{{about|the bun originating in England|the iced bun called a Sally Lunn in parts of New Zealand|Boston bun}} {{Short description|English sweet bun}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}} {{Use British English|date=May 2015}} {{Infobox food | name = Sally Lunn | image = Sally Lunn's famous bun (cropped).jpg | image_size = 250px | caption = Sally Lunn buns | alternate_name = Sally Lun, or Lund, Solemena, soel leme | country = England | region = [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], [[Somerset]] | creator = | course = | type = Sweet [[bread]] | served = | main_ingredient = | variations = Solilemmes | calories = | other = }} [[File:Sally Lunns house.jpg|thumb|Sally Lunn's Eating House]]
A '''Sally Lunn''' is a large bun or [[teacake]], a type of [[batter bread]], made with a yeast dough including cream and eggs, similar to the sweet [[brioche]] breads of France. Sometimes served warm and sliced, with butter, it was first recorded in 1780<ref>Merriam-Webster https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Sally%20Lunn Retrieved 28 March 2018</ref> in [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] in southwest England. As a tea cake, it is popular in Canada and England.
There are many variations of Sally Lunn cake in [[American cuisine]], some made with yeast, with variations that add cornmeal, sour cream or buttermilk to the basic recipe.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-988576-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GZVweuXhZlkC}}</ref><ref name=ODNB>{{cite ODNB | first=Matthew | last=Kilburn | title=Lunn, Sally (supp. fl. 1680x1800) | year=2004 | doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/55187 | url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/55187 | accessdate=16 June 2014}}</ref> The recipe was brought to the United States by British colonists, and new American variations were developed through the 18th and 19th centuries. It is claimed in one 1892 newspaper article that Sally Lunn bread became known as "Washington's breakfast bread" because it was so admired by [[George Washington]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Colonial Recipes: Sally Lunn Cake |website=Smithsonian Magazine |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/colonial-recipes-sally-lunn-cake-82438919/}}</ref> In New Zealand, the bakery item known as the Sally Lunn is not the same as it has a thick layer of white icing and coconut on top and is also known as a [[Boston bun]].
== Origins == The origins of the Sally Lunn are obscure. One theory is that it is an anglicisation of "{{Lang|fr|Soleil et lune}}" (French for "sun and moon"), representing the golden crust and white base/interior.<ref name=ODNB/><ref name=Wood>{{cite book | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=FBMLFM305MEC&pg=PA5 | page=5 | title=Food Britannia | first=Andrew | last=Webb | publisher = Random House | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-4090-2222-0}}</ref> Sally Lunn's Eating House in Bath, England, states that the recipe was brought to Bath in the 1680s by a [[Huguenot]] refugee called Solange Luyon, who became known as Sally Lunn,<ref name=Wood /><ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Meet Sally Lunn |url=https://www.sallylunns.co.uk/history/meet-sally-lunn/ |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=Sally Lunn's |language=en-GB}}</ref> but there is no evidence to support this. Andrew Webb repudiates the Luyon theory in his 2012 book ''Food Britannia''.<ref name="Wood" />
There is a passing mention of "Sally Lunn and saffron cake" in a 1776 poem about Dublin by the Irish poet [[William Preston (poet)|William Preston]].<ref>[[William Preston (poet)|Preston, William]] ''Heroic Epistle to Mr. Twiss, by Donna Teresa Pinna y Ruiz'' in {{cite book | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=_aYcfWZjTJkC&pg=PA372 | page=372 | title= Verse in English from Eighteenth-century Ireland | editor=Andrew Carpenter | publisher = Cork University Press | year=1998 | isbn=9781859181034}}</ref> The first recorded mention of the bun in Somerset is as part of a [[Detoxification (alternative medicine)|detox regime]] in [[Philip Thicknesse]]'s 1780 guidebook to taking the waters at [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]]. Thicknesse describes how he would daily see visitors drinking 2–3 pints of [[Roman Baths (Bath)|Bath water]] and then "sit down to a meal of Sally Lunns or hot spungy rolls, made high by burnt butter!"<ref name=Thicknesse23>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/valetudinariansb00thic | first=Phillip | last= Thicknesse | author-link=Philip Thicknesse | title= The valetudinarians Bath guide, or, The means of obtaining long life and health | year=1780 | publisher=Dodsley, Brown and Wood | page=[https://archive.org/details/valetudinariansb00thic/page/23 23]}}</ref> He recommends against the practice as his brother died after this kind of breakfast:<ref>Thicknesse (1780), p12</ref> "Such a meal, few young men in full health can get over without feeling much inconvenience".<ref name=Thicknesse23 />
There is little historical evidence for Sally Lunn as a person. ''[[The Gentleman's Magazine]]'' of 1798 uses Sally Lunn as an example during a discussion of foods named after people—"a certain sort of hot rolls, now, or not long ago, in vogue at Bath, were gratefully and emphatically styled 'Sally Lunns{{'"}}.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=An0dAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA931 | page=931 | title=The Gentleman's Magazine | location=London | volume = 84 | publisher = F. Jefferies | year=1798}}</ref> But it is not until 1827 that a historical person is described by a correspondent of [[William Hone]] using the pseudonym "[[Jehoiada]]", who says she had sold the buns on the street "about thirty years ago".<ref name=Hone1827>{{cite book | url= https://archive.org/details/everydaybookore01honegoog | pages=[https://archive.org/details/everydaybookore01honegoog/page/n770 1561]–2 | title=The Every-day Book: Or Everlasting Calendar of Popular Amusements, Sports, Pastime, Ceremonies, Manners, Customs, and Events, Incident to Each of the Three Hundred and Sixty-five Days, in Past and Present Times | first= William | last= Hone | author-link = William Hone | publisher= Hunt and Clarke | year=1827 }}</ref> A baker called Dalmer had bought out her business and made it highly successful after he composed a special song for the vendors,<ref name=Hone1827 /> who sold the buns from mobile ovens. The earliest evidence of commercial production is an 1819 advertisement for the Sally Lunn "cakes" sold by W. Needes of Bath, bread and biscuit maker to [[George IV of the United Kingdom|the Prince Regent]].<ref name=Wood />
