School: Ramelton (Mxd)
- Location:
- Rathmelton, Co. Donegal
- Teacher: Henry C. Hamilton
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1085, Page 198
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- XML School: Ramelton (Mxd)
- XML Page 198
- XML “Candle-Making”
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- In olden times the people made candles from tallow and rushes. They peeled the outside skin off and left the white inside. When they killed a cow or bullock, they got the fat round the inside organs, and boiled it down to a liquid. The white of the rushes was used as wicks.
They attached the wicks to a rod, and then boiled the tallow again. They dipped the rods in the tallow one by one, and then let them dry. When they were dry, they were dipped in the second time and so on until the candles were the proper thickness. These were called 'tallow candles' or 'dips' and were yellow in colour.
The candle made from tallow, was very dirty and gave an unsteady light. These candles did(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Anna Stewart
- Gender
- Female
