BOUND, or Boundary (from O. Fr. bonde, Med. Lat. bodena or butina, a frontier line), that which serves to indicate the limit or extent of land. It is usually defined by a certain mark, such as a post, ditch, hedge, dyke, wall of stones, &c., though on the other hand it may have to be ascertained by reference to a plan or by measurement. In law, the exact boundary of land is always a matter of evidence; where no evidence is available, the court acts on presumption. For example, the boundary of land on opposite sides of a road, whether public or private, is presumed to be the middle line of the road. Where two fields are separated by a hedge and ditch the boundary line will run between the hedge and the ditch. Boundaries of parishes, at common law, depended upon ancient and immemorial custom, and in many parishes great care was taken to perpetuate the boundaries of the parish by perambulations from time to time. The confusion of local boundaries in England was the subject of several commissions and committees in the 19th century, and much information will be found in their reports (1868, 1870, 1873, 1888). The Local Government Act 1888, ss. 50-63, contains provisions for the alteration of local areas.
BOUNDS, BEATING THE, an ancient custom still observed in many English parishes. In former times when maps were rare it was usual to make a formal perambulation of the parish boundaries on Ascension day or during Rogation week. The latter is in the north of England still called “Gang Week” or “Ganging Days” from this “ganging” or procession. The priest of the parish with the churchwardens and the parochial officials headed a crowd of boys who, armed with green boughs, beat with them the parish border-stones. Sometimes the boys were themselves whipped or even violently bumped on the boundary-stones to make them remember. The object of taking boys was obviously to ensure that witnesses to the boundaries should survive as long as possible. In England the custom is as old as Anglo-Saxon days, as it is mentioned in laws of Alfred and Aethelstan. It is thought that it may have been derived from the Roman Terminalia, a festival celebrated on the 22nd of February in honour of Terminus, the god of landmarks, to whom cakes and wine were offered, sports and dancing taking place at the boundaries. In England a parish-ale or feast was always held after the perambulation, which assured its popularity, and in Henry VIII.’s reign the occasion had become an excuse for so much revelry that it attracted the condemnation of a preacher who declared “these solemne and accustomable processions and supplications be nowe growen into a right foule and detestable abuse.” Beating the bounds had a religious side in the practice which originated the term Rogation, the accompanying clergy being supposed to beseech (rogare) the divine blessing upon the parish lands for the ensuing harvest. This feature originated in the 5th century, when Mamercus, bishop of Vienne, instituted special prayers and fasting and processions on these days. This clerical side of the parish bounds-beating was one of the religious functions prohibited by the Injunctions of Queen Elizabeth; but it was then ordered that the perambulation should continue to be performed as a quasi-secular function, so that evidence of the boundaries of parishes, &c. might be preserved (Gibson, Codex juris Ecclesiastici Anglicani (1761) pp. 213-214). Bequests were sometimes made in connexion with bounds-beating. Thus at Leighton Buzzard on Rogation Monday, in accordance with the will of one Edward Wilkes, a London merchant who died in 1646, the trustees of his almshouses accompanied the boys. The will was read and beer and plum rolls distributed. A remarkable feature of the bequest was that while the will is read one of the boys has to stand on his head.
BOUNTY (through O. Fr. bontet, from Lat. bonitas, goodness), a gift or gratuity; more usually, a premium paid by a government to encourage some branch of production or industry, as in England in the case of the bounty on corn, first granted in 1688 and abolished in 1814, the herring-fishery bounties, the bounties on sail-cloth, linen and other goods. It is admitted that the giving of bounties is generally impolitic, though they may sometimes be justified as a measure of state. The most striking modern example of a bounty was that on sugar (q.v.). Somewhat akin to bounties are the subsidies granted to shipping (q.v.) by many countries. Bounties or, as they may equally well be termed, grants are often given, more especially in new countries, for the destruction of beasts of prey; in the United States and some other countries, bounties have been given for tree-planting; France has given bounties to encourage the Newfoundland fisheries.
Bounty was also the name given to the money paid to induce men to enlist in the army or navy, and, in the United Kingdom, to the sum given on entering the militia reserve. During the American Civil War, many recruits joined solely for the sake of the bounty offered, and afterwards deserted; they were called “bounty-jumpers.” The term bounty was also applied in the English navy to signify money payable to the officers and crew of a ship in respect of services on particular occasions.
Queen Anne’s Bounty (q.v.) is a fund applied for the augmentation of poor livings in the established church.
King’s Bounty is a grant made by the sovereign of his royal bounty to those of his subjects whose wives are delivered of three or more children at a birth.
BOURBAKI, CHARLES DENIS SAUTER (1816-1897), French general, was born at Pau on the 22nd of April 1816, the son of a Greek colonel who died in the War of Independence in 1827. He entered St Cyr, and in 1836 joined the Zouaves, becoming lieutenant of the Foreign Legion in 1838, and aide-de-camp to King Louis Philippe. It was in the African expedition that he first came to the front. In 1842 he was captain in the Zouaves; 1847, colonel of the Turcos; in 1850, lieutenant-colonel of the 1st Zouaves; 1851, colonel; 1854, brigadier-general. In the Crimean War he commanded a portion of the Algerian troops; and at the Alma, Inkerman and Sevastopol Bourbaki’s name became famous. In 1857 he was made general of division, commanding in 1859 at Lyons. His success in the war with Italy was only second to that of MacMahon, and in 1862 he was proposed as a candidate for the vacant Greek throne, but declined the proffered honour. In 1870 the emperor entrusted him with the command of the Imperial Guard, and he played an important part in the fighting round Metz.