240 LOCAL SUPERSTITIONS. 



and is still called — from the French trepied — a simple barred 

 contrivance, usually with three legs, called in English a 

 " tripod," and which is still in daily use in every country- 

 house. Many of these deductions, however, I cannot now 

 bring to mind, and if I could they would not be worth your 

 listening to, on account of their complete absurdity. 



I now come to the crdsset, or primitive lamp, a very 

 perfect specimen of which I have brought with me for your 

 inspection. Unfortunately, I have not been able to procure 

 all its accessories, but I think I can show you a rough draw- 

 ing of most of them, especially the old-fashioned stand, which 

 was the crdsset's constant companion, that is, when it did not 

 hang from the ceiling above, by a simple lath, perforated with 

 holes throughout its length, for the sake of putting the lamp 

 higher or lower, as convenience required. Thus, — the lath 

 was made to run on a horizontal rod, along which it slid at 

 pleasure, thus giving light in different parts of the room. The 

 first to be moved about the room as occasion required, the 

 second to hang over the green-bed, where the women inva- 

 riably sat of an evening to knit, or mend the family linen. 

 Quite a favourite place for the crdsset to hang from was the 

 oven-mouth, especially when some sort of cooking was going 

 on, at night, or in the early morning, or when the family 

 baking was being done, in which case it threw its light all 

 over the inside 01 the old-fashioned furze oven, where every 

 family baked its own bread at that time, bakers' carts being 

 then totally unknown about the country. Indeed, this last 

 place, the oven-mouth, has become almost proverbially 

 identified with the crdsset ; so much so, that quite a popular 

 anecdote was frequently told of one who pretended that he 

 xecollected perfectly when he was born, since, "on his first 

 opening his eyes in this world he saw the crdsset hung to the 

 oven-mouth, which was then closed by a thick wooden door 

 — part of the trunk of a large tree — and plastered round with 

 yellow clay, as the bread was baking at the time." 



But to return to my subject, viz., the crdsset and its tell- 

 tale manner of burning, I have already said that in my part 

 of the country, at least, which abounded with fishermen, the 

 crdsset was almost always fed with fish-oil, made from the 

 liver of the cod, the conger-eel, or the ray-fish. The wick was 

 nothing but a half-burnt, or singed rag, twisted like a small 

 rope, or a thickish piece of twine. Of course, like the common 

 dip candle, it required frequent snuffing, and this was usually 

 done with a small piece of wire, or by means of a stick, kept 

 in the crdsset itself. In the case of the candle, an old pair of 



