Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BAWCAN, n. A bogle or ghost; also spelled baukin (S.D.D. 1911), bawkin, bockan. [′bǫ:kən]Arg.¹ 1932:
Ye needna try tae frichten me wi bawcans: I'm owre ould in the horn.Arg.² 1933:
This word was very familiar to me in my youth.Arg. 1992:
A bockan is a bogle, but more commonly now a vague malevolent spirit; at fishing and more generally, an unlucky person, usu. a passenger.Bte. 1922 J. Sillars McBrides iv.:
He'll have listened to a' the ghost and bogle and bawkin stories since he could creep.