"You snivelling, whey-faced ghost of a farthing rushlight."
This is from Paul Clifford, by Lord Lytton. A rushlight is "a type of candle or miniature torch formed by soaking the dried pith of the rush plant in fat or grease. For several centuries rushlights were a common source of artificial light for poor people throughout the British Isles. They were extremely inexpensive to make."
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