food was beginning to be brought out : tureens of powsowdie and hotchpotch-and an enormous tub of soup a la reine , a clear compliment to the guest of honor-platters of fried fish , fried chicken , fried rabbit ; venison collops in red wine , smoked sausages , forfar bridies , inky-pinky , roast turkeys , pigeon pie ; dishes of colcannon , stovies , turnip purry , roasted apples stuffed with dried pumpkin , squash , corn , mushroom pasties ; gigantic baskets overflowing with fresh baps , rolls , and other breads ... all this , i was well aware , merely as prelude to the barbecue whose succulent aroma was drifting through the air : a number of hogs , three or four beeves , two deer , and , the piece de resistance , a wood bison , acquired god knew how or where .