Rushlight

Rushlight

A rushlight is a type of candle formed using the dried pith of the rush plant as its wick. The green epidermis or rind is peeled off to reveal the inner pith, aside from a single strip left to provide support. It is then steeped in any household fat or grease that is available although beeswax or good tallow, especially mutton fat, improves the quality of the light. In particularly thrifty households two strips of epidermis are left, reducing the light output but extending the life of the rushlight. On more remote Atlantic islands such as St. Kilda the stomach oil produced by Fulmars was used as the source of oil.

Before paraffin wax candles started to become readily available, true wax candles made from beeswax were expensive and the preserve of the rich. A rushlight provided very economical lighting for the less well-off. A rushlight 2/3 of a metre long (about 2 feet) might burn for an hour and cost practically nothing to make.

ee also

*List of light sources


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Rushlight — Rush light , n. A rush candle, or its light; hence, a small, feeble light. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Rushlight Family —  / Rushlight    A family name among the Men of Bree. Nothing is known of this family apart from the mere fact of its existence none of its members are ever mentioned by name …   J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth glossary

  • rushlight — noun Date: 1710 a candle that consists of the pith of a rush dipped in grease …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • rushlight — rush·light (rŭshʹlīt ) n. A candle consisting of a rush wick in tallow. Also called rush candle. * * * …   Universalium

  • rushlight — noun a type of inexpensive candle, historically used, formed by soaking the dried pith of the rush plant in fat or grease, which emits light for a relatively short period of time …   Wiktionary

  • rushlight — noun historical a candle made by dipping the pith of a rush in tallow …   English new terms dictionary

  • rushlight — n. a rush candle …   Useful english dictionary

  • rush candle — noun a tallow candle with a rush stem as the wick • Syn: ↑rushlight • Hypernyms: ↑candle, ↑taper, ↑wax light * * * noun : rushlight * * * a candle made from a dried, partly peeled rush that has been dipped i …   Useful english dictionary

  • Candle — For other uses, see Candle (disambiguation). A close up image of a burning candle showing the wick and the various parts of the flame …   Wikipedia

  • Wheaton College (Massachusetts) — This article is about the college in Norton, Massachusetts. For the evangelical affiliated school, see Wheaton College (Illinois). Infobox University name = Wheaton College motto = That They May Have Life and Have it Abundantly established = 1834 …   Wikipedia

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