ΒΑΙ ( 173 ) Delivery, in general. Le bail des escripts; the delivery of the writings. Britt. c. 34. Keeping or custody; guardianship. En sa baille; in his keeping. Id. c. 66. Fiat seysina per fustim et per baculum; seito a lessee or termor. Guyot, Inst. Feod. sin should be made by rod and staff. Bract. c. 6, s. 16. fol. 40. Fleta, lib. 3, c. 15, § 5. Baculus nuntiatorius; a warning or summoning stick. A white stick or wand, by erecting which on the grounds of a defendant in real actions, he was anciently warned or summoned to appear in court at the return of the original writ. 8 Bl. Com. 379. A baton, such as combatants fought with in the duellum. Frangitur eorum baculus; their baton is broken. A term anciently applied to persons convicted of a felony on their own confession, signifying that they could not bring an appeal against any one. Bract. fol. 152. See Fleta, lib. 1, c. 38, $16. 2 Reeves' Hist. Eng. Law, 43. Sec Baston. BAD ENGLISH, either in spelling or grammar, will not vitiate a deed, bond or bill. See Mala grammatica, &c. "I promose to pay 1007. if the plaintiff mare such a widow," was held a good bill. Freem. 541. BAD LATIN, in old pleading, might be cured by an Anglicè. Freem. 446. (175) pose. See Bailment. Finch, Law, b. 2, risdictions, such as hundreds and wapench. 18. takes. Spelman, voc. Balivus. 1 Bl. Com. 344. See Bailli, Ballivus. The Lat. ballivus occurs indeed in the laws of Edward the Confessor, but Spelman thinks it was introduced by a later hand. BalliBAILIE, Baillie. In Scotch law. A municipal magistrate, corresponding with the English alderman. Brande. Encycl. Amer. A bailiff; a ministerial officer to whom writs are directed for service. Home's Brit. Ant. 61. Bell's Dict. BAILIFE, Baillif. L. Fr. A bailiff; a ministerial officer, with duties similar to those of a sheriff. Per viscont ou per autre bailife le roy; by a sheriff, or by another bailiff of the king. Stat. Westm. 1, Britt. c. 21. BAILER, Bayler, Bailler. L. Fr. In old English law. To bail; to deliver. Il baila un escript al def' à rebailer; he bailed a writing to the defendant, to rebail. Yearb. T. 3 Edw. III. 38. Baila la cist à re-va, (bailiwick,) was the word formed from bailer. M. 5 Edw. III. 24. Sicome jeo ballivus, to denote the extent of territory baile à vous xxl. à bailer ouster. Dyer, comprised within a bailiff's jurisdiction; 21 b, (Fr. ed.) See Bailler. and bailiwick is still retained in writs and other proceedings, as the name of a sheriff's county. 1 Bl. Com. 344. liva. The office of bailiff was at first strictly, though not exclusively, a judicial one. In France, the word had the sense of what Spelman calls justitia tutelaris. Ballivus occurs frequently in the Regiam Majestatem, in the sense of a judge. Spelman. In its sense of deputy, it was formerly applied in England to those officers who, by virtue of deputation, either from the sheriff or the lords of private jurisdictions, exercised within the hundred, or whatever might be the limits of their bailiwick, certain judicial and ministerial functions. With the disuse of private and local jurisdictions, the meaning of the term became commonly restricted to such persons as were deputed by the sheriff to assist him in the merely ministerial portion of his duty; such as the summoning of juries and the execution of writs. Brande. In modern practice, these are either bailiffs of hundreds, or bound bailiffs. The word bailiff is also applied, in England, to the chief magistrates of certain towns and jurisdictions; to the keepers of castles, forests and other places; and to the stewards or agents of lords of manors. Cowell. Blount. In the United States, it is rarely used, except sometimes to signify a sheriff's officer or constable, and a party liable to account to another for the rents or profits of some property entrusted to him. c. 17. See Id. c. 15. The judge of a court. c. 35. 2 Inst. 229, Stat. Westm. 1, A municipal magistrate. Maire et bailifes; mayor and bailiffs. Stat. Gloc. cc. 12, 15. (176)