  We present linear spectropolarimetric data for eight Herbig Be and four
Herbig Ae stars at H alpha, H beta and H gamma. Changes in the linear
polarisation are detected across all Balmer lines for a large fraction of the
observed objects, confirming that the small-scale regions surrounding these
objects are flattened (i.e. disk-like). Furthermore, all objects with
detections show similar characteristics at the three spectral lines, despite
differences in transition probability and optical depth going from H alpha to H
gamma. A large fraction of early Herbig Be stars (B0-B3) observed show line
depolarisation effects. However the early Herbig Ae stars (A0-A2), observed for
comparison, show intrinsic line polarisation signatures. Our data suggest that
the popular magnetic accretion scenario for T Tauri objects may be extended to
Herbig Ae stars, but that it may not be extended to early Herbig Be stars, for
which the available data are consistent with disc accretion.
