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A bailie or baillie is a civic officer in the local government of Scotland. The position arose in the
burgh A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland and Northern England, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burg ...
s, where bailies formerly held a post similar to that of an alderman or magistrate (see
bailiff A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offi ...
). Baillies appointed the high constables in Edinburgh, Leith and Perth. Modern bailies exist in Scottish local councils, with the position being a courtesy title and appointees often requested to provide support to the lord provost or provost - the ceremonial and civic head of the council - in their various engagements.


History

The name derives from Old French and used to be synonymous with provost, with several officials holding this role often at the appointment of the Church. The jurisdiction of a bailie is called a ''bailiary'' (alt. ''bailiery''). The office of bailie was abolished in law in Scotland in 1975, and today the position of bailie is a courtesy title.


Use

* Aberdeen City Council - appoints five bailies. * Dundee City Council - appoints five bailies. The position was reintroduced in 2003. * Edinburgh City Council - appoints six bailies. The position was reintroduced in the 2000s following the title falling into disuse after the 1975 reform of local government. *
Glasgow City Council Glasgow City Council is the local government authority for the City of Glasgow, Scotland. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, largely with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Glasgow district of the S ...
- appoints eighteen bailies. * Perth and Kinross Council - appoints five bailies. * Stirling Council - appoints four bailies * West Dunbartonshire Council - revived the title in 2017 to appoint to veteran councillor Denis Agnew.


Notable Scottish bailies


As a title

* Alasdair MacMhaighstir Alasdair, Bailie of
Canna Canna may refer to: Places * Canna, Western Australia, a locality in the Shire of Morawa, Australia * Canna, Calabria, a ''comune'' in the Province of Cosenza, Italy * Cannae, a ''frazione'' in the Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani, Apulia, Ita ...
* Mary Barbour, Glasgow Corporation's first woman Baillie (1924-1927) *
Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan Alexander Comyn, 2nd Earl of Buchan (died 1289) was a Scoto-Norman magnate who was one of the most important figures in the 13th century Kingdom of Scotland. He was the son of William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan, and Marjory, Countess o ...
, Bailie of Inverie, Knoydart *Dr George Coull
FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...
, Bailie of Edinburgh * Sir John Lauder, 1st Baronet, Bailie of Edinburgh * Sir James Steel, 1st Baronet (1829–1904), Bailie of Edinburgh from 1888-1900 *Thomas Watt, Bailie to the
Baron of Cartsburn The barony of Cartsburn in the Baronage of Scotland was created for Thomas Crawfurd of Cartsburn in 1669, when the lands of Cartsburn in the Parish of Easter Greenock in the Shire of Renfrew were erected , as a free barony held of the Prince and G ...
, grandfather of
James Watt James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was fun ...
*Bailie William Landale, winner of the silver cup at the first open championship held at St Andrews Old Course in 1754, see
Timeline of golf history (1353-1850) A timeline is a display of a list of events in Chronology, chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with calendar date, dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events. Timelines can use any ...
* "Baillie Vass" - the ''
Aberdeen Evening Express The ''Evening Express'' is a daily local newspaper serving the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. History It was first published in November 1879. It was a tabloid during the 1930s to the 1950s until it resumed as a broadsheet in November 1958, six da ...
'' accidentally used a picture of Sir Alec Douglas-Home over a caption referring to a baillie called Vass. ''
Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...
'' then affected to believe that Home was an imposter.


As a surname

* Alexander Baillie - internationally recognised cellist, born 1956. * Chris Baillie - Scottish hurdler * Chris Baillie (politician) - New Zealand politician * David Baillie - Writer, born in West Lothian, known for comicbook work such as 2000 AD and Red Thorn. * Jackie Baillie -
Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The ad ...
for Dumbarton. *
Jim Baillie James Baillie (8 June 1902 – date of death unknown) was a Scottish professional footballer. Career Born in Hamilton, Baillie played for local youth side Wishaw before joining Derry Celtic. In 1926, he joined Football League First Division sid ...
- Scottish footballer * Thomas Baillie - Royal Navy officer known for a celebrated libel case. * William Baillie - Irish print maker. *James Bailie - American real estate developer of Scottish descent.


Outside of government

Scottish
baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...
s often appointed a Bailie as their judicial officer.


See also

*
Burgess (title) Burgess was a British title used in the medieval and early modern period to designate someone of the Burgher class. It originally meant a freeman of a borough or burgh but later coming to mean an official of a municipality or a representative in t ...
* Deacon *Glasgow Bailie, a type of salted
herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...
, which is also sometimes known as a "Glasgow Magistrate" *
Bailie Nicol Jarvie Bailie Nicol Jarvie (colloquially BNJ) was a brand of whisky which was produced by Glenmorangie Single Malt, The Glenmorangie Company in Scotland. It was named after a character in Walter Scott's novel ''Rob Roy (novel), Rob Roy''. It is a ble ...
, a brand of whisky named after a fictional character in Sir Walter Scott's novel ''Rob Roy''


References

{{reflist Scottish titles Political office-holders in Scotland Local government in Scotland