taran

In Scotland, children dying unbaptized (called tarans) were supposed to wander in woods and solitudes, lamenting their hard fate, and were said to be often seen. In the north of England was thought very unlucky to go over their graves.

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References

Sources

  • Campbell, J.G. (1902). Witchcraft & Second Sight in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland. Glascow: James MacLehose and Sons, p. 124.
  • Hazlitt, W. Carew. (1905). Faith and Folklore. 2 vols. London: Reeves and Turner, p. 2:581.
  • Jamieson, J. (1818). An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language. Edinburgh: Archibald Constable & Co.
  • Pennant, Thomas. (1776). A tour in Scotland; 1769. London: Benjamin White, p. 157.