<<imgt:smailholm.jpg|Smailholm Tower|200x200:right>>
A »barmkin« is a part of a castle or fortified manor, commonly behind
an outer wall, used, e.g., to protect cattle from reivers. The
photograph shows Smailholm Tower near Kelso in the Borders; the
barmkin's wall can be seen in the foreground.

The online *Dictionary of the Scots Language* places the earliest
known appearance of the word »barmkin« in 1460; it is apparently
derived from »barbican«.
