Botanist here! The reason there was disappointing results regarding pith is because that’s actually a grass, perhaps the genus Poa or Agrostis. The stems of graminoids (grasses, sedges, rushes) can all look quite similar so it’s usually easier to ID by the inflorescence (flowery part). The grass you harvested has a pyramidal “Christmas tree” like structure to the inflorescence, classic sign of grasses in the Poas group. Rushes (the common name of plants in Juncaceae, the rush family) are incredibly dissimilar to grasses and sedges when looking specifically at the flowers. Most of their flowers look exactly like tiny lily flowers. Juncus effusus is a worldwide species of rush that was most used for rush lights. Each stem from that plant is a long sharp spike (with no nodes), and the inflorescence emerges from the side of the stem towards the tip. Those plants will give you a much better result for pith! (Going deeper, the “pith” you pulled out of the grass was actually the rolled up immature leaf sheaths. Grasses are hollow and have no pith. I think this is cool though because it likely proves that rush lights could be made out of a larger variety of plants than previously thought!)
Love how this lad is a millionaire (ceo of a gaming company) and instead of doing the typical CEO stuff he decided to basically do what History Channel should've done. Godspeed and stay healthy, my guy, appreciate your work.
I got pretty tired of the sensationalist nature of it a long time ago. Thankfully TH-cam has done much to allow information to filter to us in an accessible and entertaining manner.
I visited Sri Lanka in the 1970's, i stayed with a family in a village with no electricity. Everyone lit their homes at night with homemade coconut oil, poured into a half coconut shell with a wick. The aroma was delightful.
@ger du this isn't the case; this person will not be able to provide a reliable source to this effect. Vikings is a collective and vague term, Iceland was populated mostly by farmers from Norway with plenty of Irish-British-Hiberian elements for a medley of reasons (including escape from taxation per Harald Fairhair). History and people are extremely complicated, multifaceted, and messy -- don't buy into this lazy twaddle. "Vikings" raped monks (male), helped to unify England under William the Conqueror (also see origins of 'Russia' and K of Sicily), and served as soldiers under the Byzantine emperors. They were brilliant scholars and fearful and uneducated peasants. If a person thinks the history of any large group of people is one-dimension; they almost certainly are. Don't buy into this lazy twaddle -- we have literature for such enjoyable simple fantasies.
“Sedges have edges, rushes are round, grasses have knees that bend to the ground.” Rushes have round stems, sedges have triangular shaped stems, and grasses are round, with “knee” or joint-like nodes. Grasses also have hollow stems, where rushes and sedges have solid stems. Remember that little rhyme next time you have to distinguish between the 3. Cheers!
They obviously used massive torches that burn suspiciously without any black smoke for hours and hours. Haven't you seen any Hollywood movies? TORCHES. Everywhere. Even outdoors. Medieval life was pretty lit...
Imagine being the one who had to go around lighting all of them every night. Thankless job and everyone's always grabbing torches and taking them off on quests and adventures and never putting them back. :(
It would appear from many comments that 'Rush Lights' were made and used right up to the beginning of the 20th Century. My Grandad was born in 1897, he had shown my dad as a boy how to make rush lights. I remember my Dad showing me the soft spongy center of the rushes down on the banks of the River Trent near where we lived, we didn't actually make rush lights out of them but I knew what they had been used for in the past. I'm 62 now.
Your generation allowed Nixon to take us off the gold standard. You allowed soros, Blackrock, and vanguard to steal America I will have my country back
You would rest the rushes as you would for flax. And you make them in autumn because A. The plants are mature, B. You need them for winter, and C. You’ve done your fall butchering so there’s ample supply of rendered fats for riches, candles, jar covers, preserves, and soap making
The pre-soaking of plants is called "retting".This uses the action of bacteria and moisture to dissolve or rot away much of the cellular tissue surrounding the fibre of the stem. Usad for flax, hemp---and nettles.
@@danmorgan3685 Apparently a week or two up to a couple of months when the retting was for the purpose of preparing flax to make linen. The process might be similar for preparing rushes to make rush lights. There would be many variables.
Wax candles were a luxury for a long time. In Mrs. Gaskell’s Cranford novels of the mid-19th century, she describes the “elegant economy” of one household, where they had two candles displayed on the mantle, but only burnt one at a time, switching them out so they were level, and thus it appeared to daytime visitors as if they could afford to burn both candles at the same time, an impressive luxury to them. It was quite humbling to read by the light of my lightbulb with a ten-year lifespan, burning a huge scented candle just for the pleasant fragrance. Life is so different in tiny ways we often don’t even think of, and it fascinates me!
"thus it appeared to daytime visitors as if they could afford to burn both candles at the same time, an impressive luxury to them." Keeping up appearances seems timeless. lol
@@IngenieurStudios I think that 10 years is pretty generous at not very high prices. They have to continue selling lightbulbs or there’d be no company, and they need to fund R&D. Of all industries, I don’t think the lightbulb industry is highway robbery.
@@IngenieurStudios Go see technology connections video on that subject and get rid of that misconception. Yes planned obsolescence is a thing, but the lightbulb industry isn't as bad as its renommé.
Boys with their gadgets and toys ...are their greatest joys.... Honestly? I wouldn’t have been surprised if he melted the fat with a flame thrower...if he had one. PS...the easiest way to get a fellow to tackle and make headway on a Honeydoo List...is buy him a cool tool/toy that’ll help him get the job done...works every time ...they can’t resist the opportunity to play with a new toy..
Earlier in the vid I split a gut when he said, Then I'm going to harvest it with... this tool. lol! All that production value and prep and research, but re-takes to find the name of a tool? No! That heat gun set up by apologizing for the modern dish, tho. And he sets that gag up with the blithe disregard for the name of the tool. It's either sincere or a deeply layered put-on. Fun either way!
@@maggsbufton1969 so true! 😅 I wanted to put up a pegboard backsplash, but my husband wasn't keen on the idea... I told him we'd need to buy a jigsaw to cut a hole in it for the electric socket... He didn't mind as much anymore. Now that it's up & functional, he actually likes it. (Yes, he did do the cutting 😆)
My favorite parts of history shows like this has always been every day kinds of things like this. We tend to only focus on famous battles or famous moments in history but neglect the fact that ordinary people were living day to day lives and they may go an entire lifetime without a major battle or a famous event. Some people went an entire generation between any major wars
It would appear that Denethor survived the Battle of Minas Tirith and is indeed thriving, now making excellent TH-cam videos. Can you make one on how the soldiers of Gondor were trained and equipped please?
I *deeply* admire your willingness to film yourself while you are experimenting and learning. This seems so genuine and so real. Thank you. As others have said, *THIS* is what they should have been doing on the so-called History Channel.
Greetings from Norway, in my area we used wooden sticks ,they were about the thickness of arrows and about thirty centimeters long,if you made the sticks thinner they burned down too quick.The trick was to not make them dry completely but if you had pine tar you dry them completely and then let them soak in tar for days.The soaked sticks burned like standing candles,the unsoaked sticks were burned in a horizontal posisition preventing the flame to go out by itself.
@@fusion9619 Pine tar is rendered from pine wood. Traditionally, from roots and stumps. You can find videos detailing the process, but it's not overly complex.
I made some rushlights using an 18th century recipe I found which I followed to the letter. First I soaked them in water for a few days then peeled off the outer skin while still wet, leaving one sixth of it in place in a narrow strip along the entire length of the rush. I’m not sure of the purpose of this but I assume it acted as some sort of wick. I then left them to dry before soaking them in thoroughly rendered mutton fat which I’d also put through a sieve. When lit they burned slowly with a very even clear flame, without any spluttering at all and each rush lasted about twenty minutes to half an hour. I was surprised and impressed with how good they actually were!
I think that I may be able to help you with the water conundrum, When harvesting certain species of plants, sometimes they go through a process known as 'water curing'. This helps to remove volatile compounds (terpenes, terpenoids) etc, as well as reducing chlorophyll content The still-wet freshly harvested plant material is placed in a vat of clean water and left to sit for a few days. Once the water starts to turn green, replace it with fresh. Rinse and repeat until water remains clear. Thoroughly dry, and your done. Now, if you heat that plant material up, say, with a lighter, it will no longer smell 'green', or like a bonfire, or whatever, and it will smoke less. Maybe they water cured the rushes to keep their homes from smelling like bonfires and filling with too much smoke? 🤷🏻♂️ Excellent video by the way, thank you, information well and truly stored 🙂👌
In Finland the most common type of lighting (atleast in the countryside) from atleast the middle ages all the way up to late 19th century were shingles, thin strips of wood (typically pine) that you pull off the tree so that the grains remain intact and continuous from end to end. A single such shingle ("päre" in finnish) burned usually for about 15 minutes and you'd normally have several burning at a time for extra light. The shingles were typically attached horizontally to a simple shingle holder, oldest ones that have been found indeed originating from the middle ages. Such shingles were obviously rather easy and quick to make, but according to some estimates a single countryside family would typically need 20 000 of them for a full year's supply. To find images of various shingle holders you can search for "pärepihti".
Botany tip: grasses, rushes, and sedges often live in similar habitats. Grasses are hollow (lacking a pith) and are round. Both rushes and sedges have a pith but rushes have a round cross section and sedges are triangular ("rushes are round and sedges have edges").
Ok, I think I've got it. Rushes are round and sedges are *_the devil._* Flippin nut sedge rode in on a flood or something and after a whole spring of pulling it it's still everywhere. Probably have 5 more years of pulling it because of those stupid tubers.
Writer here, I absolutely love all of the information I get here and in the comments. There is nothing quite like having the living research library I can curate on TH-cam. Thank you for making these videos!
I was shown how to make rushlights some 65 years ago. Our rushes were left to ret before they were dried. Took about a month. That made removing the outside tissue a lot easier. Also, the rush cores were laid in a narrow tray and the tallow was poured over the rush cores in the tray and left to set. The individual rushlights could then be separated from the block of tallow as required.
Im going to try this with a sunflower stalk! It has a huge core of pith! I used to save it for char because it takes a spark really well from a flint n steel! It may turn out to be the new torch light!
From what I've seen rush lights burn quickly. I wonder if that's where the saying comes from your rushing it or you're in a bit of a rush. To indicate that you don't have much time.
Nice folk etymology, but the plant and the verb have different origins: "rush" (the plant) is distantly related to "rope", whereas "to rush" is related to "ruse". www.etymonline.com/word/rush#etymonline_v_16661
I made a few candles but I used rush and hemp rope to try different ways. They very rough looking you can see them with my fire kit. But they was quick to make and cheap I only made small ones but they work and the rush ones worked better than the hemp . I got my rushes from beside a river and just put them in the hot cupboard overnight. I just melted the fat in a pot on a slow heat and took it of before it was all melted.And used a spoon to cover them. I did 10 then went back to one and covered it and repeated till I was happy.And you can just buy white lard and use that.
