Sally Lunn
Preserved but no longer current.
A tea-cake; so called from a woman pastrycook of that name in Bath, who used to cry them about in a basket at the close of the 18th century. Dalmer, the baker, bought her recipe, and made a song about the buns.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Sally Lunn” mean?
A tea-cake; so called from a woman pastrycook of that name in Bath, who used to cry them about in a basket at the close of the 18th century. Dalmer, the baker, bought her recipe, and made a song about the buns.
Is “Sally Lunn” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.