CANDLES. 415 



lowest multiplier suggested hitherto, that is eight, the money 

 value of artificial light was excessive, being no less than is. ^d. 

 the pound j whereas, if the higher multiplier be preferred, it 

 would amount to 2^., a charge which completely put the use 

 of such articles out of the reach of the greater part of the 

 people, and necessitated those habits of early sleeping and 

 waking in which it appears our ancestors were so contrasted 

 with ourselves. A candle must have been a rare and choice 

 personal luxury, and was used, as a rule, in the management of 

 the farm only at the time in which the shepherd was attending 

 to his ewes. 



The burning candle was protected, of course, by a lantern. 

 A very ancient specimen of this implement, used probably for 

 lighting a hall, is preserved in the Ashmolean Museum. The 

 material is bronze, and the light is transmitted through 

 crystals. The commoner lanterns are frequently found in the 

 accounts, and the reader may see several instances of their 

 purchase for the farm among the miscellaneous articles col- 

 lected in the second volume. It may be observed, that the cost 

 of these conveniences increases greatly after the Plague. In 

 1378, 108 lanterns are bought for the use of the garrison 

 of Cherbourg. 



The wick of the better candles was made of cotton, which 

 at that time grew in Sicily and Italy. The price of this article 

 is very high, being bought at is. the pound in Southampton in 

 the year 1302, and at lod. in Bicester in the year 1319. In 

 both these cases the cotton was purchased not for wax, but for 

 tallow. We find in the Southampton account that 26 Ibs. of 

 suet (cepum) are purchased to make candles with, and the 

 cotton is expressly stated to have been bought in order to 

 supply the wicks. So, in 1319, the cellerer of Bicester buys 

 5i stone of melted tallow for the same purpose. If the whole 

 of the cotton was employed at Southampton in making the 

 candles, and two pounds of suet were lost in melting and 

 refining the raw material, the cost of these candles, the suet 

 having been bought at \\d. the pound, would be is. ^\d. the 



