Some Roman lamps resembled a teakettle. Candles are a type of fat lamp. The earliest candles were made by coating a wick with wax and pitch. Later, candlemakers used tallow, a waxy substance obtained from animal fat. The best candles consisted of beeswax or paraffin, a wax obtained from petroleum.
Most candles cost more than other types of lamps.
Inexpensive lamps called rushlights burned like candles. They were made by dipping dried rushes into animal fat. See Candle . A type of oil lamp called a cruise appeared in Scotland during the Middle Ages. This lamp consisted of an iron pan that had a trough sticking out from it.