Etymology Dictionary

CANNEL-COAL,   a coal that burns brightly.  (L. and E.)   Modern.   Provincial Eng. cannel, a candle, and coal.   'Cannle, a candle; cannle-coal, or kennle-coal, so called because it burns without smoke like a candle;' F. K. Robinson, Whitby Glossary. [†]

ADDENDA

The word is old.   'The choicest coal in England called cannell;' R. Blome's Britannia, 1673, cited in N. and Q. 3 S. vii. 485.   At the same reference the word is wrongly derived from kindle, whereas kindle is itself a derivative of candle, of which cannel is merely the prov. E. pronunciation, as already explained.   In N. and Q. 3 S. viii. 18, we have a quotation for 'Canel, like Se-cole,' from Leland's Itinerary, vol. vii. fol. 59; 'The Canel, or Candle, coal;' North, Life of Lord Guildford, i. 278, 2nd ed. 1808 (Davies); Defoe, Tour through Gt. Britain, iii. 248, 4th ed. 1748 (id.).