Welsh cuisine butter was the primary cooking medium and basis for sauces. Salt was an important ingredient in Welsh butter, but also in early Welsh cheeses, which would sit in brine during the cheesemaking process. The Welsh were also early adopters of roasting cheese. An early incarnation of Welsh rarebit was being made in medieval times, and by the middle of the 15th century rarebit was considered a national dish. The acid soil of Wales meant that the milk produced by their cattle created a soft cheese, which was not as good for roasting, so Welsh people would trade for harder cheeses
Dream of the Rarebit Fiend Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (1865) (particularly the pool of tears scene, which seems related to the flood of sweat in one early "Rarebit Fiend" strip), and a variety of dream cartoons and illustrations that appeared in various periodicals McCay was likely familiar with. The most probable immediate influence on the strip was "Welsh Rarebit Tales" (1902) by Harle Oren Cummins. Cummins stated he drew inspiration for this collection of 15 science fiction stories from nightmares brought on by eating Welsh rarebit and lobster—making further likely the influence, as several post-"Herald" strips from 1911 and 1912 were titled "Dream