144 THE GAMEKEEPER AT HOME. 



CHAPTER VII. 



Professional Poacfjers. Efje art 0f TOtrtng ante. 



THERE are three kinds of poachers, the local men, the 

 raiders coming in gangs from a distance, and the 

 ' mouchers ' fellows who do not make precisely a pro- 

 fession of it, but who occasionally loiter along the roads 

 and hedges picking up whatever they can lay hands on. 

 Philologists may trace a resemblance between the present 

 provincial word ' mouching ' and Shakspeare's ' mitcher/ 

 who ate blackberries. Of the three probably the largest 

 amount of business is done by the local men, on the prin- 

 ciple that the sitting gamester sweeps the board. They 

 therefore deserve first consideration. 



It is a popular belief that the village poacher is an idle, 

 hang-dog ne'er-do-well, with a spice of sneaking romance 

 in his disposition the Bohemian of the hamlet, whose 

 grain of genius has sprouted under difficulties, and pro- 

 duced weeds instead of wheat. This is a complete fallacy, 

 in our day at least. Poaching is no longer an amusement, 

 a thing to be indulged in because 



It's my delight of a shiny night 

 In the season of the year ; 



