Changelings

A manikin, or elf, secretly substituted for a young child. There are many tales of such occurrences in Scotland. The changeling grows up peevish and misshapen, always crying, and gives many proofs of its origin to those versed in such matters. There were many ways of getting rid of him, such as sticking a knife into him, making him sit on a gridiron with a fire below, dropping him into a river, and so on. The changeling sometimes gave himself away by reference to his age.

(See also fairies )

Sources:

McNeil, F. Marion. The Silver Bough. Vol. 1, Scottish Folklore and Folk-Belief. Glasgow, Scotland: William Maclellan, 1957.

change·ling / ˈchānjling/ • n. a child believed to have been secretly substituted by fairies for the parents' real child in infancy.

changeling a child believed to have been secretly substituted by fairies for the parents' real child in infancy; the term is first recorded from the late 16th century.