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.[1][2][3][4] Càin is a Gaelic word for a tribute, tax or tithe, and is the origin of the Lowland Scots term "kane",[5] while "bairn" means a child.[6]

The word was in use along the Scottish Borders, according to Walter Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.[1]

It is unconnected with Cain in the Bible.

Notes
  1. 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. Buchan, John (1927). Witch Wood. ISBN 978-0755117215.
  3. Warrack, Alexander (1911). A Scot's Dialect Dictionary. ISBN 978-1902407098.
  4. Murray, John (1874). The Ballads and Songs of Scotland. ISBN 9780999255889.
  5. "Dictionaries of the Scots Language:: SND :: kane". Dictionaries of the Scots Language. 2004. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018.
  6. "Dictionaries of the Scots Language:: SND :: bairn". Dictionaries of the Scots Language. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015.

References


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