CHAPTER XI. 

 THE SUPERVISION OF GAMEKEEPERS 



THE gamekeeper is supposed to look after the 

 poacher, but who is to look after the game- 

 keeper ? This problem has been before the sporting 

 world since the class of non- residential shooting- 

 tenants was established ; and the problem has never 

 been solved. The residential landowner knows, or 

 ought to know, the delinquencies of his gamekeeper ; 

 but the non-residential shooting-tenant seldom takes 

 the trouble to inquire about the doings of the servant, 

 whose duty it is to supply him with game. It is 

 sufficient for him if he gets a good bag. He does 

 not understand the etiquette of sport, nor does he 

 take any interest in country life. This may appear 

 to be a sweeping accusation against shooting-tenants ; 

 but I think that shooting-tenants will admit that they 

 are careless in regard to the supervision of their 

 gamekeepers. This carelessness may not constitute 

 a criminal offence, so far as the master is concerned, 

 but it encourages the gamekeeper to transgress the 

 law of the land, and the unwritten laws, disobedience 

 to which means the extinction of sport. 



Let us consider in the first place the law of the 

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