Notes: Rushes, for the non-Brit, are a specific plant genus, _Juncus_ , that prefers cool, wet conditions. They were also used to make floor mats during this same period and on into Shakespeare's time. (And you can even buy some mats today.) They're a slow-growing plant, however, which is why the greener rushes have no pith, as our host discovered. Historically, rushlights varied a lot in quality. The light produced could be dim or bright, and the duration could be anywhere from ten minutes to an hour, depending on the rush. You could even sacrifice brightness for duration by leaving some of the outer layer intact, making for a slower burn that lasted longer. Rushes were also used in a cheaper model of candle, the rush-candle. Still not cheap enough to be common, though -- it only replaces the twisted fibers of a normal wick with the rush pith. Medieval peasants also used oil lamps fueled by vegetable oil. These were very basic -- literally just a tray or bowl with a wick in the oil -- and prone to accidental spillage, giving them the nickname of "spills" in-period.
I remember my grandfather who had a very impoverished Victoria childhood, showing me these rushes and the spongy core when I was very young, he also used to tell me about how he caught various birds to feed his brothers and sisters. A lost world, the medieval period went on for a lot longer than we think, for some.
I grew up in the country side in a fairly wet area where these rushes grow in abundance and I can confirm - you can get papercuts from the leaves! The leaves also make a fabulous whistling aid when put between the thumbs
Thomas77 I'm pretty sure they would be using a clay bowl, because you know wood is flammable. Also clay is also dirt cheap as is wood, even cheaper i think you just need to mold it into shape you want it and then just let it sit on summer heat sun, or if you want it badly you just bake it in any oven.
A simple terracotta bowl could be made using locally available clay and after it has dried it could be fired (to make it a ceramic) in nothing more than a campfire for a few hours.
I feel like this was suggest to me because the economy is so bad that I’m living paycheck to paycheck, and my utilities may be cut soon. Whatever got me to this channel, ty! I find this stuff incredibly interesting and possibly even useful.
I made a bunch of olive oil candles in a variety of jars with tops, including the usual mason jars. They work really well and burn long and bright if the wick is tended to properly on relighting. One thing to remember is that once the surface of the oil gets to about an inch distance from the top of the wick, your flame will likely go out. So you have to make sure to configure it in a way that's not wasteful of the oil you have on hand. You should also 'prime' the wick (drip some oil on it) before lighting. Makes it easier to catch the flame. I like the flat oil lamp wicks (can be found at Walmart in the camping or candle section, rolls on Amz are cheaper), but a strip of 100% cotton from clothing, etc. can work.
@@wmluna381 ty for that info! I'm gonna have to reread it cause some of that was foreign for me, but I am interested in trying. In my forced quest to save money, I'm trying to make it a journey learning experience and have some fun with it. I made my first masive batch of laundry detergent, found a used wash board in decent shape, hang most our clothes out to dry rather than use the dryer, I've used a school glue - acrylic paint mix to black-out my windows to keep the a/c bills down, learned how to boil and debone a whole chicken, make broth/stock, etc. I also don't ignore tech that can save me $$$. Apps, especially to fast food, all have deals. McDonalds being the best and sadly can even cost me less than cooking at times thanks to coupons/deals on their app. I also invested in a small solar panel and generator/back up power bank. I set that out all day in this heat, and by night time, I gather up all our devices and set them to charge; from the kids gaming remotes, to cell phones, to flashlights.. if it uses usb, I use that thing. Idk how much I'm truly saving hahah but I'm trying LOL So again ty! The experienced advice truly is helpful if and when I can focus on this as a project!
@@butwhytho4858 you can make oil lamps from any vegtable oil-like soy oil,cocos oil and so on,fill it in a jar and make a hole in the lid to put some cotton string or tear ut an old cotton shirt and use that,make sure to put some oul on the cotton and put it down into the jar and pull some out of the hole in the lid -now you have a good candlee,you can also put 3 clay bricks -like a scare missing one side-put a couple of t light candles or bigger ones in the middle and put a cpule of teracotta pots over the lighs on the bricks. this trick can warm up a room,the more teracotta you have the warmer it gets. i do this in our house here in norway when the power goes out and its a great money saver too. also remember-butter ,crisco and oil burns. Big hug
6:30 The difference of soaked reeds is that it will naturally be without bugs or dust that would otherwise render their employment indoors potentially unsavory.
Most likely others have already posted this but the sandpapery stems of rushes have been used to scour pots and pans. Musicians use them to polish the reeds of woodwind instruments. The stems of this ancient plant have also been used to polish furniture. Love what you are doing! Thank you
The "rushes" used in scouring are generally horsetails (genus Equisetum), a superficially similar plant but quite distantly related. Horsetails are in fact ferns, while rushes are flowering plants.
yes. here in western, central canada, over the centuries, the native Indians, used cat tail heads. This is a marsh plant, grows about 3-5 feet tall, they soaked these heavy pressed fiber heads in the same animal fat......burnt for hours......
And in the tanning of sheep skins and other hides...after you scrape the hide, the outer stems have been used to rub fat into the leather side of the hide...to polish the hide Smooth..
Medieval DIY light tutorial: Step 1: Prepareth thine bundle of rushes Step 2: Taketh thine Pyrex dish and placeth it on thine table Step 3: Puteth thine tallow on the dish and heat it with thine magic heat aparatus Step 4: Once it is meltethed, drowneth thine rush core in the tallow Step 5 : Doneth
I absolutely love how genuine and humble you are. 👏🏻 wonderful content in an age of (as I like to call it) “fast food media” and unrealistic perfectionism.
Same. I love the honesty of “I’m not entirely sure if this will work”, makes you feel like you’re there doing the experiment with him, rather than being lectured lol
Maybe hire the 18th century cooking guy too! What's his name? Dangit. You know who I mean. Something something and sons. I'm gonna have to look it up now.
This must be one of the nicest places on TH-cam. Here we have Jason explaining, in a great way, what peasants would have done and we have people in the comments sharing their lovely stories from their experience with rush lights :-)
The Brits, Scots, Welch, and Irish have such a rich history. They all seem to present history in such an immersive way. I wish all history presentations were like this.
If you are brave you can visit Germany next year. There will be medieval practice everywhere including witchburning, sieges, crusades, knight tournaments ....😁
You seem a little confused with geography and ethonyms. The English, Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish are all 'British' by virtue of their citizenship of the United Kingdom of Gt. Britain and Northern Ireland. 'British' in and of itself is arguably not really a nationality as it is not specific and in its current sense is a relatively modern invention. It's kind of like 'North American' could also refer to Mexicans, Canadians, Panamanians, Bermudans etc ...
@@Godwinsson77 Many people think the term 'British' means 'English', including many other British and Irish people. Northern Irish people are Irish... or British, depending on who you speak to... but, they are not really British, because they don't belong to 'Britain'. It's complicated. Trying to educate foreigners on the whole mess is fruitless. The folks who live on these islands haven't quite sorted it out in their heads. So, give others a break. The English are 'the bad guys'
@@graceygrumble Well it's not rocket science. However I can see from your reply that even that humble level of brainpower would make a difficult task out of knowing what 'stuff' is in the world by yourself. Yeah I'll give you a pass.
Haha ...err.. heehaaw heehaaw.. Not sure whether Prof.... in the final credits has two or four legs....keep my humour powder dry for the moment. Top3 Channels on YT.
A single bee wouldn't make much wax nor honey. The households of lords, and monastic houses, kept hives to produce both, for sweetening (and to ferment mead) and to provide the candles.
@@greggi47 not to mention there's a heck of a lot more to making beeswax candles than just getting the wax from the bees. It's a long and involved process, especially back then without molds!
Well this was a totally random and fascinating video suggestion in my feed today! You have such a calm and clear way of presenting and the environment is stunning! So of course I did a little background research on this channel and WOW! Jason Kingsley is legendary! Much respect to you, good sir! Also, those might be some of the happiest horses I've ever seen! ❤😊
The comment "it might have just been convenient in between seasonal tasks" after the seasonal characteristics of the plant sums up a big reason I like watching this guy. Actually taking some effort to experience the day to day life of the history, and having a strong connection with nature provides so much illumination. I remember thinking the same thing when he's talking about heat in armor when riding horses in the summer.... obviously a huge part of history and the Crusades, and it barely gets an asterisk in a textbook! The dude is almost having a heat stroke!
@@brushstroke3733 You compare ancient war with modern peace. Try to have a go at some modern war and tell me if it's "comfortable" and "convenient", then tell me if you wouldn't be more comfortable as a medieval peasant in peaceful times.
Your broadcasts are great. I really enjoyed this. One little tip- if you leave a strip of the outer fibre along one side, the light won't bend inward as it burns.This is what they used to do.
Keeping your home lit in the past, even up to gas-lighting, seems like a part-time job! And in fact it was a whole job in the great stately homes on England, where a man or boy was in charge of cleaning lamps, trimming wicks, whatever lighting maintenance was required all over the mansion. (I believe I learned that from Liza Picard.)
Jason, I would think they tied them in a bundle after they were ready, so the light would be brighter and perhaps not burn as fast as a single rush, standing upright , the flame would have to work it's way DOWN, whereas, if you held it to the side, as you did, the fire burned it more quickly. This is only a guess, but comparing it to a standing candle , or if you held the candle on it's side, the fire reaches more wax, more quickly. Thank you for the video, I sent it to my son who very much likes trying to make things the old ways.
I believe a single one was mostly used as a taper to light fires and candles ..But, . If you braided several fat soaked rush piths while still warm and then dip them again into the tallow or fat like you would a candle...allow to cool and set...they look and act very much like a candle ...with much less precious fat or tallow needed... Addendum: Button lamps were used as well...very simply, it’s a clay bowl half filled with oil or tallow and a wick is threaded through the holes of a large abalone shell or clay button to support and float the wick on top ....
I’d agree with Maggs. Probably six or ten in a bunch together wrapped in the leaves or (stripped away) sheath like a rope. Might get that up to equivalent of a 25W incandescent bulb. Nice experiment. Enjoyed the video!
ackshully! rushlight holders were upright clamping mechanism and most engravings of people using rushlights show them clamped horizontally with the flame over the top of whats being written or read, etc. even sometimes pointing down slightly at the flame end. they were known to burn at a high rate, as much as an inch per minute or more, but they were so cheap and easy to make that you would just keep cycling through them. there were other forms of light available to the peasant. such as simple oil lamps (bowl of oil with wick stuck in it and lit.) as well as the option of just chilling by the fire place till time for bed. there was very little to do in those days anyway. the only entertainment was what you could come up with yourself, as books were expensive AF, and mostly boring religious junk. So generally they would just go to bed soon after the sun went down. No daylights savings nonsense either.
Crossbow? A peasant caught in a possession of a crossbow would be swiftly punished, probably by death. I suppose a heat sling, or a heat bow would be more viable alternative :)
Back in Medieval times me and my dad made these, we used a tall thin clay pot with pig fat in the bottom next to the fire place , a quarter full, then stand a bundle of reeds in the pot, when the fat was hot it was drawn up inside the reeds, today you call it capiliary rise. Dad called it the drawing of the fire juice. True Story.
