Those who delight in roaming about amongst the fields and lanes, or have
spent any time in a country house, can hardly have failed to notice the
custodian of the woods and covers, or to observe that he is often
something of a "character." The Gamekeeper forms, indeed, so prominent
a figure in rural life as almost to demand some biographical record of
his work and ways. From the man to the territories over which he bears
sway--the meadows, woods, and streams--and to his subjects, their furred
and feathered inhabitants, is a natural transition. The enemies against
whom he wages incessant warfare--vermin, poachers, and trespassers--
must, of course, be included in such a survey.
Although, for ease and convenience of illustration, the character of a
particular Keeper has been used as a nucleus about which to arrange
materials that would otherwise have lacked a connecting link, the facts
here collected are really entirely derived from original observation.
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