In Scottish tradition, a person who builds or works with stone without being properly trained or certified; someone who is not a true craftsman.
Scottish and Northern English dialect term of uncertain origin, possibly from Gaelic or Old Norse. In Freemasonry, it refers to someone outside the brotherhood attempting to work in stone masonry.
Medieval stonemasons were fiercely protective of their guild secrets and craft knowledge, so calling someone a 'cowan' was basically calling them a fraud—and Freemasons still use the term to mean outsiders.
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