swinging lamp in which oil was consumed.

[Illustration: FIG. 14.--THREE RUSHLIGHT HOLDERS.

(_In the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff._)]

[Illustration: FIG. 15.--THREE VARIETIES OF OLD OIL LAMPS.]

To range side by side a number of rushlight holders taken from districts
widely apart, it becomes evident that there was a striking similarity
between the earlier types. The smiths everywhere seem to have
fashioned a simple contrivance by which the rushlight or early candle
could be held upright, and then, to give the "stick" solidity, the iron
shaft was fastened securely into a wooden block, which was very often
quite out of proportion to the size and weight of the stand, and
apparently unnecessarily large and heavy. In the larger examples the
holder is often made to slide upon an upright rod so as to be useful at
different heights. The sliding rod was needed, for the light so dim
could only be of real service when quite close to the person using it,
or to the work it was intended to illumine (see Figs. 4 and 5).

Although some of the more elaborate and advanced holders were of copper
or brass, most of them were of iron, the work of local smiths, few of
whom made any attempt to decorate what they evidently regarded as
strictly utilitarian articles (see Fig. 14). Although rushlights
antedated candles, some of the holders were made to answer a dual
purpose, and on the same stem or slide as the rushlight holder there was
a candle socket, an important feature fully exemplified in Figs. 4 and
5.

Candles, Moulds, and Boxes.

The collector of household curios does not trouble about the candles;
his object is to secure a few candle moulds, candle boxes, and, of
course, candlesticks. It may, however, be convenient here to refer to
the moulding of candles which was at one time a domestic duty just as it
had been to collect rushes and after they were dried dip them in fat,
and to make lights which would burn with more or less steadiness.

The candles were made from various fats, much of which was accumulated
in the kitchen during the processes of cooking, supplemented by other
ingredients deemed best for the purpose. The candle moulds or tubes in
which wicks were inserted were of varying capacities and ranged from two
to a dozen or more. The moulds were dipped in troughs of fat, having
been heated sufficiently to melt the fat. The process was by no means
new, in that it was used in this country by the Saxons; and at a s