Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
CALLAN, n.2 Also callant (by confusion with callant, Callan , n.1). A girl (Gall. 1804 R. Couper Poems II., Gloss.; 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 108).Sc. 1817 Blackwood's Mag. (Aug.) 464:
She said, that Wull Marshal was a man when she was a bitt callant, (provincially, in Galloway, a very young girl).Wgt. 1794–1868 Curriehill:
In Wigtonshire and the Isle of Man it [callan] means a girl; everywhere else a boy.