Or just a reference to how much faster they burn than a normal candle. Someone going at normal pace being more like a normal candle, someone trying to hurry being "in a rush."
I've seen an old 'rush lamp': a reflector and a tube to hold the rush. The rush would be held vertically, which slows down the burning. Any fat that melted and ran would be channeled by the tube back into the rush. The user would push the rush upward a bit as it started to dim. Well made rush lights in a good lamp could run about 20-30 minutes per rush. They can be brighter than candles, but that shortens their life. Clockwork variants have been seen.
I love this channel. I watch it when I'm settling down to sleep at night. His voice is so calm, and it's all lite education that's practical knowledge. Thank you for producing these videos and for having beautiful horses!
I like his willingness to admit ignorance of details and the practical way he investigates processes. He owns up to failures graciously. That is genuine knowledge seeking.
"Rushes are different to grass" A plant biologist would definitely agree. "Sedges have edges, rushes are round, grasses have nodes where leaves should be found"
I remember watching a video on beeswax and how expensive and unaffordable it was to an average peasant of the times. Thanks for posting I've always been interested on furthering my knowledge on this topic(lighting issue).
I processed my first beeswax this year and even with a healthy, active colony one could only get a dozen or so candles from a single hive. I got one pound from the 10 or so frames i processed. And the wax was used for so much more than candles. Certainly it would take quite a bit for a years worth of candles
Stand it up vertically and it won’t burn as fast, the flame will probably stabilize. I do appreciate your humble spirit while learning this craft. I could make a forged rush light holder for you, if you would like.
Maniceureka Or a holder with a metal clip, which allowed the rushlight to be held at any angle from horizontal to vertical. (Horizontal gives more light but burns faster, vertical burns slower but dimmer.)
I seem to recall, having had a go a couple of years ago, that I found it easier to peel rushes which were freshly cut, and then dry them out once peeled. I wonder if soaking them in water is a way to store them for processing later without drying out, rather than a necessary step; I too tried soaking them for a couple of days without noticing any benefit.
It's a process called "retting" and is used to essentially rot the outer shell, making it easier to remove and expose the core. You gotta soak them for about two weeks though and it's better if you're able to fully submerge them. It's used for other plants too, such as flax.
In my experience growing up, when we didn't have candles, the cheapest and easiest way of lighting was an oil lamp in the corner with a mirror or a piece of aluminum foil behind it to reflect more of the light towards the middle of the room. Truth is, aluminum foil that's been crumpled first actually works better than a mirror or anything else, I'd assume in the old days anything with a somewhat reflective surface would have served double duty as a "reflective lamp backer", like a wider blade or anything with a metallic surface.
When I was a child I noticed that the pith of elderberry twigs was ideal for soaking up paraffin and using as a candle. Elderberry twigs of all sizes has a very nice uniform porous pith.
When I was working for the CCC (California Conservation Corps) we were told to not touch any elderberry twigs or bushes. Being caught cutting them down could have resulted in a hefty fine. Apparently, there's a certain type of beetle that will only nest in the elderberry bush
@@fabricatedreality418 I can understand how that would be the case in California, particularly with it's delicate flora. Where I grew up, in the woods of Maryland, elderberries were a lush, prolific, undecanopy bush -- a prolific weed. We picked the berries for jam, but also for using as a dye. Now that I live in California, most of the elderberries I see are isolated trees. They're beautiful, but not the lush understory foliage I was accustomed to.
Live elderberry folage and berry seeds have cyanide, that is why the berries must with first be boiled or dried....changes the cynide into harmless... So...dry twigs should be safe... That beetle, BTW, is VERY DESTRUCTIVE to the plant... I'm glad I'm not in Cali, I can prune my plant as I ease
Just found your channel thanks to Lindy. I wish I would've found your channel sooner but on the bright side I now have a whole catalog of videos to watch!
In the last few weeks I watched almost all videos from this channel. I love how informative and inspiring it is, especially when you are an reenactor yourself. Also they are produced so well and Jason has such a calming and positive attitude. I feel a little more happy and relaxed after watching a video or two. Thank you for putting all this effort into this series.
We used to make something in Boy Scouts called "magic matches," which were just lengths of string soaked in paraffin wax. They were especially useful for making fires during winter camping trips.
I really do wish the Scouts could be a requirement for a certain age group. Learning these skills teach so many things, the skills themselves, of course, as well as self reliance, confidence, learning to cooperate, all manner of useful things.
There is a really interesting book that goes into a lot of detail on the uses of rushlights called At Day's Close: Night in Times Past. Not only does it give a great insight into how night was viewed in times past, medieval to early modern, rushlights come up quite a bit. One story tells of two travelers trying to get across the alps on a road and trading a wine bottle for a rushlight lantern that immediately goes out in the wind. The medieval section is also interesting, talking about how knights would hold vast parties at night, the roads to their castles or towers lit up with torches, while the lower classes were by law, forced to stay in their homes.
This is freaking cool and makes me wonder if I can use the incredibly pithy giant sunflower stalks for something similar! Going to experiment with a bunch of last season’s stalks and see what happens! Thanks medieval history enthusiast guy, you rock!
It genuinely would never have occurred to me to even attempt that, but now I'm dying to know. Squirrels ransacked my last sunflower, so now I live vicariously through you! Please let us know if it can be done!
@@decidiousrex Cars and smartphone and even drones, maybe. But for toilets, I've seen some history facts videos showing medieval forms of toilets. Like a stone or wooden chair with a hole to fit one's butt in. Under that hole is some kinda drainage that leads to something called a cesspit
Just go to a third world country. My wife came from a hut in the Philippines, after I got her to the states and a couple weeks later showing her modern amenities I am like "Is there anything here that you still don't get?" "Yea, the thing you cook toast with, how do you do that?" I pushed the button and she was fascinated. She now has an electric blanket and is beyond amazed by it. thoughtsoftheages.blogspot.com/2016/02/a-young-lady-from-abject-poverty-hits.html
Interesting blog post. A friend of mine also married a Filipina girl- she is often mistaken for an exchange student. He built the family a modern house as a thank you for sending off their daughter to a foreign land. She told me they didn’t feel poor- because everyone lived the same way. But she’s glad that her family has more material comfort now.
Just stumbled upon your channel a couple of weeks ago, and being quite a history lover myself, I can say with confidence, that your work is outstanding. As pointed out by Nathan the Botanist, you where unlucky enough to get a grass species for your rush lights, but I guess people also made lights out of grass in areas, where there weren't much rush, so this video might actually have unintentionally taught everyone about a piece of historical use of grass not known before, quite fascinating to say the least. Keep up your work man, it's amazing.
Py Rex: Early medieval king. Later known as The Indestructible. Died unexpectedly in an ice pool on a particularly hot day. Family was shattered. I love your stuff. Thanks.
The soaking/retting sounds like it provides a similar function to what was done to prepare logs for Guarnieri/Stradivari violins. They could never figure out what gave those violins their nice tone, until they realized that those violin makers had used wood from logs that had been sitting/stored at the bottom of a river for months/years. They realized that most wood(maybe all cellulose based plant materials) has a regular cellulose structure that's open, like a bunch of organ pipes strapped together. The problem is that there's a lot of gummy gooey sap-like material inside that cellulose structure. Left-over materials from when it was a living matrix. The easiest way to eliminate that, and reduce the wood down to its pure cellulose structure - apparently involves just soaking it for months/years. Clean out the goo, and the remaining cellulose structure has a nice, mellow tone when used for musical instruments. Perhaps it's the same for these rushes(?) Retting results in a pure, gunk-free cellulose matrix that can absorb more fat/tallow? Of course, it's not thick, like a log, so the same process for rushes probably can run its course in weeks or a month(?)
There are a lot of artificially created lakes in the US, with a lot of dead trees still standing in them, soaking for decades. Now you've got me wondering how to harvest and use that.
Thanks, Robert! As a (former) violinist, I often wondered about that. I can remember playing a violin that some friends had had in the family for a few generations, and the tone was very mellow. Maybe not made like a Stradivarius, but it was a lovely sounding instrument.
there are many reasons the violins of the old masters give their coveted tone. Most of it really comes down to the fact that they just know what they were doing and were good at it
I’ve heard tallow candles and rush lights actually smell quite bad, because the rendered fat goes rancid quickly but of course must not be wasted. They lasted only about 20 minutes at a time, so you had to be constantly changing them, and they gave off a very dim light. Night used to be VERY DARK. We barely have a conception of how dark, because of incidental ambient light and even light pollution in the sky reflecting light back on cloudy night. The moon really, really mattered. I think that was Liza Picard or Ruth Goodman I read much of that from, but also multiple other places, including novels from the 19th century.
We don't even really need lights anymore, except for reading and things, there's so much ambient light/light pollution.. a friend and I once had a good belly laugh at night walkers with headlamps - we were out without torches and they were stumbling around, dazed and confused at our spooky noises, in a field near Runnymede just outside of Staines. Good times .
@@anima6035 lol yes, we ended up walking back late at night with the dog one time and my child insisted on using their phone torch - I said you really don't need it, just let your eyes adjust, but they wouldn't have it! So I said at least stay well away from me so that MY eyes can adjust. If you use artificial light at night, as soon as you look away from the field of light, you can't see a thing, it seems pitch black!
Until this generation of wimps, simps, SJW, whiners and mine mine miners passes, we shall not witness the resilience and creativity that our forefathers used to bring us to this sorry state of affairs. This generation is far too self absorbed, busy looking at their phone screens and hanging out on social media to see the real issues affecting the world.
@@sergeant5848 Ooookaaaaaay BOOOOOMEEEERRRRRRRRR. As it blissfully types out their responses with its face glued to a screen on a platform literally run by the things it hates.
Ive read a lot of fantasy and stories that mention rush lights are usually so vague I always assumed it was a bundle of basically dry twigs and didnt realize they were soaked in tallow or oil. Very cool to know Ive been wrong for close to 40 years. lol. Thank you for teaching us about one of my favorite eras of history.
Great video , again. Light was always important in every century. Many a home was lit with rush lights . A word on candles. Both beeswax and tallow were used by those who could buy them. Many made tallow candles and beeswax candles were preferred by the Church or those of means. Being a Chandler was one the lucrative trades of the Middle Ages.
A few years ago I was showing children how beeswax candles were used by Tudors. One lad looked horrified and I asked him if he was ok. He was sure it wasn't real beeswax and after I told him it was, he called out, 'But how do they get it out of their ears?'
There is a growing plant about 50 miles from my grandparents oil home that it call a petroleum palm that is very flammable. My grandpa told me that during the American depression his family would work for the land owner to harvest the juice and pulp to most out of every plant, distilled it and into a lantern oil
Reminds me of the Chinese tallow trees that have become weeds in the gulf coasts of Alabama and Florida. Supposedly you can make wax from them? They are sometimes referred to as popcorn trees.
Awesome! I dont live in Europe but I've seen similar looking weeds growing in the US that have that same spongey foam core that you have there. Very interesting indeed, thank you for sharing!
