Welsh rarebit considered to be a supper or tavern dish, based on the fine cheddar-type cheeses and the wheat bread [...] . Surprisingly, it seems there was not only a Welsh Rabbit, but also an English Rabbit, an Irish and a Scotch Rabbit, but nary a rarebit." Michael Quinion writes: "Welsh rabbit is basically cheese on toast (the word is not 'rarebit' by the way, that's the result of false etymology; 'rabbit' is here being used in the same way as 'turtle' in 'mock-turtle soup', which has never been near a turtle, or 'duck' in 'Bombay duck', which was actually a dried
Dream of the Rarebit Fiend as they had been widely reported and talked about in the New York newspaper world McCay was a part of. "Dream of the Rarebit Fiend" was McCay's longest running comic strip. He made over 300 more "Rarebit Fiend" episodes than he made of the more famous "Little Nemo". The first strip appeared on September 10, 1904, in the "New York Herald", a few months after the first appearance of McCay's "Little Sammy Sneeze". It was McCay's second successful newspaper strip, after "Sammy Sneeze" landed him a position on the cartooning staff of the "Herald". "Dream of the Rarebit Fiend" ran