Jillybrenin@aol.com wrote: > > Hi list > Does anyone know please if Gamekeepers were self employed (like journeymen) > or always worked for "the big house" or more likely to be up market names for > poachers ? > Far be it from me to contradict the other responders who obviously know what they're talking about--especially those whose ancestors were so employed, but it seems to me that I have read or heard somewhere that in some cases poachers were actually hired as gamekeepers in a sort of 'set a thief to catch a thief' way. This is not to suggest that anyone's ancestor *was* a reformed poacher, but if the shoe fits... Cheers, Phil -- Phil & Anne Irons, Sydney, Nova Scotia Remember: Professionals built the Titanic; an Amateur built the Ark!