E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Douse the Glim.
Put out the light; also knock out a man’s eye. To douse is to lower in haste, as “Douse the top-sail” Glim, gleam, glimmer, are variants of the same word.
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“‘And so you would turn honest, Captain Goffe, agrazing, would ye,’ said an old weather-beaten pirate who had but one eye; ‘what though he … . made my eye dowse the glim … . he is an honest man’ … .”—The Pirate, chap. xxxiii.
