Friar Hugo produced a tasty wild beetroot soup and some scones and honey, with some Cup of Cheer wine to wash it down.

They served a celebratory supper of barley soup with red pepper, wild ransom, and hotroot and baked loaves of arrowhead bread, with a dessert of preserved plum crumble, made from fresh ingredients which the Dibbuns had gathered from the orchard.

Brink Greyspoke arrived with two pottery beakers of freshly brewed pennycloud an' violet tea and a platter of warm wild oatcakes.

Hot elder-bark tea, a mug of cold greengage cordial, some freshly-baked pear and redberry tarts, and a plate of toasted cheese on oatcakes.

Hot barley and beet soup filled with corn dumplings was being served with large flat oatcakes, there was berry pie with cornflower custard and elderberry cup to follow.

Dishes went this way and that from paw to paw, apple'n'blackberry pudding, hot berry pies, colorful trifles, tasty dumplings, steaming soup, freshly baked bread with shiny golden crusts, old cheeses studded with celery and herbs.

The meal was a serve-yourself affair: beetroot, potato, and radish soup, apple and pear turnovers, strong old yellow cheese, nutbread, pear and chestnut flans, redcurrant, apple, and blackberry tart, and October ale or mint an' pennycress cordial to drink.

The young hares set food and drink before their guests. 'Enough tuck to kill a duck here.' 'Woodland salad an' a beaker of rosehip an' almond-blossom cordial.' 'How about freshbaked cheese and leek flan?' 'Some scones with damson jam, very good y'know!'

The tables had been laid beautifully. Friar Butty's great fruit and honey cake dominated all; it stood above the fresh loaves of wheat, oat, and barley bread, golden brown crusts glowing.

Here, matey, how's that for wild fennel an' coltsfoot cordial? Try some of this hot root punch. How d'you like wild cherry an' almond cake? Have a wedge. D'you reckon you'd get the better of one of these honeyed toffee pears? Come on then.

Golden loaves of honey bread shone in the candlelight; tureens of steaming woodland stew with herbs and onions were placed at intervals, between wedges of yellow cheese and a mushroom, dandelion bud, and wild onion salad.

There was cream of mushroom soup, hot brown wheat bread spread with a paste made from beechnuts, a dandelion salad, and a huge apple and wild plum crumble. The crumble was a great favorite with the little ones, who spread it thick with honey.

Magnificent aromas of fruit scones, arrowroot an' almond biscuits, and honey rhubarb crumbles assailed their nostrils from the top shelf of the oven.

Fresh-baked breads vied with vegetable salads, cheeses, tarts, and cakes, plus a huge cauldron of the moles' favorite deeper'n'ever turnip'n'tater'n'beetroot pie. There were hot herbal teas, cordials of all types, and a barrel of special mulled nettle ale on tap for the Elders.

Don't start talkin' about scoff, you'll have everybeast goin' on about feasts they were at seasons ago. All that ripe fruit an' crumbly cheese an' summer salad, aye, an' gooseberry cup. Look, you've got me at it now!

She was treated to a tankard of chestnut ale and a thick slab of celery and onion cheese, with a small farl of hot crispy bread.

Oh, I say, Friar Soogum's done us proud! Elderberry pie with yellow summercream, preserved plum crumble, minted potato'n'leek turnovers, hazelnut cheese, and oat an' barley cordial. Hmm, I would have enjoyed a cup of tea, though. Cordial always makes me dozy at lunchtime.

The food was good, but not fancy: plums and russet apples, nuts and raspberries, hot muffins, soft barley bread, cheeses, and motherwort tea, with flagons of cordial for those who wanted it.

Yurr, lookit ee gurt whortleberry sponge pudden! Oh, an see those likkle berryfruit tarts, they've got cream on top that looks like a twirl. Mmm! Have you tasted the soup yet? 'Tis full o' rockshrimp an' watercress!

Brown wheat bread was served with warm acorn and chestnut dip, a large mint-cream cake was brought out, and oat an' barley cordial and blueberry juice flowed freely.