[Sca-cooks] oil lamps

[Pixel, Queen of Cats]

On Sat, 7 Jul 2001, Stefan li Rous wrote:

> Vara replied to me with:
> > In my period....a LOT earlier than yours, we tended to use fat not oil for
> > lamps. Tallow, and animal fats.
> > fish oils were used as well. Not so much veg oil as they would have been far
> > too expensive to burn.
> > The rich had beeswax candles.
>
> Oops. Sorry folks. That was meant for the SCA-Arts list. I guess my
> fingers are too used to typing "SCA-Cooks".
>
> Will fat work in a lamp though? I thought to work in a lamb the fuel
> needed to liquid.
>
> Any proof that the rich actually burned beeswax candles in their
> homes? I was under the impression that most of the beeswax candles
> went for use in the churches.

Yes. As with many other things in period, if you could afford it, you
bought it, and more importantly, flaunted it. Dyer mentions, at some
point, how many pounds of wax a particular household was was using nightly
(which led to a friend of mine and I trying to figure out how well-lit the
hall was). I can look up the exact citation if you like--Dyer has moved
back into the bookshelf where it belongs, finally, and is no longer being
carted around in my briefcase. ;-)

Candles in period could be tallow, beeswax, or a mixture thereof. It is
interesting to note that unlike current fashion, medieval beeswax candles
were apparently refined as much as possible, to make them as white as
possible. Modern yellow beeswax candles are only accurate inasmuch as they
are made from beeswax, but they are not refined enough for medieval
tastes.

Margaret FitzWilliam of Kent