Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. one of the fountains in Trafalgar Square, London; usu. in pl.

1861

(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor I 473/2: He had heard of [...] Lord Nelson; didn’t know much about him; but there was his pillar at Charing-cross, just by the candlesticks (fountains).

2. (Irish) a drop of mucus running from the nose.

[1673		M. Stevenson Norfolk Drollery 111: For when your dripping Nose you handle, / You seem to me to snuff a Candle].
1995		P. Boland Tales from a City Farmyard 126: There was a kid who lived in Chamber Street called Snotty O’Doherty, so named because of the ever-present ‘candlesticks’ between his nose and upper lip.