I was thinking the same thing! In New Mexico, where I grew up, we had a plant with spongy centers that grew wild everywhere... I think they are called milkweed. We used to break open the stem, let it dry a bit, and then chew on the inner flesh like gum.
What a stunningly authentic and honest presentation of rush lights. I had no idea about them. The indoor setting made me feel quite at home, as if some hundreds of years ago. Absolutely delightful. Surely the choice of rush would have been passed on, generation to generation each time finely tuned to get the best results. This is living history at its best, allowing us to better understand how our ancestors lived. Thank you for all the work that went into it.
Jason and his team deliver again. I think I speak for many when I say I really enjoy these inciteful, educational, passionate and well presented, filmed and edited (superb sound quality) videos. I've learned much from them over the last few years and as a history geek they tick my boxes. Thank you.
Fire creation and maintenance is one of the hardest things I've experienced in long-term survival training. You have just given me another technique to explore. I am wondering if this can be done properly with the pithy grasses in the Midwest USA.
Someone commented above that the name of the rush you need is "juncus effusus". I just googled it and discovered it also grows in New Zealand so, it's possible that it's quite widely distributed and could be in the Midwest too. Good luck.
The burn rate is primarily related to melting and evaporation points of the fat. It is the GAS that typically is burning so the heat must melt and evaporate a small portion of the fat and that burns. The heat to change the phase is created by the burning gas. If you can raise the melting point, without increasing the heat generated you get a longer, but dimmer burn. So heaviest of fats is best (a reason bees wax is preferred over tallow is it has a melting point about 10-15 degrees higher). Adding a salt (no necessarily sodium chloride, many inorganic salts which dissolve readily will do) to the fat will increase the burn time because it changes the melting point. Beef fat is particular rich in the triglyceride with the highest melting point, Stearin. Processing the fat more to increase the Stearin content would improve the quality of the light (I'm thinking partially melting and filtering or leaving melted fat in a tall thin container so the heaviest fats end up at the bottom). Beeswax is NOT a triglyceride and is a a wax ester.
Botanist here! The reason there was disappointing results regarding pith is because that’s actually a grass, perhaps the genus Poa or Agrostis. The stems of graminoids (grasses, sedges, rushes) can all look quite similar so it’s usually easier to ID by the inflorescence (flowery part). The grass you harvested has a pyramidal “Christmas tree” like structure to the inflorescence, classic sign of grasses in the Poas group.
Rushes (the common name of plants in Juncaceae, the rush family) are incredibly dissimilar to grasses and sedges when looking specifically at the flowers. Most of their flowers look exactly like tiny lily flowers. Juncus effusus is a worldwide species of rush that was most used for rush lights. Each stem from that plant is a long sharp spike (with no nodes), and the inflorescence emerges from the side of the stem towards the tip. Those plants will give you a much better result for pith!
(Going deeper, the “pith” you pulled out of the grass was actually the rolled up immature leaf sheaths. Grasses are hollow and have no pith. I think this is cool though because it likely proves that rush lights could be made out of a larger variety of plants than previously thought!)
Thanks for this, was hoping a botanical type would chime in.
Very interesting! I think this comment is underrated.
So cool to see how a too often underestimated science field helps shine light over everyday life like the medieval people. Long life to Botany!
I've never been more captivated by a comment like this before very satisfying 😌
Thank you Nathan, you saved the day.
Love how this lad is a millionaire (ceo of a gaming company) and instead of doing the typical CEO stuff he decided to basically do what History Channel should've done.
Godspeed and stay healthy, my guy, appreciate your work.
thanks!
What gaming company
@@monksapollo735 Rebellion Developments? IIRC the guys behind Sniper Elite
And the Evil Genius set of games.
I thought it was quite outstanding myself! I very much appreciate the information and it is what the History channel should be.
Feels like I'm watching what History channel should have been.
You mean with no aliens, or Nazis, or Nazi aliens?!? Madness!
"Feels like I'm watching what History channel should have been." Yes, actual historical information, well said khrom.
feel like i'm watching what i wished i learned in school
Part history lesson, part instructional video. I love it!
I got pretty tired of the sensationalist nature of it a long time ago. Thankfully TH-cam has done much to allow information to filter to us in an accessible and entertaining manner.
I visited Sri Lanka in the 1970's, i stayed with a family in a village with no electricity. Everyone lit their homes at night with homemade coconut oil, poured into a half coconut shell with a wick. The aroma was delightful.
At one time here in Scotland, they used fish liver oil as the fuel for their lamps, I somewhat imagine it didn't smell quite as delightful.
Coconut oil will act as a weak mosquitoes repellent . . . ☆
@@fjb4932 So do my socks.
No coconuts in Europe.
@@Gravadlax-ki7rh Well then what were the swallows supposed do carry!?
The Vikings were really good at lighting people's homes. As a matter of fact they traveled town to town providing that courtesy service to everybody.
And sperm donation.
Well played.
What a nice folk
@@DesertEagleV they actually didnt rape as mentioned before
@ger du this isn't the case; this person will not be able to provide a reliable source to this effect. Vikings is a collective and vague term, Iceland was populated mostly by farmers from Norway with plenty of Irish-British-Hiberian elements for a medley of reasons (including escape from taxation per Harald Fairhair). History and people are extremely complicated, multifaceted, and messy -- don't buy into this lazy twaddle. "Vikings" raped monks (male), helped to unify England under William the Conqueror (also see origins of 'Russia' and K of Sicily), and served as soldiers under the Byzantine emperors. They were brilliant scholars and fearful and uneducated peasants. If a person thinks the history of any large group of people is one-dimension; they almost certainly are. Don't buy into this lazy twaddle -- we have literature for such enjoyable simple fantasies.
“Sedges have edges, rushes are round, grasses have knees that bend to the ground.” Rushes have round stems, sedges have triangular shaped stems, and grasses are round, with “knee” or joint-like nodes. Grasses also have hollow stems, where rushes and sedges have solid stems. Remember that little rhyme next time you have to distinguish between the 3. Cheers!
That is very interesting and useful. Copied & pasted onto my sticky notes of useful herb lore! :-)
Oranges have wedges, grapes are round, and apples have cores that are thrown to the ground. ☺️😉👍
Churches have ledges, rotundas are round, wells have holes bored in the ground.
I didn't expect the poetic society!
@@wolfgangkranek376 NOBODY expects the.....;)
They obviously used massive torches that burn suspiciously without any black smoke for hours and hours. Haven't you seen any Hollywood movies? TORCHES. Everywhere. Even outdoors. Medieval life was pretty lit...
lit...
Yeah Skyrim taught me that all caves are constantly lit by torches, even ones that have been untouched for hundreds of years
And even conveniently left lit in ancient temples
@@whyisyoutubemakingmeuseana7875 Everyone knows torches have no expiration date. lol
Imagine being the one who had to go around lighting all of them every night. Thankless job and everyone's always grabbing torches and taking them off on quests and adventures and never putting them back. :(
45 years of reading historical fiction and I finally know what a rush light is .
You weren't alone Traci, truly you weren't alone!
Michael Freeman
Western Kentucky
Same here
Brother of Rush Limbaugh
Rush ta the loo light rush
LMAO I remember asking myself why they were rushing the floor the first time I encountered rushes in historical fiction.
It would appear from many comments that 'Rush Lights' were made and used right up to the beginning of the 20th Century.
My Grandad was born in 1897, he had shown my dad as a boy how to make rush lights. I remember my Dad showing me the soft spongy center of the rushes down on the banks of the River Trent near where we lived, we didn't actually make rush lights out of them but I knew what they had been used for in the past. I'm 62 now.
wow what a transmission
How time fly's
Your generation allowed Nixon to take us off the gold standard.
You allowed soros, Blackrock, and vanguard to steal America
I will have my country back
Thank you Paul. 👍
Lucky for you to have learned a rare little bit like that.
You would rest the rushes as you would for flax. And you make them in autumn because
A. The plants are mature,
B. You need them for winter, and
C. You’ve done your fall butchering so there’s ample supply of rendered fats for riches, candles, jar covers, preserves, and soap making
COMPLETELY logical..
You know, sometimes I get only so far, and wish I'd been copying comments down in a notebook!
Yeh I was thinking of flax too & I thought he should have weighted them to give the micro-organisms opportunity to digest the softer bits.
YES!....When you lived in tune with the seasons...its interesting to see that you got what you needed , when you needed it most👍
@@justicedemocrat9357 Without pictures this information is useless.
The pre-soaking of plants is called "retting".This uses the action of bacteria and moisture to dissolve or rot away much of the cellular tissue surrounding the fibre of the stem. Usad for flax, hemp---and nettles.
I learned something new. Thanks!
I had a feeling it was done to make the rushes easier to work with. How long do you recommend soaking?
@@danmorgan3685 Apparently a week or two up to a couple of months when the retting was for the purpose of preparing flax to make linen. The process might be similar for preparing rushes to make rush lights. There would be many variables.
@@danmorgan3685 Sorry, i have no personal experience of this.See Nancy Lindsay's response.
Retting was also used in making silk.
Wax candles were a luxury for a long time. In Mrs. Gaskell’s Cranford novels of the mid-19th century, she describes the “elegant economy” of one household, where they had two candles displayed on the mantle, but only burnt one at a time, switching them out so they were level, and thus it appeared to daytime visitors as if they could afford to burn both candles at the same time, an impressive luxury to them.
It was quite humbling to read by the light of my lightbulb with a ten-year lifespan, burning a huge scented candle just for the pleasant fragrance. Life is so different in tiny ways we often don’t even think of, and it fascinates me!
"thus it appeared to daytime visitors as if they could afford to burn both candles at the same time, an impressive luxury to them."
Keeping up appearances seems timeless. lol
Your lightbulb would last even longer if lightbulb companies didn't put planned obsolescence to be able to keep selling lightbulbs.
@@IngenieurStudios I think that 10 years is pretty generous at not very high prices. They have to continue selling lightbulbs or there’d be no company, and they need to fund R&D. Of all industries, I don’t think the lightbulb industry is highway robbery.
Interesting! I will now turn on TWO LED lights on my porch to demonstrate my prosperity to my neighbors.
@@IngenieurStudios Go see technology connections video on that subject and get rid of that misconception. Yes planned obsolescence is a thing, but the lightbulb industry isn't as bad as its renommé.
Apologizes for thirty seconds that he is using a modern dish... pulls out a heat gun twenty seconds later with no shame. Never change :P
Boys with their gadgets and toys ...are their greatest joys....
Honestly? I wouldn’t have been surprised if he melted the fat with a flame thrower...if he had one.
PS...the easiest way to get a fellow to tackle and make headway on a Honeydoo List...is buy him a cool tool/toy that’ll help him get the job done...works every time ...they can’t resist the opportunity to play with a new toy..
Earlier in the vid I split a gut when he said, Then I'm going to harvest it with... this tool. lol! All that production value and prep and research, but re-takes to find the name of a tool? No!
That heat gun set up by apologizing for the modern dish, tho. And he sets that gag up with the blithe disregard for the name of the tool. It's either sincere or a deeply layered put-on. Fun either way!
@@maggsbufton1969 This works for women too 😆
@@maggsbufton1969 so true! 😅 I wanted to put up a pegboard backsplash, but my husband wasn't keen on the idea... I told him we'd need to buy a jigsaw to cut a hole in it for the electric socket... He didn't mind as much anymore. Now that it's up & functional, he actually likes it. (Yes, he did do the cutting 😆)
The oldy worldy medieval heat gun, no respectable peasant would be seen without it!
So, I guess soaking the rushes in lamb fat, one would make a "lambp".
Ba da.... chsh
*starts slow clap*
Bahaha😄
ahhhh i see what you did there!
nice one! lol
Why wooled you make such a bad joke?
I love this history of practical every day things. This is the type of knowledge that is often lost.
Yikes.
@İlyas Furkan why are you gay?
@@jstevo1349 pretty sure he's trolling.
why are you stupid?
Bitch
My favorite parts of history shows like this has always been every day kinds of things like this. We tend to only focus on famous battles or famous moments in history but neglect the fact that ordinary people were living day to day lives and they may go an entire lifetime without a major battle or a famous event. Some people went an entire generation between any major wars
It would appear that Denethor survived the Battle of Minas Tirith and is indeed thriving, now making excellent TH-cam videos. Can you make one on how the soldiers of Gondor were trained and equipped please?
great comment
This made me laugh so hard lol
😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Hah! You nailed it!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I *deeply* admire your willingness to film yourself while you are experimenting and learning. This seems so genuine and so real. Thank you. As others have said, *THIS* is what they should have been doing on the so-called History Channel.
this
I actually was thinking the same thing. When he said he hasn’t mastered it yet I was impressed
Forgeteth thy messy cookefyre, useth the implement the goode Lorde intended: the heat gunne
In fairness they probably just used dragons as beast of burden, like the Flintstones.
On the midieval Pyrex dish....
@@timr9752 Yes they were sold at ye olde Ikea
ha ha ha ...
The crossover I needed, hey Esper
Greetings from Norway, in my area we used wooden sticks ,they were about the thickness of arrows and about thirty centimeters long,if you made the sticks thinner they burned down too quick.The trick was to not make them dry completely but if you had pine tar you dry them completely and then let them soak in tar for days.The soaked sticks burned like standing candles,the unsoaked sticks were burned in a horizontal posisition preventing the flame to go out by itself.
Sticks from which tree or plant, please?
We used them as well here in Finland!
Though there were many types some used long carvings of tree bark that was kept over a water source
How do you harvest the pine tar? Is that the same as pine sap?
@@fusion9619 Pine tar is rendered from pine wood. Traditionally, from roots and stumps. You can find videos detailing the process, but it's not overly complex.
Given the incredibly long winter nights, Scandinavia must have had much more need of long-burning lights than the rest of us might expect.
I made some rushlights using an 18th century recipe I found which I followed to the letter. First I soaked them in water for a few days then peeled off the outer skin while still wet, leaving one sixth of it in place in a narrow strip along the entire length of the rush. I’m not sure of the purpose of this but I assume it acted as some sort of wick. I then left them to dry before soaking them in thoroughly rendered mutton fat which I’d also put through a sieve. When lit they burned slowly with a very even clear flame, without any spluttering at all and each rush lasted about twenty minutes to half an hour. I was surprised and impressed with how good they actually were!
Another thing the video lacked, probably the most important--How long will a rush last?
Did you have a rush holder?
I think that I may be able to help you with the water conundrum,
When harvesting certain species of plants, sometimes they go through a process known as 'water curing'.
This helps to remove volatile compounds (terpenes, terpenoids) etc, as well as reducing chlorophyll content
The still-wet freshly harvested plant material is placed in a vat of clean water and left to sit for a few days.
Once the water starts to turn green, replace it with fresh.
Rinse and repeat until water remains clear.
Thoroughly dry, and your done.
Now, if you heat that plant material up, say, with a lighter, it will no longer smell 'green', or like a bonfire, or whatever, and it will smoke less.
Maybe they water cured the rushes to keep their homes from smelling like bonfires and filling with too much smoke? 🤷🏻♂️
Excellent video by the way, thank you, information well and truly stored 🙂👌
KumaBean thank you so much for this explanation!!!! I truly appreciate it!!!!
It would also have the added benefit of flushing out any insects. Interesting video.
@@billtoenjes955 that is what I was thinking.
Did anyone test the cured vs uncured rushlights? I’m curious if there was a noticeable difference
That makes a lot of sense, especially if it's primarily going to be used for indoor lighting.
In Finland the most common type of lighting (atleast in the countryside) from atleast the middle ages all the way up to late 19th century were shingles, thin strips of wood (typically pine) that you pull off the tree so that the grains remain intact and continuous from end to end. A single such shingle ("päre" in finnish) burned usually for about 15 minutes and you'd normally have several burning at a time for extra light. The shingles were typically attached horizontally to a simple shingle holder, oldest ones that have been found indeed originating from the middle ages.
Such shingles were obviously rather easy and quick to make, but according to some estimates a single countryside family would typically need 20 000 of them for a full year's supply.
To find images of various shingle holders you can search for "pärepihti".
Rothary very interesting, it looks like the shingles would fall out of the pärepihti as they burn though
Thank you. Very interesting.
Thank you for this information. I am especially interested in Finnish history so this is really valuable to me.
Thanks Rothary. Interesting to know.
I thought of something similar (possibly the same thing ) from Sweden, the "Tjärsticka" (lit. tar stick)
Botany tip: grasses, rushes, and sedges often live in similar habitats. Grasses are hollow (lacking a pith) and are round. Both rushes and sedges have a pith but rushes have a round cross section and sedges are triangular ("rushes are round and sedges have edges").
Botony: 100
Ok, I think I've got it. Rushes are round and sedges are *_the devil._*
Flippin nut sedge rode in on a flood or something and after a whole spring of pulling it it's still everywhere. Probably have 5 more years of pulling it because of those stupid tubers.
Thanks... Saved me from having to research it myself.
Sedges have edges; rushes are round; grasses, like asses, have holes.
Little rhyme at the end in brackets for the slower pupils.
Writer here, I absolutely love all of the information I get here and in the comments. There is nothing quite like having the living research library I can curate on TH-cam. Thank you for making these videos!
I was shown how to make rushlights some 65 years ago. Our rushes were left to ret before they were dried. Took about a month. That made removing the outside tissue a lot easier. Also, the rush cores were laid in a narrow tray and the tallow was poured over the rush cores in the tray and left to set. The individual rushlights could then be separated from the block of tallow as required.
Thanks for your tips, they make a lot of sense. Can’t wait to try this!
Im going to try this with a sunflower stalk! It has a huge core of pith! I used to save it for char because it takes a spark really well from a flint n steel! It may turn out to be the new torch light!
@@mgwgeneral6467 that's the ticket, work with what grows in your neck of the woods, and test until it works good enough to satisfy you.
@@mgwgeneral6467 let us know how it goes ^_^. Sounds like a good idea. Curious how it turns out!
Very good information!
From what I've seen rush lights burn quickly. I wonder if that's where the saying comes from your rushing it or you're in a bit of a rush. To indicate that you don't have much time.
😮 wow
Nice folk etymology, but the plant and the verb have different origins: "rush" (the plant) is distantly related to "rope", whereas "to rush" is related to "ruse".
www.etymonline.com/word/rush#etymonline_v_16661
I made a few candles but I used rush and hemp rope to try different ways. They very rough looking you can see them with my fire kit. But they was quick to make and cheap I only made small ones but they work and the rush ones worked better than the hemp . I got my rushes from beside a river and just put them in the hot cupboard overnight. I just melted the fat in a pot on a slow heat and took it of before it was all melted.And used a spoon to cover them. I did 10 then went back to one and covered it and repeated till I was happy.And you can just buy white lard and use that.
@@ragnkja and I'm inviting you to my birthday!
@@ragnkja In swedish it's still called "rusa" when you are in a hurry.
4:36 - Unintentional Historical Accuracy: _A nobleman having no idea how to do a peasant's job._ 😉
Notes:
Rushes, for the non-Brit, are a specific plant genus, _Juncus_ , that prefers cool, wet conditions. They were also used to make floor mats during this same period and on into Shakespeare's time. (And you can even buy some mats today.) They're a slow-growing plant, however, which is why the greener rushes have no pith, as our host discovered.
Historically, rushlights varied a lot in quality. The light produced could be dim or bright, and the duration could be anywhere from ten minutes to an hour, depending on the rush. You could even sacrifice brightness for duration by leaving some of the outer layer intact, making for a slower burn that lasted longer.
Rushes were also used in a cheaper model of candle, the rush-candle. Still not cheap enough to be common, though -- it only replaces the twisted fibers of a normal wick with the rush pith.
Medieval peasants also used oil lamps fueled by vegetable oil. These were very basic -- literally just a tray or bowl with a wick in the oil -- and prone to accidental spillage, giving them the nickname of "spills" in-period.
I remember my grandfather who had a very impoverished Victoria childhood, showing me these rushes and the spongy core when I was very young, he also used to tell me about how he caught various birds to feed his brothers and sisters. A lost world, the medieval period went on for a lot longer than we think, for some.
Thank god I don't live in that shithole.
If a skill is still usefull after the medieval times, it makes sense if people continue to use it.
In other words: "If it ain't broken, why fix it?"
@@justicedemocrat9357 you live in a different kind of shithole
@@justicedemocrat9357 but your ancestors did
@@justicedemocrat9357 The one you live in is worse!
*pulls out heat gun*
Townsfolk: “he’s a witch burn him!”
Warlock*
*Wizard
I just love how apologetic he was about tray right before pulling out the heat gun
Only if a duck out weighs him!
Only if he invented electric and plastics first
Ah yes, the heat gun. An essential implement in any Medieval peasant household.
aye, milord I wondere howe we fhould be abl to afforde such a wonder as this heate gunne. By what means or whitcherey doth it operatte?
We call it the Hell-Gun, from the Devil but it maketh work much easier
*heath gunth
Wouldst be less laborious thanst managing the weight of ye fair maiden, who wouldst sit upon it and melt yon rendered juices.
(possibly) :)
@@dobiem1 lmao
I grew up in the country side in a fairly wet area where these rushes grow in abundance and I can confirm - you can get papercuts from the leaves! The leaves also make a fabulous whistling aid when put between the thumbs
No childhood summer day was complete without making a whistle from a blade of grass.
It's nice to see Denethor living the simple peasant life.
Someone get this man some tomatoes.
🌝
Looooooooooooooooool
@Phil M - he has the medieval look, entirely suitable!
@Cicada TV Yes, but I'm a little worried he's experimenting with fire. This could go down badly for him.
“these are medieval rushes” ...they’ve lasted well.
