New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-04-11
ALL AnnIrr aWELSH RABBIT"

To the Editor Of The Tribune
SIR The interest The Tribune has taken IN the nse
ter OF correct English induces me to ask your oPon
az 70 the term "welsh rabbit webser's Dictionary
Savs. welsh rabbit noun properly rare-bt' The
accuracy of this derivation is disputed ] shona
consider II a great favor if you could grant spars
enough in your columns e gGg authority U
Brooklyn, March 20, loOi'
The origin of the name welsh rabbit is
NOT known. DIR. Trench thought it POSSIBLY
corruption of "rare Bit" but adduced. we De-
ueve no evidence to that effect. and that theory
is not generally accepted. 1t seems most reason-
able TO believe that the expression IS now In l's
proper and original form. and that IL was colneu
ms o bit Of pure slang. containing humorous
or bantering allusiOn to wales or the "eIsh
people There is in the writings OF "liHaih VI
Malmesbury a curious passage Wiich seenio "
irdicate that the dish NAV have been known in
very early times. Speaking OF the flrsc Orusauo
ho soid that not merely the Mediterranean nations
but people on the very boundaries OF ChriStenaoh
Joined the expedition Then he added: "Tuno
Wallensis venationem saltuum, tune Scotous
fomiliaritatem pulicum, tuno Danus continuationem
notuum. tune Noricus cruditatem rellault plsclum
Now there is no obscurity here with respect
N any race but the Welsh. William says that
"a 90 ON the crusade the Scot gave up his
familiarity with hcas the Dane his everlasting
no+ations and the NorsGnan his coarse diet or
fish In each case lie speaks of thing. not
nlace: of hcas not the hauns Of fieas: OF drinks,
not of n drinking place. Of fishes. not OF rivers
or the sea. But when he alluded 10 the hunting
which the Welshman abandoned. he uses the am
bipuous word saltuum," which may mean wooded
land-not deep forest. but where grass coulu
grow and cattle could Craze; or NAV mean
lean. n lcapng. St. Vituss dance in the Mlduie
Aces was called "Saltus S. VIII and many
other curious examples of the word III all us
uses NAV be found in Du Cange and forcelllhL
1t is unlikely that if William were thinking OF
n beast of the chase he would speak OF wooueo
pasture land. or hllsides. when so MANY oller
words were at hand that meant forest An all us
wildness nor on the other hand. of particular
animal. if he knew that the object hunted was
not an animal at all. though described In inc
vernacular by the name of living creature DO
taking refuge in an ambiguity he chose the word
that would indicate at once special characteristic
of the animal, its habit Of leaping instead OF
running: and. on the other hand. the place where
the real thing originated the pasture where grazed
the cattle that gave milk for cheese. AS nc
twitted the Scot. the Norwegian and the Dane on
their unpleasant peculiarites. so he twitted tho
Welshman: and SO far as the Welshman and the
Dane are concerned both wittlcisms survive In
Shakespeare And thus Welsh rabbit" has come
down to the present day. and will doubtless con-
tinue, for many a year, in its pristine glory re-
sistng all base efforts to gloss IL as rare Dlt
or anything Of the sort. Analogically it has many
good companions. Thus. an " Irish apricot. OK
a Munster plum is potato; an Essex lion Is
a calf: Norfolk capon' is red herrlng;
"Gravesend sweetmeats" are shrimps "Fleld'
Lane duck" is Sleeps head; and many other
like examples of local by-words in things CASTRO
monte might he quoted from current speech ID
the United Kingdom. Nor are we free from them
in America. as witness White Mountain OYSTERS
"Schuylkill trout" ct cetera, not TO mention the
inseparable concomitant Of welsh rabbit itself,
golden buck" So Welsh rabbit let IL be;
and long may it wave Ed