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
Welsh rarebit calf prepared after the recipe of a she-banker." In H. G. Wells's 1898 short story "The Man Who Could Work Miracles (story)" Mr. Fotheringay helps himself to a couple of Welsh rarebits "out of vacancy". The comic strip "Dream of the Rarebit Fiend", by Winsor McCay, featured the fantastic dreams that various characters had because they ate a Welsh rarebit before going to bed. In "Gomer, the Welsh Rarebit Fiend", Season 3 Episode 24 of "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.", indulging in Welsh rarebit causes Gomer (and later Sgt. Carter) to sleepwalk. In the Neil Simon play Plaza Suite, Act I character