- How to make rushlights.

Usually when we think of our ancestors in the 18th Century and earlier living in their cabins, cottages and shacks, the memory is lit by candles. It's depicted that way on TV and film too.

But candles were not the only way our ancestors lit their homes at night, and arguably, candles were rare or non-existent in most homes.

Candles were for rich people.  While the materials needed to make candles are quite rudimentary, there were many other more important uses for things like tallow and wax.  And for most people access to meat and fat was an infrequent experience at best.  So making candles was not a high priority.

Particularly when they could make rushlights, which used much less fat.

Rushlights are made from the pithy stems of marsh plants, dipped in melted cooking grease.

These instructions for making rushlights come from an 1833 home how-to book by William Cobbett, as learned from his Grandmother....


"She used to get the meadow-rushes, such as they tie the hop-shoots to the poles with.  She cut them when they had attained their full substance, but were still green.  The rush at this age, consists of a body of pith with a green skin on it.  You cut off both ends of the rush, and leave the prime part, which on an average, may be about a foot and a half long.  Then you take off all the green skin, except for about a fifth part of the way round the pith.  Thus it is a piece of pith all but a little strip of skin in one part all the way up, which, observe, is necessary to hold the pith together all the way along.


The rushes being thus prepared, the grease is melted, and put in a melted state into something that is as long as the rushes are.  The rushes are put into the grease, soaked in it sufficiently; then taken out and laid in a bit of bark taken from a young tree, so as not to be too large."

Marsh rushes are about as common a plant as you can get.  They grow close to fresh water in temperate environments right round the globe.  In old England, the species juncus effusus was often used to make rushlights but any plant of the Juncus genus will probably work.  Cattails have also been used, as has papyrus.

The rush stalks need to be harvested late in summer when they are at their full height.  They should then be soaked in water for about a week to make it easier to peel the reed's skin off.

All but a thin strip of the outer reed needs to be stripped off to expose the pith.  One small strip running lengthwise should be left to support the pith.  The stripped reed is then left to dry.

The rushes then need to be soaked in melted animal fat.  Mutton fat was preferred as it sets harder than other fats.  Pork fat is a bad idea as it makes a lot of smoke when it is burned.

Traditionally this soaking was done in a long thin dish called a grisset set near the coals of the fireplace to keep the fat in a liquid state.  A handful of reeds can be soaked at a time.  A soaking of several minutes should do the job.  Then they are laid aside to cool down and harden.  It's important to keep the reeds separated so they don't harden into a single block of reeds.

It is possible to re-dip the rushes, to make them larger and longer lasting.  They were also made as "nightlights" by leaving two strips of skin on the reed instead of one.  The resulting rushlight burned slowly and feebly and could last a night. 

Rushlights were burned just like a candle is.  Special holders were made with metal clips or "nips" to hold the rushlight. Five or six inches of rushlight would burn for 30 to 40 minutes, depending upon how they were made and the fat that was used.

Making rushlights was once an important event in each community.  But their use began to dwindle as the industrial revolution delivered simpler and cheaper ways to mass-produce candles.

And then they saw a sudden resurgence across Europe in the 1930s and 40s, when World War Two's electricity blackouts, materiel shortages and rationing left a lot of families in the dark.  Rushlights came back to light the way.

Hopefully none of us will ever face a time when electricity is uncertain and candles are considered a luxury we can do without.  If we ever do, rushlights will be there waiting for us, as long as this knowledge is preserved, passed down and shared.

You can do your part by liking this post on Facebook, linking to it or just telling your friends.  It's easy enough to do and will keep rushlights alive till we need them again.

Lots of free how-to and DIY instructions from the pioneers and settlers can be found at the Pioneer Handbooks website.


Thank you to Bas Kers for the image of marsh rushes.