BAILLY. Harry Bailly is the owner and host of the Tabard Inn, where the Canterbury pilgrimage begins. John M. Manly has suggested that the Host is modeled on the real Henry Bailly of Southwark, an innkeeper in Chaucer's day. Henricus Bailly represented the borough of Southwark in Parliament, held at Westminster in 50 Edward III (1376-1377) and in 2 Richard II (1378-1379). He appears in the Subsidy Rolls in 4 Richard II (1380-1381) as Henricus Bailiff, Ostler, and his wife's name as Christian. Although Henricus Bailiff, Ostler, is not necessarily Harry Bailly, the possibility remains that Chaucer may have used him as a model for the Host.

Bailly's name appears once, when the Cook mentions it, CoP 4358. He owns the Tabard, the inn from which the pilgrims set out for Canterbury, Gen Prol 19-27, and he is their guide, governor, literary critic, and bully, along the way. [Goodelief]