“Who came in like a white kittling."

Question

Within the context of 17th century witch-hunting, a kittling was apparently commonly known as some kind of animal.

Perhaps the obvious first guess is a misspelled kitten, or some kind of bird, or a white calf – or lamb?

What animal was “Holt” the witch's familiar spirit?

Reference:

"Cat" would be a fair guess, since the Old French for cat is "chitoun", and "kittling" comes close phonetically. Observe that most of the other beings mentioned are small animals. — Hot Licks, Commented Dec 26, 2015 at 21:16
Oh jeez. I misread the Wikipedia entry. I thought it said the first listed entry was NOT a cat, so I couldn't figure out what it was. — Larry, Commented Dec 26, 2015 at 21:42
Joseph Wright in his English Dialect Dictionary (vol III, H-L, Oxford,1905) lists the noun KITLING "a kitten, a small cat" and relates it to the verb KITTLE, "to bring forth young, used gen. of cats but also of other small animals...". — TimR, Commented Dec 27, 2015 at 0:38

score 2 · Accepted Answer · 2015-12-26 23:25:24Z

2

It appears to be a Scottish term for kitten:

(Scot.) Kitten, also tickling.

answered Dec 26, 2015 at 21:16

user66974

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