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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.
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