Changeling: The Crimes of Frederic Bourdin

In Irish and other European folklore, a changeling is a fae child that is swapped with a human baby to be raised by humans. Sometimes it’s because the fae needed human milk to survive, in others, it’s because the fae needed a human to be a servant or sometimes, as revenge on the parents. The parents would raise the fae child unknowingly, but the infant would be… wrong. Maybe it would eat more than a human child could, or would be particularly mischievous, or would have extra fingers or toes, but in the stories, the parents eventually knew, somehow, that their child was no longer their own. In today’s story, we’re going to tell you about a real life changeling, but instead of being swapped by supernatural forces, the imposter took the place of the child himself.

Sources:

Grann, David. The Devil and Sherlock Holmes

The Imposter (2012), documentary film by Bart Layton

https://charleyproject.org/case/nicholas-patrick-barclay

https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/98/98-51227.0.wpd.pdf

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