The Owl Service had been taken off the required reading list when I was doing O Levels, though I had already seen the BBC series, which was fantastic and I had read it myself before ( along with the Weirdstone of Brisingamen, Elidor and The Moon of Gomrath. The biggest thrill I've ever had in my life was one time when I was coming back from the Lake District with a friend and she detoured to go look at Alderly Edge in Cheshire, I saw the Svart Hole and the Door to Merlin's cave...but I couldn't get it to open.). For those of you who may wish to know what The Owl Service is and why it is important to Mabinogian tales is it is a retelling of the Dierdre(?) tale from the Mab. and an eerie china dinner service with an owl motif. Dierdre was the wife of Brân, who was made from flowers and grasses. She was unfaithful to Brân and was turned into an owl ( a real heavy duty penance to a celt) for her transgression. I probably have the names all mixed up but it sounds authentic doesn't it? :o)