MY WORK, STAFF, AND CHIEFS 63 



a New Forest keeper is now, and always has 

 been, something very different from an ordinary 

 gamekeeper, and, now that their numbers are 

 so reduced, they have as much work to do as 

 it is fair to ask anyone to perform. 



In the old days, when there was a great 

 head of deer in the Forest, the keepers had, no 

 doubt, a great deal to do in looking after them. 

 But they were thirteen in number one for each 

 walk, and each of them had a man under him, 

 an assistant who was known as the "browser," 

 one of his principal duties being to cut the 

 holly, ivy, and similar underwood, for feeding the 

 deer in the winter. 



The small enclosures round each lodge, fenced 

 with low posts and rails, were called the browse 

 pens ; the deer easily leapt in and out, but the 

 ponies and cattle could not, and thus could not 

 get at the fodder laid within the fence for the 

 benefit of the deer. 



