What did they do at the Lodge, he asked?

“Ride the goat, son,” his father replied.

This answer to protect the secrets of Freemasonry would, years later, give Mr Rose the title to his book Riding The Goat, The Secret World of Australian Freemasonry.

He was first inspired when he started reading his father’s Freemasons ritual book.

Intrigued by the dashes in the writing, he started ‘decoding’ it.

“I just got hooked on it,” he said.

It took 10 years of researching and writing to complete the work, in between writing the book Man Overboard with his wife Sandra.

“I didn’t want to join (the society),” Mr Rose explained.

If he joined, he would be sworn to secrecy and couldn’t write the book.

Dedicated to his father, the book goes into historic detail about the ‘society with secrets’, including the story behind its regalia and oaths.

It’s interspersed with snippets of trivia, such as the fact that Kitchener and Field Marshall Lord Frederick Roberts attended harmonious Masonic meetings while fighting on opposite sides of World War 1.

Mr Rose’s research involved visiting main lodges around Australia and overseas, including the Grand Lodge in England and France.

“Nearly every small town in Australia has a freemasons’ lodge,” he said.

“I think of lot of guys did it as family tradition.”

It is claimed to be the largest and oldest fraternity in the world, peaking in the 1960s when an estimated one in 11 adult males was a Freemason.

Mr Rose described them as the “movers and shakers” of society.

However, he notes the average age of lodge members is now increasing, and fears if the society does not revitalise itself, it will die out.

“This brotherhood of men under the fatherhood of God has promoted tolerance amongst men (and non-Craft women freemasons) of different political and religious beliefs, and has been a significant force for good within society,” he wrote.

“It would be unfortunate if Freemasonry continued its decline, although this could be a natural consequence of losing relevance in today’s fast moving world.”

The book retails for $45 and can be ordered at redrosebooks.com.au and at selected independent bookstores.