scoff n OED ~ sb2 'food; a meal' (l879-); cp EDD scaff sb1 1 Sc. A cooked meal at sea or ashore, esp at night and often part of an impromptu party; such a repast prepared with 'bucked' or stolen ingredients (1966 FARIS 207).
[c1894] PANL P4/14, p. 200 You may find a large spread; lashings of pork and duff, indeed a veritable scoff. 1896 J A Folklore ix, 33 To [scouse or lobscouse] they give the name scoff. 1898 Christmas Bells 14 In the nights there'd be nothing but 'scoffs' aboard, while the housekeepers of the place frequently complained of the loss of a fine fat hen, or a half dozen o' cabbages. 1932 BARBOUR 59 We will have a 'scoff' (a meal of boiled salt pork, cabbage, potatoes and turnips served hurriedly on board ship) cooked. T 34-64 In years gone by we used to ... on the last of October we'd all get together, and we'd get our bit of cabbage and go to one or t'other of the houses, and we have our scoff cooked, and have a big time then. T 246-66 We all meet together an' have a few songs, an' we put on a big feed, you know—scoff, we'd always call it. C 68-7 The young people and sometimes the older people would have a scoff every two or three weeks during the winter months. A scoff was a big feed of potatoes, cabbage, pork and other things. While this scoff was cooking they would have a game of cards. Each person involved in the scoff would carry his share of the vegetables. 1974 SQUIRE 40 The scoff was another form of entertainment, taken part in chiefly by the younger men. (The older people frowned on it, especially the name.) This pastime was not so widely known in the early days, as in the latter part of the 1800's and the early part of the 20th century. The event usually took place in the period between October and Christmas. A group of young men secured a supply of fresh meat, usually sea birds. When these were not procureable, a hen or duck would be gotten from a neighbour's supply, this chiefly by stealth... Young men then congregated at one of the homes and together with their girl friends cooked a large meal of meat and vegetables... The party would normally end with a dance, and a card game.
