Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Bantling \Bant"ling\, n. [Prob. for bandling, from band, and
   meaning a child wrapped in swaddling bands; or cf. G.
   b["a]ntling a bastard, fr. bank bench. Cf. {Bastard}, n.]
   A young or small child; an infant. [Slightly contemptuous or
   depreciatory.]

         In what out of the way corners genius produces her
         bantlings.                               --W. Irving.