24 THE KEEPER'S BOOK 



treated justly, yet firmly in many cases the harm they 

 do is overrated, and used as a threat to blackmail wealthy 

 Sassenachs innocent of anywhere except Piccadilly or 

 the Park. Yet good relationships with the farmers are 

 more important in low ground than on moor shootings. 

 Here antagonism between keeper and farmer or master 

 and farmer is possibly disastrous to good sport. Of 

 course, farmers have no right to enter coverts, which 

 should always be strictly reserved in the lease to the 

 landlord. As for the farm labourers, they possess op- 

 portunities of poaching which render them particularly 

 dangerous. They can with ease set traps, nets, and 

 snares without being observed. Their presence in the 

 fields seldom arouses suspicion, and they may take the 

 opportunity of following the principle of every man for 

 himself, unless a friendly sentiment towards the master 

 and the keeper has stimulated their interest in sport and 

 in justice. Far too little is attempted by the average 

 keeper to conciliate the farm labourer, either by common 

 human sympathy and kindness or by an occasional 

 present, say of rabbits or hares. The keeper is far too 

 apt to be oppressed by the idea of his own dignity, 

 and to despise the mere clod of the fields. Let him re- 

 member that dignity does not necessarily mean austerity. 

 A keeper can be firm and even suspicious without being 

 " a pompous ass." We remember once, at a big covert 

 shoot in the north of England, taking particular note 

 of the relationship that existed between the head keeper 

 and his corps of beaters which was chiefly made up 



