Meaning of "dim blue match" in "The Female Vagrant" by Wordsworth From "The Female Vagrant_Volume_1.djvu/149)": > But ill they suited me; those journeys dark > O'er moor and mountain, midnight theft to hatch! > To charm the surly House-dog's faithful bark, > Or hang on tip-toe at the lifted latch. > The gloomy lantern, and the **dim blue match** , > The black disguise, the warning whistle shrill, > And ear still busy on its nightly watch, > Were not for me, brought up in nothing ill: > Besides, on griefs so fresh my thoughts were brooding still. What is this "dim blue match"? A match which, after being struck, glows only blue, without producing the red flame?

That would be my understanding, yes. Either because of wind the match is burning weakly or because a flame is coloured according to what is burning, so there might have been 19th century matches that were dipped in a chemical which produced blueish flame.