bailiff (bal if)

[Early mod. E. also bayliff, baliffe, bailive, etc., There are in England several kinds of bailiffs, whose offices differ widely, but all agree in this, that the keeping or protection of something belongs to them. The sheriff is the sovereign's bailiff, and his county is a bailiwick. The name is also applied to the chief magistrates of some towns, to keepers of royal castles, as of Dover, to persons having the conservation of the peace in hundreds and in some special jurisdictions, as Westminster, and to the returning-officers in the same. But the officials commonly designated by this name are the bailiffs of sheriffs, or sheriffs' officers, who execute proce es, etc., and bailiffs of liberties, appointed by the lords in their respective jurisdictions to perform similar functions. 2. An overseer or under-steward on an estate, appointed to manage forests, direct husbandry operations, collect rents, etc. Also called a 422 bailiff of forests, or bailiff in husbandry.-3. An officer of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. - Bailiff of forests, or bailiff in husbandry. See above, 2.-High bailiff, in England: (a) The chief officer of certain corporations. (b) The officer of a county court. (c) The officer who serves writs and the like in certain franchises not subject to the ordinary jurisdiction bairman liff, of the sheriff. - Special bailiff, a person named by a party Baily's 's beads. See bead. in a civil suit for the purpose of executing some particular proce therein, and appointed by the sheriff on the appli- cation of such party.-Water-bailiff, in England, an officer employed in protecting a river from poachers and from being fished at other times or in other ways than those permitted by law. bailiffryt (bā'lif-ri), n. [Early mod. E. also bail i very ; bailiff + -ry.] The office or juris- diction of a bailiff. bailiffship (bā'lif-ship), n. [ bailiff + -ship .] The office of bailiff. bailiff wick+ (bā'lif-wik), n . [ bailiff + -wick . Cf. bain (ban), a. [Now only E. dial., also written bane, near; short: as, that way's the bainest ( banest ). [Prov. Eng.] -2t. Ready; willing. Be thou buxom and right bayn. Towneley Mysteries , p. 168. 3t. Limber; pliant; flexible. bain1 (ban), adv. [E. dial., also bane, bailiwick.] The office of a bailiff or a sheriff, or bayn, from the 1. Near by; at the district under his jurisdiction; a bailiwick. bailing-machine (ba ling-ma