A rare bit?

Whilst on holiday we went for a pub lunch, and on the menu was Welsh Rarebit, and that got me thinking,  Firstly, when I was a lad it was called Welsh Rabbit - where did rarebit come from? And of course it's just a variant of cheese on toast so why rabbit? There don't seem to be any definitive answers, although it seems that it was indeed originally rabbit and rarebit is a sort of "gentrification" of the name.  The suggestion is that at one time "Welsh" was used to mean inferior, second-class and so Welsh Rabbit was something you could eat when the real thing - rabbit - wasn't available.  And then the Welsh have always had a thing for cheese, it seems. There's a story that Heaven was becoming overcrowded, so St Peter went outside and shouted "caws pobi" (welsh for toasted cheese) whereupon all the Welsh dashed outside and St Peter locked the gates shutting them outside. Anyway. Welsh Rabbit or rarebit is made with a thick sauce of cheese, butter, mustard, flour and beer which is poured over slices of toast and grilled, and is delicious.