"We had browsed, during our meetings, on local topics, and then parted, after Chateau Margaux, Irish stew, flannel-cakes, cottage-pudding, and coffee (hey, there!--with milk separate). Now I was to get more of his ideas. By way of facts, he told me that business had picked up since the party conventions, and that he was going to get off at Coketown."

As I suspected, they were pancakes. But unusual in that they had a cup of cornmeal to two cups of flour, and were raised by yeast overnight. Sounds like a lot of work. But perhaps the yeast raise would eliminate taste of baking powder, which I dislike.

I've heard of red flannel hash and funnel cakes, but never of flannel cakes. Why so the 'flannel' here?

Perhaps "flannel" suggested fine texture and flexibility.
What does it mean when you call someone "flannel mouthed".

Well, there's the French expression: 'bois a la gorge'--which means 'wood in the throat' for having a hangover. So I suppose being flannel-mouthed could mean having a hangover, but I dunno...

To me flannel mouthed means insincerely flattering.

Or smooth talking. Could also mean, beating about the bush. I love bois a la gorge; suffered from that a couple of nights back. Wish I knew this term then to effectively elicit the pons asinorum of any suffering listener!

There! I used it in a sentence. Feels like a weight rolled off my chest! Whew!

a weight rolled off my chest

and it rolled off so demurely...

eta,

wwh and WW...thank you for this great exchange in meta-words. I had fun.