Our Book of Remembrance
We wish to celebrate the lives of all those who have been an integral part of the SMG family. Whether as students, tutors or members of our staff and board, we are grateful for all they did for us and join with you all in mourning their passing.
We invite you all to leave a comment, a note of remembrance, for Pav below:
Peter ‘Pav’ Verity
As we can’t meet in person to remember Pav we’ve set up this page where you can leave memories and stories. You can also respond to other comments.
Long-time SMG student Peter Arundel Verity, known to us as Pav, sadly passed away on 1st October after a long illness. He had been a member of mixed instrument classes for many years, and also took part in many community performances with various SMG groups. Pav loved Klezmer music, and tunes from many parts of the world (especially Eastern Europe) which he would often share in class. He owned all kinds of instruments from different countries which he often surprised us with, and he regularly contributed parts and arrangements. Pav did all this with great humour – and some terrible puns! We send our condolences to Maggie, his family and his many friends at SMG.
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My dear, dear friend Pav
I first met PAV when I joined the SMG class in 2006 after NOT playing a fiddle for 35 years. He introduced me to Klezmer Music, and invited me to go to Klezfest in London for a week. It opened an unknown world of music to me which he continued to do all the years I have known him. We also played lots of Scottish Music – including the Flash Mob on a tram on St Andrews day. We played in several bands and groups together. Even in Lockdown he asked me to join a band through Jamkazam.
Pav was a friend sharer, an introducer of new music genres, an event finder, a music sharer, an expert cook and welcoming host of Thursday pre-playing meals, an expert in his 100s of instruments, a designer of “Kleznets” logo which we shall always use, a dancer in Russian costume with Cossack boots, the bringer of Transylvanian Midwives to SMG class, a greek dancer, a fellow skier, provider of humorous stories on every subject, a perfect host of THE winter solstice party, a font of all knowledge, in fact an oracle. More importantly Pav was the kindest, most gentle man I know. Debbie
Pav was a good natured, humorous, multi-instrumentalist, with a wide ranging musical knowledge. He will be much missed and fondly remembered by many of his friends in SMG. Thanks Pav !! Myles Lobjoie
Dear Pav, There was music from so many cultures and eras, and involving so many instruments. When I first met him he had the double bass, then various guitars, banjos, lutes, and a snare drum. There was a bashed old tuba, dulcimers, etc. He was such a melder of groups and gatherings, and in the kindest way welcomed people to engage in his vast range of interests. It was Pav who got the ‘summer playing sessions’ going long ago, which certainly helped things for the autumn term for at least myself and helped the social glue. His flat hosted such jolly sessions with great nosh, and then latterly he was also a maestro of Zoom!
His razor sharp humour kept us perky. His tunes, tales, knowledge, and hear of the Telemark skiing opened windows on the world and am forever happy to have crossed paths with this wonderful person. RIP Pav, of course, but good luck with the bands up there! Joanna x
Dear Pav,
I am also honoured to have had you as a great friend in music, and as others have so eloquently said, just knowing you enriched all of our lives. You brought us fun and laughter, such a wide knowledge of different types of music, and yes, the armamentarium of instruments! You were always up for any playing opportunities, and indeed, the instigator of many of them – “from Cathedrals to Care Homes”, and not forgetting our various busking escapades, sometimes in freezing or very wet weather! And your hospitality was legendary: the best soups and coffee in town during our holiday sessions and your Solstice party in your flat. And thanks for MC-ing our Zoom sessions for as long as you were able. Rest easy now, Trish
PAV was one of my oldest friends in Edinburgh. Munro bagging with the Jacobites and later enjoying a shared skiing trip. He and Maggie came to our house for New Year several times where we had music and songs until we could watch the fireworks from Bruntsfield. His midwinter musical party on the shortest day was something to look forward to. I miss him and his lovely sense of humour. Such a generous kind lovley man.
Pav made two profound and positive interventions in my life. The first was an introduction to the hammer dulcimer which (inevitably!) was among his large collection of musical instruments. Purchasing my own one several years later led to much music and happy experience. The second introduction, 30 years later, was to SMG when I retired. Through it, I rediscovered old friends, made new ones and improved my playing no end. I am one of many who have benefitted from his enduring friendship, kindness and generosity. On the hill, in his kitchen or in class he was a life enhancing presence. I will miss him a lot. Thanks for the memories Pav, Carole xx
Dear Pav,
You are the best of friends and we will all miss you greatly. Your kindness, generosity, humour, and much more has enriched our family’s life and that of so many others. We shared many a time hill walking, and in the last 14 years on regular ski trips, which always had a musical apres- ski session. You patiently instructed me to help my technique which had slipped back each year and I kept your tips in my ski boot. You kindly lent me a concertina to help get started when I developed cancer and then bought me one while in London on a Klezmer week. Your presence in classes and all our busking and other musical events, was always so welcome. What will we do now without your bass and all the other myriad of instruments and musical tips. Thanks for everything, Pav. Love Nicola xx
A pal, an inspiration, a shrewd and humorous observer of life; Pav, you were all of these and so much more. I only knew you briefly compared to many here, but I was enriched by your company. Fare well, old friend. Eòin
For many years Pav has been one of my closest friends, we have shared so many happy times and I owe him so much. Mountains and ski slopes at home and abroad, Mediterranean holidays, cycling, shared meals and above all the music have been such a major part of my life. But, above all else, he inspired and encouraged me musically. I would never have joined Sarah’s SMG class if he had not encouraged and cajoled me, and that has opened up so many other musical opportunities and friendships that have been my joy and my lifeline through my retirement. I even came to know and appreciate Klezmer music, though I could never aspire to be able to play it, but I am sorry to say that I have never been able to get my head around the Eastern European and Middle Eastern tunes in e.g. 13/16 time that he took such delight in. The major breakthrough came in 2014, when he lent me his octave mandolin. Within a couple of days, I was so impressed with its versatility and found that it fell so naturally into my hands that, within a week, I had gone out and bought myself one. Since then, I have never looked back and it is all down to Pav.
To be honest, he could be ‘challenging’ at times, especially with his sense of humour and you learned to be wary of asking him a technical question, which would invariably result in a long discourse that was guaranteed to take you way out of your depth. No doubt some people never saw beyond that but that was their loss, for he was one of the kindest, most sincere and most generous people that I have known – and by ‘generous’ I mean in particular generous with his time, for he was never happier than when he was encouraging and instructing someone in some new venture and I am sure that we have all benefitted from that at some time.
He will be greatly missed by so many people, in so many ways, across such a wide range of activities and aspirations. Truly a ‘one-off’. It has been a joy and an honour to have shared so much with him. Rest in peace my dear friend. David Stephenson
I’ve just learned that Pav passed away in October. As a student in Edinburgh in the 60s I attended the University Folksong Society, where he was a regular, and although I never saw him again after I graduated I can still picture him singing ‘Who’s going to shoe your pretty little foot’. I remember him as a lovely, gentle person who, unknown to me at the time, would go on to really make his mark in the folk world and built up a vast collection of instruments. Rest easy, Pav.