At the Newfoundland site, I find some local history:

Seems they sometimes make preparations for wakes a bit early.  A husband had been ill for several years and the doctor found the patient in a much weekened condition and remarked to the wife that her husband would probably die that day.

She got a big pot of soup going and about 10 o'clock at night made a visit upstairs. The first thing her poor husband had to say was, "Mary dat soup smells good, I'd like a drop."

Wife: "Ah Pat b'y, can't ya be more considerate? I'm saving that soup fer d'wake."