Sally Lunns were mentioned together with [[English muffin|muffins]] and [[crumpet]]s by [[Charles Dickens]] in 1844<ref name="Chimes1">{{cite book | last = Dickens | first = Charles | year = 1987 | title = Christmas Books | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | isbn = 0-19-254514-0 | page = iv | quote = first published ... '[[The Chimes]]' in 1844, }}</ref> in his novel ''[[The Chimes]]''.<ref name="Chimes2">{{cite book | last = Dickens | first = Charles | year = 1987 | title = Christmas Books | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | isbn = 0-19-254514-0 | page = 140 | quote = It's a sort of night that's meant for [[English muffin|muffins]]. Likewise [[crumpet]]s. Also Sally Lunns. }}</ref> A year later, in 1845, [[Eliza Acton]] gave a recipe in ''[[Modern Cookery for Private Families]]'', describing it as a version of "Solimemne – A rich French breakfast cake, or Sally Lunn". ''Solilemmes'' is a kind of brioche that is served warm which was popularised by the Parisian chef [[Marie-Antoine Carême]] in a book of 1815. Carême claimed the ''solilem'' originated in [[Alsace]] but there is no evidence to support that claim; he may have taken the idea from contacts in Bath and then tried to disguise the origins of a recipe that came from France's great enemy.<ref>{{cite book | title=[[Oxford Companion to Food]] | first=Alan | last=Davidson | author-link = Alan Davidson (food writer)| publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1999 | page=684}}</ref>
==Sally Lunn's house== The building now known as Sally Lunn's Eating House is at 4 North Parade Passage (formerly Lilliput Alley) in Bath {{nowrap|({{coord|51.3808|-2.3582|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline|name=Sally Lunn Eating House}}).}} The site was originally occupied by the south range of [[Bath Abbey]], and the lowest floor level dates to the reconstruction of the abbey after a great fire in 1137. The [[masonry oven]] in the basement dates from that time.
Journals in the 17th century published accounts of visitors to the various coffee houses and several assembly rooms in and along Terrace Walk & North Parade, but Sally Lunn is not mentioned in any of those reports.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sally Lunn's House 4 North Parade Passage, Bath, BA1 1NX |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1395829 |access-date=1 September 2020 |publisher=[[Historic England]]}}</ref>
After the Reformation, the ruins came into the hands of the Colthurst family of [[Wardour Castle]], who sold the site to John Hall of Bradford on Avon in 1612. In 1622, Hall leased the site to George Parker, a carpenter who built the current house. The Hall estate was later acquired by the [[Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull|2nd Duke of Kingston]], who sold the house to William Robinson in 1743. There may have been baking on a small scale during the 1700s, but it only became the main commercial use of the building around the turn of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sallylunns.co.uk/history/|title=History|date=14 May 2013|website=Sallylunns.co.uk|access-date=19 August 2017}}</ref>
In the mid-19th century, Sarah Fricker, a tallow maker, occupied the building.<ref>{{cite book |title=Pigot & Co Directories of books}}</ref> Subsequent owners include Edward Culverhouse, a cab proprietor, (1904–1921) and Mrs Griffiths, a grocer (1922–1930).<ref name=":0">{{cite book|title=Kelly's Directories}}</ref><ref>Bath Central Library Image 13847</ref> The building fell into a bad state of repair and was vacant in 1932–33.
Marie Byng-Johnson, an artist, moved to Bath with her daughter, a violinist, c. 1926, taking up lodgings at 13 Abbey Churchyard<ref name=":0" /> and giving piano lessons. She moved to 4 North Parade passage in 1934, trading as "Sally Lunn Ltd".
Byng-Johnson opened the building as a tea-room specialising in Sally Lunn buns, promoting them with a story that she had discovered an ancient document in a secret panel above the fireplace,<ref name="ODNB" /> explaining that Sally Lunn was a young French Huguenot refugee who brought the recipe to Bath around 1680. Remarkably, despite the importance of this priceless and historic document, she lost it.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Story of Sally Lunn's House by Marie Byng-Johnson}}</ref>
The property has been a Grade II* [[listed building]] since June 1950. The listing summary states that "Sally Lunn, a pastry cook and baker, was a tenant in 1680" but cites no source to confirm that information. It is possible that [[English Heritage]] saw the sign on the wall (erected c. 1970)<ref> Bath Planning Office </ref> and took the claim at face value.
==See also== {{Portal|Food}} {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * [[Bath bun]] * [[Boston bun]] * [[Fruit bun]] * [[Hot cross bun]] * [[List of British breads]] * [[List of buns]] * [[Manchet]] * [[Ralph Allen's Town House, Bath]] * [[Tsoureki]] {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.foodsofengland.info/sallylunn.html History of the Sally Lunn Bun at Foods of England] *[https://www.sallylunns.co.uk/ The Sally Lunn Eating House]
{{British bread}}
[[Category:English cuisine]] [[Category:British breads]] [[Category:Sweet breads]] [[Category:Yeast breads]] [[Category:Buns]] [[Category:Culture in Bath, Somerset]] [[Category:History of Bath, Somerset]] [[Category:Cuisine of the Southern United States]] [[Category:American breads]]