THE OLD GUERNSEY LAMP. 455 



trache ?" (What the dickens are you looking for ?) The man 

 got up, heaved a sigh of satisfaction, blew out his crasset and 

 answered, " I was looking for your tongue which I thought 

 you had lost, but I find that you have it after all." Hence 

 arose the saying when anyone was sulky, " We shall have to 

 light the crasset." 



The vision of our forefathers must have been far better 

 than it is in the present generation. They could see in the 

 evening with a very dim light, and for the daytime they had 

 very small windows in their houses. They did not spend their 

 evenings in reading as at the present day ; the women usually 

 sat on the green-bed knitting, whilst the men employed their 

 evenings in various ways, such as making willow baskets, reed 

 hassocks, and articles used on the farm. 



There are two living creatures that go by the name of 

 " crasset " in Guernsey : an insect and a fish. The first is 

 the Crane-fiy or Daddy-long-legs, probably called " crasset," 

 because the lamp furnished him with all the conveniences for 

 committing suicide. He could either singe his wings, roast 

 himself in the light, or drown himself in the oil. It often 

 happened in the autumn evenings that the lamp was half filled 

 with dead and dying flies. The fish which is called " crasset " 

 is the Top-knot or Rock-sole. 



I will not deal here with the curious omens and super- 

 stitions connected with the old Guernsey lamp, as these are 

 given in detail in an extremely interesting paper read before 

 our Society many years ago by Mr. Denys Corbet (a native of 

 the Vale) and printed in our Transactions for the year 1892, 

 p. 239. But I may in conclusion be allowed just to quote a 

 verse on the subject from Mr. Corbet's poem entitled Les 

 Viirries du rier G''Ilanine^ or Old William's Evening Parties, 

 together with the English translation given by the author. 



Si brulai bUu, riend'main ll'erait du vent ; 



Si vert, ll'y-avait pus d'un sorchier en route : 

 Tete ou malon cli'tait I'prieux d'enterr'ment, 



Et un lincheur, des r venants sans nul doute. 

 Hors d'sen vier bee, a quand nou I'aniichait, 



S'il ecancliait d'sortir une etinchelle, 

 Pour la personne en d'viers qui a' volait 



G'llaume etait saeur que ch'tait pour quiq'nouvelle. 



If it (the crasset) burnt blue, next day there would be wind ; 



If green, there surely were witches on the road ; 



A head, or scab (on the wick) denoted an inviter to a funeral. 



And a winding-sheet was a sign of ghosts. 



If, when it was snuffed or trimmed, 



A spark happened to fly from it. 



Then for the person towards whom it flew 



William was sure that it portended news. 



