“All over the world we find that similar wants evoke similar ideas; and, as far off as Kashmir, there are to be found iron bowls used as lamps in cottages, whose long suspending stems of twisted iron exactly resemble those of the Scotch crusie. The crusie was to be found in many varieties. In its most perfect form it was hand-made, the pans for the oil being beaten out of thin sheets of metal in stone moulds, and comprised two pans, one for the oil and wick, the other beneath it to catch the overflow. The lower pan was affixed to the suspending stem of twisted iron, while the upper one was attached to a ratchet, which allowed its angle of inclination to be varied as the oil burned lower. Various forms of crusie were then shown, as well as other early lighting appliances, such as clips for holding the rushlights, and pine-slips which were used as primitive candles.
The lecturer, in referring to the persistence with which the rude appliances of primitive times survive long after the inventions of science ought to have banished them into museums, instanced the fire-stick still to be found in use among savages, and the clip and rushlight which he actually found in use last year in a Yorkshire stable”. – The Academy. May 12, 1894.
Sir George Watt said of a crusie, or cruisie, lamp that it followed the rush light which he held as the earliest form of illumination. In England it was to be seen down to the close of the eighteenth century, and was generally known as the cruisie. It was made of stone, metal, or pottery, in the shape of an oblong shallow basin with a tapering spout or nozzle at one end, in which the wick rested, and a rounded, somewhat deeper, portion behind in which the oil was mainly contained.
He agreed with earlier writers, that the design of the crusie had been influenced by the shape of bivalve shells, specifically in some cases, the whelk, which had been used for lighting in parts of Europe. – A Dictionary of the Economic Products of India. Vol. 5. 1891. London.
The Betty-lamp was described as a shallow receptacle, circular or oval in shape, with a projecting nose an inch or two long. Grease was put in the cup part and the wick of twisted rag had one end in the grease. The other, lighted, rested on the nose. They were made from clay, pewter, iron, copper, and bronze. – The Connecticut Magazine. Vol. 9. No. 1.
The Betty Lamp was hung on a nail or back of a chair by means of the attached hook. The lamp could also be hung from a rafter or a peg. The light could be raised or lowered by using a wooden ratchet. The ratchet was made of two strips of wood, one cut with saw-teeth edge, which could be raised or lowered to place the lamp at the desired height. Most had a metal pick attached to them which was used to retrieve the wick should it drop into the oil. – Morse, Frances Clary. Furniture of the Olden Time. 1920. NY.
The lamps burned lard, fish oil, whale oil, or even fat scraps. The brightness of the lamp depended on the type oil used. How much smoke the lamp produced also depended on the type of oil being used. Although they were brought from Europe until iron foundries were established in this country, the grease lights were common in America. ©
– Victoria Rumble, thehistoricfoodie.wordpress.com