Almost as well as the torches in ancient Hollywood temples and dungeons.
H Richardson Lol!
The Modern - I'm using a Pyrex because I don't have a wooden bowl.
The Medieval - I'm using a wooden bowl because I don't have a Pyrex.
Im using a heatgun because I dont have a hairdryer
Thomas77 I'm pretty sure they would be using a clay bowl, because you know wood is flammable. Also clay is also dirt cheap as is wood, even cheaper i think you just need to mold it into shape you want it and then just let it sit on summer heat sun, or if you want it badly you just bake it in any oven.
A simple terracotta bowl could be made using locally available clay and after it has dried it could be fired (to make it a ceramic) in nothing more than a campfire for a few hours.
thomas77 I'm using led lights...im on startrek
we all don't have a microwave
I feel like this was suggest to me because the economy is so bad that I’m living paycheck to paycheck, and my utilities may be cut soon. Whatever got me to this channel, ty! I find this stuff incredibly interesting and possibly even useful.
I made a bunch of olive oil candles in a variety of jars with tops, including the usual mason jars. They work really well and burn long and bright if the wick is tended to properly on relighting.
One thing to remember is that once the surface of the oil gets to about an inch distance from the top of the wick, your flame will likely go out. So you have to make sure to configure it in a way that's not wasteful of the oil you have on hand. You should also 'prime' the wick (drip some oil on it) before lighting. Makes it easier to catch the flame.
I like the flat oil lamp wicks (can be found at Walmart in the camping or candle section, rolls on Amz are cheaper), but a strip of 100% cotton from clothing, etc. can work.
@@wmluna381 ty for that info! I'm gonna have to reread it cause some of that was foreign for me, but I am interested in trying. In my forced quest to save money, I'm trying to make it a journey learning experience and have some fun with it. I made my first masive batch of laundry detergent, found a used wash board in decent shape, hang most our clothes out to dry rather than use the dryer, I've used a school glue - acrylic paint mix to black-out my windows to keep the a/c bills down, learned how to boil and debone a whole chicken, make broth/stock, etc. I also don't ignore tech that can save me $$$. Apps, especially to fast food, all have deals. McDonalds being the best and sadly can even cost me less than cooking at times thanks to coupons/deals on their app. I also invested in a small solar panel and generator/back up power bank. I set that out all day in this heat, and by night time, I gather up all our devices and set them to charge; from the kids gaming remotes, to cell phones, to flashlights.. if it uses usb, I use that thing. Idk how much I'm truly saving hahah but I'm trying LOL So again ty! The experienced advice truly is helpful if and when I can focus on this as a project!
ButWhyTho? I think we will be getting a reset back to medieval times this winter, and all this kind of knowledge might well come in handy...
@@butwhytho4858 you can make oil lamps from any vegtable oil-like soy oil,cocos oil and so on,fill it in a jar and make a hole in the lid to put some cotton string or tear ut an old cotton shirt and use that,make sure to put some oul on the cotton and put it down into the jar and pull some out of the hole in the lid -now you have a good candlee,you can also put 3 clay bricks -like a scare missing one side-put a couple of t light candles or bigger ones in the middle and put a cpule of teracotta pots over the lighs on the bricks. this trick can warm up a room,the more teracotta you have the warmer it gets. i do this in our house here in norway when the power goes out and its a great money saver too. also remember-butter ,crisco and oil burns. Big hug
I am so sorry, I hope your utilities stayed on
6:30 The difference of soaked reeds is that it will naturally be without bugs or dust that would otherwise render their employment indoors potentially unsavory.
Most likely others have already posted this but the sandpapery stems of rushes have been used to scour pots and pans. Musicians use them to polish the reeds of woodwind instruments. The stems of this ancient plant have also been used to polish furniture. Love what you are doing! Thank you
The "rushes" used in scouring are generally horsetails (genus Equisetum), a superficially similar plant but quite distantly related. Horsetails are in fact ferns, while rushes are flowering plants.
yes. here in western, central canada, over the centuries, the native Indians, used cat tail heads. This is a marsh plant, grows about 3-5 feet tall, they soaked these heavy pressed fiber heads in the same animal fat......burnt for hours......
@@petersack5074 What a brilliant idea! I can't believe I've never seen their potential as natural torches!
And in the tanning of sheep skins and other hides...after you scrape the hide, the outer stems have been used to rub fat into the leather side of the hide...to polish the hide Smooth..
Thank you! I did not know that.
Medieval DIY light tutorial:
Step 1: Prepareth thine bundle of rushes
Step 2: Taketh thine Pyrex dish and placeth it on thine table
Step 3: Puteth thine tallow on the dish and heat it with thine magic heat aparatus
Step 4: Once it is meltethed, drowneth thine rush core in the tallow
Step 5 : Doneth
Can you please make a painting of this? The average medieval peasant can't read.
Step 6 : Profit...eth.
Ha ha he he.
Step 6: Turn on thine light bulb.
Step 6: Posteth on Ye olde TH-cam
I absolutely love how genuine and humble you are. 👏🏻 wonderful content in an age of (as I like to call it) “fast food media” and unrealistic perfectionism.
Same. I love the honesty of “I’m not entirely sure if this will work”, makes you feel like you’re there doing the experiment with him, rather than being lectured lol
I really like his hands n how he tells things. Very refreshing.
As a writer creating stories in a world with medieval-level technology, information like this is golden!
Was that supposed to be a pun?😂😂😂😂😂
agreed
Don't rush into anything.
Enlightning information, indeed.
I love the medieval equipment he uses, especially the gum boots
It would be cool if Netflix commissioned this guy a history show akin to how Steve Irwin was for animals.
Without being stomped to death.
Maybe hire the 18th century cooking guy too! What's his name? Dangit. You know who I mean. Something something and sons. I'm gonna have to look it up now.
@@dmsmhic I'd love to find out the one you are bringing up, so in the meantime, I will recommend the channel Tasting History with Max Miller.
@@dmsmhic Townsend?
@@CeramicQuill Yo, it's Townsends, dawg.
This must be one of the nicest places on TH-cam. Here we have Jason explaining, in a great way, what peasants would have done and we have people in the comments sharing their lovely stories from their experience with rush lights :-)
The Brits, Scots, Welch, and Irish have such a rich history. They all seem to present history in such an immersive way. I wish all history presentations were like this.
If you are brave you can visit Germany next year. There will be medieval practice everywhere including witchburning, sieges, crusades, knight tournaments ....😁
You seem a little confused with geography and ethonyms. The English, Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish are all 'British' by virtue of their citizenship of the United Kingdom of Gt. Britain and Northern Ireland. 'British' in and of itself is arguably not really a nationality as it is not specific and in its current sense is a relatively modern invention. It's kind of like 'North American' could also refer to Mexicans, Canadians, Panamanians, Bermudans etc ...
@@crazyedo9979 and synagogues
@@Godwinsson77 Many people think the term 'British' means 'English', including many other British and Irish people.
Northern Irish people are Irish... or British, depending on who you speak to... but, they are not really British, because they don't belong to 'Britain'. It's complicated.
Trying to educate foreigners on the whole mess is fruitless. The folks who live on these islands haven't quite sorted it out in their heads. So, give others a break.
The English are 'the bad guys'
@@graceygrumble Well it's not rocket science. However I can see from your reply that even that humble level of brainpower would make a difficult task out of knowing what 'stuff' is in the world by yourself. Yeah I'll give you a pass.
Came for the medieval history lesson, was blessed by horsie yawns in the middle of it. 10/10 love your channel, sir.
Haha ...err.. heehaaw heehaaw.. Not sure whether Prof.... in the final credits has two or four legs....keep my humour powder dry for the moment. Top3 Channels on YT.
@Frank H Bergeron ba-dum-tsssh!!
Indeed, this guy is amazing!
Yeppers, those where some fat AND happily-pampered horses. Loved it..! :)
That gray one's face is just adorable. All the horses are beauriful. They want in on the show too.
"If you couldn't afford beeswax candles..." And the same time a bee hovers in to the picture. Just awesome!
A single bee wouldn't make much wax nor honey. The households of lords, and monastic houses, kept hives to produce both, for sweetening (and to ferment mead) and to provide the candles.
@@greggi47 not to mention there's a heck of a lot more to making beeswax candles than just getting the wax from the bees. It's a long and involved process, especially back then without molds!
@@greggi47 Where you have a bee, you got a hive.
Right?
One of the best channels on TH-cam. Your passion for your subjects, and your beautiful horses really shines through. Exceptional job!
Well this was a totally random and fascinating video suggestion in my feed today! You have such a calm and clear way of presenting and the environment is stunning! So of course I did a little background research on this channel and WOW! Jason Kingsley is legendary! Much respect to you, good sir! Also, those might be some of the happiest horses I've ever seen! ❤😊
The comment "it might have just been convenient in between seasonal tasks" after the seasonal characteristics of the plant sums up a big reason I like watching this guy. Actually taking some effort to experience the day to day life of the history, and having a strong connection with nature provides so much illumination. I remember thinking the same thing when he's talking about heat in armor when riding horses in the summer.... obviously a huge part of history and the Crusades, and it barely gets an asterisk in a textbook! The dude is almost having a heat stroke!
just bring a usb fan and a power bank when going on a crusade. problem solved.
😂
“providing illumination”
I see what you did there.
@@brushstroke3733 You compare ancient war with modern peace. Try to have a go at some modern war and tell me if it's "comfortable" and "convenient", then tell me if you wouldn't be more comfortable as a medieval peasant in peaceful times.
@@brushstroke3733 My point is simply that your comparison didn't make any sense nor bring any value.
@Brushstroke lol I guess you realized you only wrote nonsense and then deleted everything to save your face?
Your broadcasts are great. I really enjoyed this. One little tip- if you leave a strip of the outer fibre along one side, the light won't bend inward as it burns.This is what they used to do.
Kind of like the self trimming wicks for candles they invented back in the mid 19th century.
William Cobbett explained his book, “Cottage Economy”(1821), how to use rushes for light, and detested the use of wax candles.
Ah!
I don't think we need go quite so far as detesting wax candles. Couldn't we just disdain them slightly, while sometimes using them anyway? :)
@@Microtherion yall are too much!!! Too witty for me ♡♡♡
@@tmo.48 Well, thank you. (Bows).
Keeping your home lit in the past, even up to gas-lighting, seems like a part-time job! And in fact it was a whole job in the great stately homes on England, where a man or boy was in charge of cleaning lamps, trimming wicks, whatever lighting maintenance was required all over the mansion. (I believe I learned that from Liza Picard.)
So a full time job
Am I the only one who cracked up when he brought out the heat gun? xD
Sadly no. I’m waiting on him to just hit on with hooking a light switch to the next one.
He needed to at least add "Ye Olde" to the Black and Decker label... 😆
ah yes, ye olde medieval Black and Decker Heat Gun. my favorite of the medieval tools
Jason, I would think they tied them in a bundle after they were ready, so the light would be brighter and perhaps not burn as fast as a single rush, standing upright , the flame would have to work it's way DOWN, whereas, if you held it to the side, as you did, the fire burned it more quickly. This is only a guess, but comparing it to a standing candle , or if you held the candle on it's side, the fire reaches more wax, more quickly. Thank you for the video, I sent it to my son who very much likes trying to make things the old ways.
