A life in letters: Purvey

In Lanarkshire, the word ‘purvey’ was used when I was young as a noun  to describe the food provided for church events such as Sunday School Soirees. The question ‘Who will we get to do the purvey this year?’ would be asked early in the planning process, the cue for a lively discussion of the merits of local caterers. The purvey would be delivered to the event on large bakers’ trays on which jostled paper bags each containing a biscuit, a piece of cake, a sandwich perhaps, or a scone. Tepid sausage rolls might be in the bags, or on a separate tray. At the appointed time in the course of the event, grace would be said, the trays carried down the aisle and the bags passed along each row until everyone had one. Volunteers carried pots of tea from the steaming kitchen, and the cups lined up at the end of the bookrests on the pews accompanied by sugar and a jug of milk would be filled with hot dark tea. For us kids, there was orange juice.