The dark ages
'The days of my youth extend backwards to the dark ages, for I was born when the rushlight, the tallow dip or the solitary blaze of the hearth were the common means of indoor lighting. In the chambers of the great, wax candle, or exceptionally a multiplicity of them, relieved the gloom on state occasions; but as a rule, the common people, wanting the inducement of indoor brightness such as we enjoy, went to bed after sunset.'
Sir Joseph Wilson Swan (1828-1914).
Rushlights are an ancient form of domestic lighting, thought to have been in use in Britain before the Roman conquest. During the middle ages, while the wealthiest families made use of both rushlights and candles, yeomans and peasants just used rushlights, together with the light of the hearth fire.
Although rushlights would not have looked out of place even in the grandest homes of the 17th century, by the mid 18th century their use was becoming confined to the servants’ quarters. In this period rushlights were seen as the poor man’s candle because they were easy to make and cheap to buy and, importantly for the poor, they were not taxed.
Two types of rushes were suitable for making rushlights, the common rush, Juncus conglomeratus and the soft rush, Juncus effusus, which grew almost everywhere in Britain.
Rushes were gathered while still green in late summer and were soaked in water to prevent drying and shrinkage.
With the exception of one strip of the outer skin, needed to support the exposed pith, the peeled rushes were left outside to bleach. They were then drawn through melted animal fat, which, in poor country areas, was the scummings from the bacon pot, before finally being left out to dry on pieces of bark.
According to Gilbert White, who described the preparation of rushlights in 'The Natural History of Selborne', (1789),
'a pound and a half of rushes will supply a family all year long”. White calculated that there were approximately 1,600 dry rushes to the pound and that “a good rush, which measured in length two feet four inches and a half..., burned only three minutes short of an hour... .'
Rushlights, held firmly at an angle in jaw-like holders, needed to be pulled forward as they burned down. Although rushlights only provided a small source of light it was, nonetheless, considered to be adequate, if not brilliant, with a clear and steady flame.
If more light was needed, the rushlights could be burned at both ends, and it is from this practice that the expression 'burning the candle at both ends' originated.
Rushlights remained in common use well into the 19th century and, in some isolated rural areas, into the 20th century.
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