John Mason

c. 1646–1694

A noted poet and hymnist, John Mason attracted a great deal of speculation in his lifetime and after his death. 

When Mason was a boy, one of his schoolteachers thought he might become a ‘violent zealot.’ As a student at Clare, Mason was suspected by many of his contemporaries of being a dissenter. At the end of his life, some even believed he might be Jesus Christ reincarnate.  

Mason matriculated to Clare at 1661, just after the Restoration. Something of the Civil War’s revolutionary fervour must have shaped his outlook, for he often questioned the liturgical practices of the Church. Yet despite his scepticism, he joined the clergy in 1668. His particular passion was music, and he became one of the earliest writers of hymns used in congregational worship. Eventually, his oeuvre comprised over 30 hymns, including ‘How shall I sing that Majesty’ (now usually sung to the tune ‘Coe Fen’ – another Cambridge connection). 

In his sermon The Waters of Marah Sweetnd Mason first touched upon his interest in the second coming of Christ. In the 1690s he attracted a community of followers who dedicated their days to ceaseless worship of Christ through praise, dance, and song. An intense vision in 1694 led some of Mason's followers to believe he himself might be Christ reincarnate. Mason’s body had to be disinterred to prove this belief was incorrect. 

Mason remained a profound influence on the millenarians, with many still following his teachings 50 years after his death.