Friar Soogum

Friar Soogum was a large, kind-hearted male vole Kitchen Friar of Redwall Abbey during the time of Abbess Marjoram. He was very humble and well-liked within the Abbey, and was a good friend of the Abbess. When the Redwallers had a Bard of Redwall contest, Friar Soogum was an unexpected entrant; up until that point, only his assistant Drull Hogwife knew he liked to sing. His entry, a song about the simplicity of a cook's life, was very well received; some beasts were even moved to tears.

As he was getting older, Soogum had trouble getting up as early as he used to; thus, he was sound asleep when Globby invaded Redwall and wrecked the kitchens. Skipper Ruark Boldstream captured the stoat and gave him over to Soogum for punishment; the vole forced the vermin to clean up the mess he had made, to the last crumb. He later tied Globby to a table to prevent him escaping, until he could decide what to do with him; unfortunately, he forgot to clean the table of silverware, and Globby used a knife to cut his bonds and escape.

Soogum was described as having a fear of letting anyone go hungry; this was most evident when a small party left Redwall to escort Mumzy and several Dibbuns under her care to the Abbey. Though they were only planning to go a very short distance away (less than a day's travel), the good Friar burdened them with almost more food than they could carry, to a point where the Abbess was compelled to tell him to stop.