post go behind the scenes of Hull's Masonic Hall ahead of the Heritage Open Days to discover the secrets behind the trouser legs and hand shakes.
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00:00 We'll be showing people the lodger room as you can see it at the moment.
00:03 So we'll be telling them the history of Freemasonry, the various regalia, symbols etc.
00:09 So they can prompt them to ask their own questions which we are more than welcome to answer.
00:15 They would be asking about the secrets and the handshakes and the rolled up trouser leg of course
00:20 but we're more than willing to talk about those subjects at the time.
00:25 The rolled up trouser, all it was, it's very traditional and it was to prove that you are an actual fact of free man.
00:31 You are not shackled.
00:33 And in actual fact in your masonic career you only ever do it three times and then that's it.
00:39 If you wanted to show that you were a Freemason you could wear a badge, you could wear similar to what Neil is wearing
00:45 to identify yourself, you wouldn't need a handshake to do that.
00:48 It's purely in our ceremonies for the first degree, secondary, third degree, three different handshakes
00:54 and it purely shows a progression through those three degrees.
00:59 It's purely a symbol.