Preceding Ancestors

Well I'm trying to create some sort of scoping rule
into my XML definition ( well it's already there but
I'm trying to get at it from deep inside one long
XPath expression ). What I can't work out is
how to get at any preceding elements that are in
my 'scope' i.e. from a file like

<s>
	<m>
		<p a="1"/>
		<p a="2"/>
		<m>
			<p a="3"/>
			<p a="4"/>
			<p a="5"/>
		</m>
		<m>
			<p a="6"/>
			<p a="7"/>  <---Context is here
			<p a="8"/>
		</m>
		<p a="9"/>
	</m>
</s>

And I'm expecting something like
	<p a="1"/>
	<p a="2"/>
	<p a="6"/>

I've tried ancestor::*/p but that will give me <p a="9"/> too.

Any ideas out there pleeeeze. I'll owe you a beer ( or beverage
of your choice ) next time you're in Cambridge.

Ta Muchly.

Richard Mitchell
Software Developer
http://www.vbnonline.com/

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