CHANGELING, the term used of a child substituted or changed for another. It was formerly believed that infants were sometimes stolen from their cradles by the fairies before christen ing, so that in the Highlands of Scotland babies were strictly watched till then. Any specially peevish or weakly baby was regarded as a changeling. The belief is referred to by Shakespeare, Spenser and other authors.
See Pennant, Tour in Scotland , p. 257, and W. Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (188o).