Cain bairns

Cain bairns or kain bairns were infants who, according to Scottish superstition, were seized by warlocks and witches, and paid as a tax or tithe to the Devil. Càin is a Gaelic word for a tribute, tax or tithe, and is the origin of the Lowland Scots term "kane", while "bairn" means a child.

The word was in use along the Scottish Borders, according to Walter Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.

It is unconnected with Cain in the Bible.

Notes

  1. 1 2 Mackay, Charles (25 June 1888). "A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch: With an Introductory Chapter on the Poetry, Humour, and Literary History of the Scottish Language and an Appendix of Scottish Proverbs". Ticknor – via Google Books.
  2. ↑ Warrack, Alexander (1911). A Scot's Dialect Dictionary. ISBN 978-1902407098. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  3. ↑ Murray, John (1874). The Ballads and Songs of Scotland. Macmillan and Company. ISBN 9780999255889. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  4. ↑ "Dictionaries of the Scots Language:: SND :: kane". Dictionaries of the Scots Language. 2004. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018.
  5. ↑ "Dictionaries of the Scots Language:: SND :: bairn". Dictionaries of the Scots Language. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015.

References