A still body of water stretches across the image, its surface obscured by a thick layer of fog. A single, bare tree stands on the left bank of the water, its reflection visible in the water. The water's edge is lined with tall, brown rushes and low-lying green vegetation.

Of Cloud and Candle-Rushes: Taxation, Tradition, and a Dreich Brian’s Pond

What a profoundly uninspiring morning it has been—so much dull, grey cloud blanketing the Cleveland Hills that one might have suspected a conspiracy to make photography impossible. Still, in search of a morsel of interest, I plodded resolutely up to Brian’s Pond, which is quite possibly named in honour of that storied Irish figure, “Bryan Born.” This Bryan, if we are to credit a certain Edwardian scholar of these moors, might even have lent a hand to the saintly Botolph in founding the church at Carlton, although he seems to be a rare hero in the realm of Mr. Google. One must also, however, suspect that this “founding” refers to the earlier medieval chapel rather than the present Victorian affair.1Britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk. (2022). A MOORLAND RAMBLE | Northern Weekly Gazette | Saturday 04 August 1906 | British Newspaper Archive. [online] Available at: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003075/19060804/078/0012 [Accessed 10 Jun. 2022].

In the foreground of this rather watery tableau, there stand two stout clumps of Soft Rush—Juncus effusus—a notable feature of moorland, as tough as it is joyless, thriving on boggy soil where sheep and cattle rightly steer clear as neither are remotely interested in consuming the thing. A botanist would describe this plant as “well-adapted,” preferring as it does the boggiest and least inspiring of terrains, which is, I imagine, precisely why it has managed to proliferate so successfully across the moors. A triumph of evolution, one might say.

Soft Rush, however, does bear a litany of quaint vernacular names — Pin-rush, Watch-light-rush, and Candle-rush, to name but a few — all fond nods to its past as a vital player in the 18th and early 19th-century candle tax evasion market.21898 English dialect dictionary Vol IV M to Q31898 English dialect dictionary Vol VI T to Z4Hostile Habitats. Scottish Mountaineering Trust 2006. Rushlight chandlers, in a fit of ingenuity, would peel and dry the shoots of Juncus effusus, soak the absorbent pith in animal fat, and produce a rudimentary but functional wick that circumvented the tax on candles. Here was industry at its finest: evading the taxman by manufacturing greasy little lights from bog plants. A triumph of civilisation, long forgotten.

  • 1
    Britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk. (2022). A MOORLAND RAMBLE | Northern Weekly Gazette | Saturday 04 August 1906 | British Newspaper Archive. [online] Available at: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003075/19060804/078/0012 [Accessed 10 Jun. 2022].
  • 2
    1898 English dialect dictionary Vol IV M to Q
  • 3
    1898 English dialect dictionary Vol VI T to Z
  • 4
    Hostile Habitats. Scottish Mountaineering Trust 2006.

Posted

in

, ,

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *