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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 2005 (SND, online supplement).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

LORNE SAUSAGE, n. Square-shaped sausage-meat usu. cut in slices; cf. square sausage s.v. square n., v., adj. I. 3. (Ork., Bnff., Ags., Fif., Edb., Gsw., Ayr., Dmf., Rxb. 2000s).Gsw. 1972 Molly Weir Best Foot Forward (1974) 109:
But often my chums' mothers were pleased to exchange their old bundles for welcome coppers to buy chips or Lorne sausage for their tea, ...Gsw. 1985 Anna Blair Tea at Miss Cranston's 66:
...steeping-peas for soup, sugar and soaps and sodas, Belfast ham, lorne sausage and mouse-trap cheese.Gsw. 1985 Michael Munro The Patter 65:
square sausage Also called Lorne sausage, this seemingly cubist delicacy is simply sausage meat cut into rough squares: 'See England? See if ye ask fur squerr sausage, they look at ye as if yer were daft.'Sc. 1999 Laura Mason and Catherine Brown Traditional Foods of Britain 201-2:
LORNE SAUSAGE
Region of Production: Scotland.
DESCRIPTION
An uncased, uncooked, fresh beef sausage with a square section. Cut from a large block and sold in slices approximately 10cm square, 1cm thick. Colour: pink. Flavour: beef.
HISTORY
This became associated in Glasgow with the comedian Tommy Lorne, a popular music-hall performer of the decades between the world wars who often made rude jokes about the Glasgow square sausage describing them as 'doormats'. They were an important part of the eating habits of industrialized Scotland. It remains a daily food. Known only in Glasgow as a Lorne sausage, the rest of the country refers to it as a square or sliced sausage. Its square, flat shape was a convenient fit for a morning roll along with a fried egg. The use of beef reflects the less prominent place that pig meat has in Scottish food habits. Sc. 2002 Big Issue 7-13 Feb 17:
So it is no surprise to learn that 'Sinatra nut' and Dennistoun boy Ford Kiernan (of Chewin' the Fat fame) frequents the café. His regular order of two rolls n' Lorne sausage is a convenient cover for his sallies into the East End to harvest the latest witty aphorisms blooming in the local patois ("Hey you, fanny baws").Sc. 2002 Herald 16 Nov 6:
Many Scots, especially in the west, eschew link sausages for the square variety. Lorne sausage was named after Glasgow comedian Tommy Lorne who joked that Glasgow square sausage was akin to a doormat.Sc. 2003 Sunday Herald 22 Jun 6:
Last September, the firm's Lorne sausage and burger-producing division, McKechnie Jess, bought the assets of its biggest rival, Glasgow-based Dark Island, which had gone into liquidation.