I believe a single one was mostly used as a taper to light fires and candles ..But, . If you braided several fat soaked rush piths while still warm and then dip them again into the tallow or fat like you would a candle...allow to cool and set...they look and act very much like a candle ...with much less precious fat or tallow needed...
Addendum: Button lamps were used as well...very simply, it’s a clay bowl half filled with oil or tallow and a wick is threaded through the holes of a large abalone shell or clay button to support and float the wick on top ....
I’d agree with Maggs. Probably six or ten in a bunch together wrapped in the leaves or (stripped away) sheath like a rope. Might get that up to equivalent of a 25W incandescent bulb.
Nice experiment. Enjoyed the video!
I believe Laura Ingles used one of those in one of the Little House On The Pairie books.
ackshully! rushlight holders were upright clamping mechanism and most engravings of people using rushlights show them clamped horizontally with the flame over the top of whats being written or read, etc. even sometimes pointing down slightly at the flame end. they were known to burn at a high rate, as much as an inch per minute or more, but they were so cheap and easy to make that you would just keep cycling through them.
there were other forms of light available to the peasant. such as simple oil lamps (bowl of oil with wick stuck in it and lit.) as well as the option of just chilling by the fire place till time for bed. there was very little to do in those days anyway. the only entertainment was what you could come up with yourself, as books were expensive AF, and mostly boring religious junk. So generally they would just go to bed soon after the sun went down. No daylights savings nonsense either.
@@fakiirification do you know what oil was available in UK? I've heard of roman lamps using olive oil, maybe olive oil was imported?
The quality of the content on every video is incredible ! Keep up the amazing work
Thanks, will do!
I love how he looks more and more deshevaled and tired as the video goes on.
Rush lights are this man's only weakness apparently
I noticed that. Lol I think this video might have been a bit of a pain in the ass.
@MichaelKingsfordGray !? No catapults!?
:-)
PapaSpongeTV he just isn’t a poncey test wearing Lynx or one of its analogues. He looks natural. Good!
papaspongetv
its the lighting
Anachronism Alert:
Everyone knows that the Medieval peasants only had access to the heat crossbow.
hahaha! You're a funny Hermit.
oh god, my sides
Crossbow? A peasant caught in a possession of a crossbow would be swiftly punished, probably by death. I suppose a heat sling, or a heat bow would be more viable alternative :)
😂
Genius xD
Interesting video. When you look at the surviving rush light holders you can see that they were generally angled at about 45 degrees to burn.
Back in Medieval times me and my dad made these, we used a tall thin clay pot with pig fat in the bottom next to the fire place , a quarter full, then stand a bundle of reeds in the pot, when the fat was hot it was drawn up inside the reeds, today you call it capiliary rise. Dad called it the drawing of the fire juice. True Story.
Okay bro, I believe you
Can vouch. I was there too in his mom's room.
@@aarontooth 🤣🤣😂😂
Before you know it ,thanks to our incompetent government (s) we may very well be looking for rushes and trex in Waitrose .
Peter was able to remember his past life what a rare experience he shared with you all 💪
So I guess to be "in a rush" would have connotations to trying to do something before it goes out.
Or perhaps just in the light.
Or just a reference to how much faster they burn than a normal candle. Someone going at normal pace being more like a normal candle, someone trying to hurry being "in a rush."
: O
More likely "rush" as a verb predates the phrase "in a rush". However the origin seems plausible.
I've seen an old 'rush lamp': a reflector and a tube to hold the rush.
The rush would be held vertically, which slows down the burning.
Any fat that melted and ran would be channeled by the tube back into the rush.
The user would push the rush upward a bit as it started to dim.
Well made rush lights in a good lamp could run about 20-30 minutes per rush.
They can be brighter than candles, but that shortens their life.
Clockwork variants have been seen.
I love this channel. I watch it when I'm settling down to sleep at night. His voice is so calm, and it's all lite education that's practical knowledge. Thank you for producing these videos and for having beautiful horses!
Glad you enjoy what we make and thanks for your support.
Bet the heat gun woke you right up!
Don't watch backlit screens just before sleeping. Not good for you.
@@ModernKnight
The soaking of rushes appears similar to the process of making linen. The time frames might be similar also.
I like his willingness to admit ignorance of details and the practical way he investigates processes. He owns up to failures graciously. That is genuine knowledge seeking.
"Rushes are different to grass" A plant biologist would definitely agree.
"Sedges have edges, rushes are round, grasses have nodes where leaves should be found"
I love your name
Did your biology teacher force the class to sing about plants too?
*Shiver*
@@ribbitgoesthedoglastnamehe4681 I majored in plant anatomy at uni
do you mean a "botanist"?
As an expert in eating ass (I’ve got a decree and a T-shirt) wood differs very much from steel.
I remember watching a video on beeswax and how expensive and unaffordable it was to an average peasant of the times. Thanks for posting I've always been interested on furthering my knowledge on this topic(lighting issue).
I thought he was going to be making the candle side not the light lol
I processed my first beeswax this year and even with a healthy, active colony one could only get a dozen or so candles from a single hive. I got one pound from the 10 or so frames i processed. And the wax was used for so much more than candles. Certainly it would take quite a bit for a years worth of candles
Stand it up vertically and it won’t burn as fast, the flame will probably stabilize. I do appreciate your humble spirit while learning this craft. I could make a forged rush light holder for you, if you would like.
I was wondering what they put them in :P
@@GBfanatic15 I mean, I'm sure a little pot with sand would be sufficient to hold a stem in place
Maniceureka
Or a holder with a metal clip, which allowed the rushlight to be held at any angle from horizontal to vertical. (Horizontal gives more light but burns faster, vertical burns slower but dimmer.)
How kind!
@@Maniceureka Or a piece of wet dirt, or a turd...
I seem to recall, having had a go a couple of years ago, that I found it easier to peel rushes which were freshly cut, and then dry them out once peeled. I wonder if soaking them in water is a way to store them for processing later without drying out, rather than a necessary step; I too tried soaking them for a couple of days without noticing any benefit.
It's a process called "retting" and is used to essentially rot the outer shell, making it easier to remove and expose the core. You gotta soak them for about two weeks though and it's better if you're able to fully submerge them. It's used for other plants too, such as flax.
He's so lovely being honest about the outcome of this adventure ❤️
I so enjoy his calm speaking, too 👍
I'm glad this popped up in my feed. I really enjoyed watching this and seeing the learning process that you went through
In my experience growing up, when we didn't have candles, the cheapest and easiest way of lighting was an oil lamp in the corner with a mirror or a piece of aluminum foil behind it to reflect more of the light towards the middle of the room. Truth is, aluminum foil that's been crumpled first actually works better than a mirror or anything else, I'd assume in the old days anything with a somewhat reflective surface would have served double duty as a "reflective lamp backer", like a wider blade or anything with a metallic surface.
Did anyone use polished silver discs as mirrors back in medieval times?
@@d.aardent9382 Probably, though I'm not sure about silver specifically. Polished copper was used for mirrors back in Ancient Egyptian days.
Yes,in Arkansas we had reflective lamps.later,an Aladdin parlor lamp.couuld read,sew, etc just fine!
A glass of water amplifies light next to a candle or a flashlight.....just used this during our week of power outages in Texas!
They used to use old scratched cds that no longer played as lamp backers, in medieval times!
Not sleeping at 3:00 AM, and now I know how to make rush lights. 👍
Every time i rush lights they give me a fine....
@@unhippy1 rush green light instead :-D
@@pckkaboo6800 Then they give me one for "unnecessary speed and acceleration"....New Zealand is run by SJW marxists who hate cars
Coal fired paradise And guns.
@@unhippy1 that's ridiculous ,now I wonder what is the "necessary speed" regarded by the law makers :-D
When I was a child I noticed that the pith of elderberry twigs was ideal for soaking up paraffin and using as a candle. Elderberry twigs of all sizes has a very nice uniform porous pith.
When I was working for the CCC (California Conservation Corps) we were told to not touch any elderberry twigs or bushes. Being caught cutting them down could have resulted in a hefty fine. Apparently, there's a certain type of beetle that will only nest in the elderberry bush
@@fabricatedreality418 I can understand how that would be the case in California, particularly with it's delicate flora. Where I grew up, in the woods of Maryland, elderberries were a lush, prolific, undecanopy bush -- a prolific weed. We picked the berries for jam, but also for using as a dye. Now that I live in California, most of the elderberries I see are isolated trees. They're beautiful, but not the lush understory foliage I was accustomed to.
Oh great as I have elderberry shrubs. I'll try it one day.
Live elderberry folage and berry seeds have cyanide, that is why the berries must with first be boiled or dried....changes the cynide into harmless...
So...dry twigs should be safe...
That beetle, BTW, is VERY DESTRUCTIVE to the plant...
I'm glad I'm not in Cali, I can prune my plant as I ease
You were a strange child 😂
Just found your channel thanks to Lindy. I wish I would've found your channel sooner but on the bright side I now have a whole catalog of videos to watch!
welcome aboard!
What a long process. Makes me appreciate a lightbulb.
invented by Joseph Swan
They essentially made their own light bulbs.
Believe it or not, but it's even trickier to make homemade light bulbs...
You should take a look at how the tungsten wire in the light bulb is made :) that is a bloody complex process....
Great, make your own and tell us how it goes.
In the last few weeks I watched almost all videos from this channel. I love how informative and inspiring it is, especially when you are an reenactor yourself. Also they are produced so well and Jason has such a calming and positive attitude. I feel a little more happy and relaxed after watching a video or two.
Thank you for putting all this effort into this series.
Our pleasure, glad you enjoyed them!
We used to make something in Boy Scouts called "magic matches," which were just lengths of string soaked in paraffin wax. They were especially useful for making fires during winter camping trips.
I really do wish the Scouts could be a requirement for a certain age group. Learning these skills teach so many things, the skills themselves, of course, as well as self reliance, confidence, learning to cooperate, all manner of useful things.
There is a really interesting book that goes into a lot of detail on the uses of rushlights called At Day's Close: Night in Times Past. Not only does it give a great insight into how night was viewed in times past, medieval to early modern, rushlights come up quite a bit. One story tells of two travelers trying to get across the alps on a road and trading a wine bottle for a rushlight lantern that immediately goes out in the wind. The medieval section is also interesting, talking about how knights would hold vast parties at night, the roads to their castles or towers lit up with torches, while the lower classes were by law, forced to stay in their homes.
Very interesting--thank you!
Hmmm ...that last part sounds remarkably similar to not many months ago........
I was going to recommend it myself! Very readable, fascinating book and subject.
Sounds interesting! Just ordered the book on Amazon. Thanks for the recommendation. 😊
So like the parties in Downing Street?
