BASTARD

(0. Fr.), meaning ‘packsaddle child,’ a child born out of wedlock. Such children are not legally entitled to bear the name of either parent, they cannot inherit real property, and, as they are in nearly every legal aspect filius nullius (‘nobody’s child’), the parents cam have no control over their marriage. In Eng. law an Act of Parliament is required to legitimize such a child; in Scots law the subsequent marriage of the parents confers this privilege.