Montagu “ate a cold loaf,” which suggests a synonym for picnicking, a term that has not survived. She wrote the word in her diary for 1752 while visiting a ruined 12th Century priory in Berkshire being remolded as her residence. Emily J. Climenson, editor of Montagu’s life and letters, matter-of-factly says that “ate a cold loaf “was a common term for a picnic. But there is no substantial evidence for this.
See Mary Montagu. Elizabeth Montagu, the Queen of the Blue-Stocking: Her Correspondence from 1720-1761 Vol. 2, edited by Emily J. Climenson. London, 1906;