I could watch actually informative history videos like this all day. Kudos to Modern History TV.
This is freaking cool and makes me wonder if I can use the incredibly pithy giant sunflower stalks for something similar! Going to experiment with a bunch of last season’s stalks and see what happens! Thanks medieval history enthusiast guy, you rock!
Let us know what happens. Thank you
Yes, please let us know. Thanks in advance!
Makes us all wonder too.
How's it coming?
Makes us all wonder too.
How's it coming?
It genuinely would never have occurred to me to even attempt that, but now I'm dying to know. Squirrels ransacked my last sunflower, so now I live vicariously through you! Please let us know if it can be done!
I could only imagine the reaction of medieval people upon seeing a heat gun
"What sorcery is this?!"
Same goes for pretty much anything we use on a day to day basis. Imagine how mind blowing cars, cell phones, and hell even a toilet would be to them.
@@decidiousrex Cars and smartphone and even drones, maybe. But for toilets, I've seen some history facts videos showing medieval forms of toilets. Like a stone or wooden chair with a hole to fit one's butt in. Under that hole is some kinda drainage that leads to something called a cesspit
Just go to a third world country.
My wife came from a hut in the Philippines, after I got her to the states and a couple weeks later showing her modern amenities I am like "Is there anything here that you still don't get?"
"Yea, the thing you cook toast with, how do you do that?"
I pushed the button and she was fascinated.
She now has an electric blanket and is beyond amazed by it.
thoughtsoftheages.blogspot.com/2016/02/a-young-lady-from-abject-poverty-hits.html
Interesting blog post. A friend of mine also married a Filipina girl- she is often mistaken for an exchange student. He built the family a modern house as a thank you for sending off their daughter to a foreign land. She told me they didn’t feel poor- because everyone lived the same way. But she’s glad that her family has more material comfort now.
@@Randolph_ Yes, those were teatures of castles and fine houses. Ordinary folks must have shooed away the bears in the woods.
Just stumbled upon your channel a couple of weeks ago, and being quite a history lover myself, I can say with confidence, that your work is outstanding. As pointed out by Nathan the Botanist, you where unlucky enough to get a grass species for your rush lights, but I guess people also made lights out of grass in areas, where there weren't much rush, so this video might actually have unintentionally taught everyone about a piece of historical use of grass not known before, quite fascinating to say the least. Keep up your work man, it's amazing.
Thanks for your support. I learn from every video we make.
This is the most wholesome channel on TH-cam
Just found it and binging away
nope, check out Wayoutwest Blowinblog.
@PennsyltuckyPatriot was about to mention them as well. Its like these are sister channels.
Clearly you've never seen Ras Kitchen
Daily dose of internet is really really good
Py Rex: Early medieval king. Later known as The Indestructible. Died unexpectedly in an ice pool on a particularly hot day. Family was shattered.
I love your stuff. Thanks.
skribe 🤦🏻♀️
skribe This might be the best comment here
The soaking/retting sounds like it provides a similar function to what was done to prepare logs for Guarnieri/Stradivari violins.
They could never figure out what gave those violins their nice tone, until they realized that those violin makers had used wood from logs that had
been sitting/stored at the bottom of a river for months/years.
They realized that most wood(maybe all cellulose based plant materials) has a regular cellulose structure that's open, like a bunch
of organ pipes strapped together.
The problem is that there's a lot of gummy gooey sap-like material inside that cellulose structure. Left-over materials from when it was a living
matrix.
The easiest way to eliminate that, and reduce the wood down to its pure cellulose structure - apparently involves just soaking it for
months/years. Clean out the goo, and the remaining cellulose structure has a nice, mellow tone when used for musical instruments.
Perhaps it's the same for these rushes(?) Retting results in a pure, gunk-free cellulose matrix that can absorb more fat/tallow? Of course,
it's not thick, like a log, so the same process for rushes probably can run its course in weeks or a month(?)
There are a lot of artificially created lakes in the US, with a lot of dead trees still standing in them, soaking for decades. Now you've got me wondering how to harvest and use that.
Thanks, Robert! As a (former) violinist, I often wondered about that. I can remember playing a violin that some friends had had in the family for a few generations, and the tone was very mellow. Maybe not made like a Stradivarius, but it was a lovely sounding instrument.
there are many reasons the violins of the old masters give their coveted tone. Most of it really comes down to the fact that they just know what they were doing and were good at it
Why not use a bunch of rushes together to make a better, longer-lasting light?
@@brennadickinson3562 fat flames get flickery and smoky if they're made too big, and the concentrated heat actually makes them burn out faster.
I’ve heard tallow candles and rush lights actually smell quite bad, because the rendered fat goes rancid quickly but of course must not be wasted. They lasted only about 20 minutes at a time, so you had to be constantly changing them, and they gave off a very dim light. Night used to be VERY DARK. We barely have a conception of how dark, because of incidental ambient light and even light pollution in the sky reflecting light back on cloudy night. The moon really, really mattered. I think that was Liza Picard or Ruth Goodman I read much of that from, but also multiple other places, including novels from the 19th century.
We don't even really need lights anymore, except for reading and things, there's so much ambient light/light pollution.. a friend and I once had a good belly laugh at night walkers with headlamps - we were out without torches and they were stumbling around, dazed and confused at our spooky noises, in a field near Runnymede just outside of Staines. Good times .
@@anima6035 lol yes, we ended up walking back late at night with the dog one time and my child insisted on using their phone torch - I said you really don't need it, just let your eyes adjust, but they wouldn't have it! So I said at least stay well away from me so that MY eyes can adjust. If you use artificial light at night, as soon as you look away from the field of light, you can't see a thing, it seems pitch black!
I love his humility and self deprecating presentation. Lovely!
That heat gun from the 13th century must be worth a fortune
I read on wikipedia that it's kept under the Vatican so its devil magic can't hurt anyone.
That would be a heat arquebus.
I actually lawled on that one, lol.
Trade it for a shitload of beeswax candles!
We take so much for granted today. I absolutely love learning these things. Humans are resilient and creative, I’ll give us that.
Until this generation of wimps, simps, SJW, whiners and mine mine miners passes, we shall not witness the resilience and creativity that our forefathers used to bring us to this sorry state of affairs. This generation is far too self absorbed, busy looking at their phone screens and hanging out on social media to see the real issues affecting the world.
@@sergeant5848 Ooookaaaaaay BOOOOOMEEEERRRRRRRRR.
As it blissfully types out their responses with its face glued to a screen on a platform literally run by the things it hates.
Life finds a way.
@@Twyzted42 you realize that he's one a video that's educational and it's possible he only uses TH-cam to learn things, and what he said is true
@@Twyzted42 You pretty much verified his comment though. :)
Ive read a lot of fantasy and stories that mention rush lights are usually so vague I always assumed it was a bundle of basically dry twigs and didnt realize they were soaked in tallow or oil. Very cool to know Ive been wrong for close to 40 years. lol. Thank you for teaching us about one of my favorite eras of history.
Great video , again. Light was always important in every century. Many a home was lit with rush lights . A word on candles. Both beeswax and tallow were used by those who could buy them. Many made tallow candles and beeswax candles were preferred by the Church or those of means. Being a Chandler was one the lucrative trades of the Middle Ages.
Harder waxes seem to burn cleaner, and should have less objectionable smell, as well as not going rancid.
A few years ago I was showing children how beeswax candles were used by Tudors.
One lad looked horrified and I asked him if he was ok. He was sure it wasn't real beeswax and after I told him it was, he called out,
'But how do they get it out of their ears?'
@@dshe8637Should have told the kid, "None of your beeswax!" but then explained the reality of the process.
@MichaelKingsfordGray fat doesn't putrefy. It goes rancid, which isn't caused by bacteria but light and oxygen.
There is a growing plant about 50 miles from my grandparents oil home that it call a petroleum palm that is very flammable. My grandpa told me that during the American depression his family would work for the land owner to harvest the juice and pulp to most out of every plant, distilled it and into a lantern oil
Reminds me of the Chinese tallow trees that have become weeds in the gulf coasts of Alabama and Florida. Supposedly you can make wax from them? They are sometimes referred to as popcorn trees.
Your channel punts the history Channel right in the sack! Keep it up!
This video is actually quite wholesome and heartwarming. Thank you for it. I felt better watchig it.
Awesome! I dont live in Europe but I've seen similar looking weeds growing in the US that have that same spongey foam core that you have there. Very interesting indeed, thank you for sharing!
Settlers in the U.S. did use rush lights, too.
I was thinking the same thing! In New Mexico, where I grew up, we had a plant with spongy centers that grew wild everywhere... I think they are called milkweed. We used to break open the stem, let it dry a bit, and then chew on the inner flesh like gum.
I'm really glad that you chose to include your errors and the things you learned because of them. Really relatable and helps us learn.
I love real history. I wish there were more channels like this.
What a stunningly authentic and honest presentation of rush lights. I had no idea about them. The indoor setting made me feel quite at home, as if some hundreds of years ago. Absolutely delightful. Surely the choice of rush would have been passed on, generation to generation each time finely tuned to get the best results.
This is living history at its best, allowing us to better understand how our ancestors lived. Thank you for all the work that went into it.
Our pleasure! Thanks for both watching and commenting.
Especially ye olde heat gun!
Very appropriate. As the world is regressing to medieval times, we should learn medieval technics.
I can't wait to have a bunch of peasants camping on my front and back yards, farming for my benefit as I grant them protection from outsiders
@@Profile__1 Bro same
Jason and his team deliver again. I think I speak for many when I say I really enjoy these inciteful, educational, passionate and well presented, filmed and edited (superb sound quality) videos. I've learned much from them over the last few years and as a history geek they tick my boxes. Thank you.
Fire creation and maintenance is one of the hardest things I've experienced in long-term survival training. You have just given me another technique to explore. I am wondering if this can be done properly with the pithy grasses in the Midwest USA.
Someone commented above that the name of the rush you need is "juncus effusus". I just googled it and discovered it also grows in New Zealand so, it's possible that it's quite widely distributed and could be in the Midwest too. Good luck.
Cattail plant stalks work.
So that’s where the word pithy comes from. Damn I’ve learnt a lot from this one short video lol
The burn rate is primarily related to melting and evaporation points of the fat. It is the GAS that typically is burning so the heat must melt and evaporate a small portion of the fat and that burns. The heat to change the phase is created by the burning gas. If you can raise the melting point, without increasing the heat generated you get a longer, but dimmer burn. So heaviest of fats is best (a reason bees wax is preferred over tallow is it has a melting point about 10-15 degrees higher). Adding a salt (no necessarily sodium chloride, many inorganic salts which dissolve readily will do) to the fat will increase the burn time because it changes the melting point. Beef fat is particular rich in the triglyceride with the highest melting point, Stearin. Processing the fat more to increase the Stearin content would improve the quality of the light (I'm thinking partially melting and filtering or leaving melted fat in a tall thin container so the heaviest fats end up at the bottom). Beeswax is NOT a triglyceride and is a a wax ester.