THE OLD GUERNSEY LAMP. 453 



that kind which might have been so used. But perhaps they 

 were thrown aside as soon as they could be easily obtained in 

 iron, which lasted longer and was not nearly so fragile. 



Fifty years ago the crasset was still in common use in the 

 country ; but Avhen the paraffin lamp was introduced it 

 speedily supplanted the crasset, the light being infinitely 

 superior. There was no smoke, no snuffing of the wick, and 

 no smell. Some old people still used it for a time up to 25 

 or 30 years ago, but the difficulty of obtaining chea]) oil on 

 account of the small demand for it eventually put a stop to 

 its use. The last employment of the crasset at my home was 

 in the winter afternoons when baking was going on. On these 

 occasions the crasset was hung at the mouth of the oven into 

 which it threw its light, thereby enabling those who were 

 baking to see where the loaves had to be placed. 



The oil used was obtained from fish-livers. The fishermen 

 laid aside the livers of the conger, cod and rayfish until they 

 had a sufficiency, and then boiled them down and extracted 

 the oil. The oil was not purified in any way, so the result 

 may be easily imagined, a yellow smoky light and a pene- 

 trating smell. The oil can was kept in a " niche " or hole on 

 the top or by the side of the oven, and was hidden by a 

 curtain. When the crasset became an object of curiosity 

 these holes were in some houses searched with success, but in 

 most cases when it became obsolete, being a greasy and dirty 

 object, the lamp was thrown on the refuse heap and the con- 

 sequence is that few are to be found now. The wick was a 

 cotton rag twisted like a small rope and singed so as to keep 

 it together. The wick-trimmer, which was known in the 

 patois as " Tamichet," consisted of a piece of Avire or an old 

 nail, or sometimes a small piece of wood, and this was kept in 

 the crasset. 



The reason why two receptacles were required to form 

 the lamp, one fitting into the other, was to save the oil from 

 being wasted. The oil and wick were placed in the upper 

 vessel, and as the wick, which was nearly horizontal and pro- 

 jected beyond the spout, drew up the oil faster than it was 

 consumed, the surplus dripped into the lower vessel and could 

 then be poured back into the upper one again, and this was 

 done several times in an evening. 



By means of the hook at the end of the handle (la 

 tanque) it could be placed in any required position. It was 

 usually suspended from a lath hanging from the rafters over 

 the long table in the kitchen (la table de cuisine) or over the 

 jonfjuiere, or else the point could be stuck in holes in the walls 



