scone [E16th] Until the 19th century the scone was known only in Scotland. The novels of Sir Walter Scott probably helped bring the word to wider notice. The first scones were large round cakes made of wheat or barley and often cut into four quarters. The word is probably from early Dutch schoonbroot, ‘fine bread’. Scone can be pronounced to rhyme with either gone or tone. In the US the pronunciation rhyming with tone is more common, whereas in British English the two pronunciations traditionally have different regional and class associations. The first tends to be associated with the north of England, while the second is associated with the south and is thought of as more ‘refined’.