At one time the festive boards were called "Table Lodges".
The tables were arranged in a "horseshoe" shape with a warden at each end.

When "Table Lodges" were opened everything changed its name

• The tables became "tracing boards"
• The plates became "tiles"
• The spoons became "trowels"
• The glasses became "cannon" and the wine became "powder"

To fill the glass was "to charge it" and to drink the contents was to "fire it".

After the toast the "cannon" (glass) which had been charged, was "fired" (emptied) and certain simultaneous movements of the hand ("clapping") were made concluding with three times three.

The last portion of the ritual is all that was generally adopted in England for which firing glasses with heavy bases were necessary. After "firing" (draining of the glass) the brethren were called upon to copy the Worshipful Master - who made the following movements to show that the "cannon" had been well and truly "fired" and was empty.

Holding the "cannon" in the right hand he jerked his hand forward to the full length of the arm, then swung it to the left and then to the right. This he did three times and counted off "one"- "two" - "three" and at the word "three" banged the "cannon" on the "tracing board" (table). The toast was then further honoured by three times three claps on the hands.

The symbolic meaning of the Masonic fire is explained as: