The Green Children of Woolpit#
Originally prepared for the Island Storytellers “Green” show at Ventnor Fringe, 2023.
I don’t know if any of you are familiar with James Stephens’ fabulous Irish Fairy Tales, which I have in the form of a green covered paperback book? It retells many old Irish legends that date back between 500 and 1000 years when they were first written down, although many of them also continued going strong in the oral tradition. One of them, Mongan’s Frenzy, a tale that is too long for me to tell in its entirety just here, tells in part of a campaign that Mongan, a King of Ireland, waged on the King of Lochlann, the King of the men of the North, of the Norsemen, of the Vikings. One battle in particular did not go well for Mongan, a battle in which the King of Lochlann released a terrible, terrible weapon, a truly horrific thing, against the Irishmen; a weapon so effective that Mongan lost many of his men that day; a weapon the like of which we have not seen or heard of since, so devastating was it: a flock of venomous sheep. Sheep so vicious that the Irishmen could only escape them by climbing trees. And then wait for help to come.
It’s true… It really happened…
Now, that is not the story I’m going to tell here, but I was reminded of it when I came across this story. A story from the town of Woolpit, in Suffolk. Now when I first heard that name — Woolpit — I wondered where it had come from. I wondered if, perhaps, in times past, the King of Lochlann had invaded Suffolk, somewhere along the windswept shores of East Anglia, and brought with him a flock of venomous sheep, like some sort of Dark Ages tank division, to ravage the Suffolk plains. And that perhaps the good people of one of the villages thereabouts, not having any trees to climb, had hit upon the cunning plan of digging pits that the venomous sheep might fall into, like ancient tank traps.
Unfortunately, it seems that is not the origin of the name. Although it’s not far off.
Note
As far as far local Woolpit historians would have you believe, named after Ulfketel (or Ulfyctel), counsellor to Aithelred the Unready, and Lord of the Eastern Angles, Ulfketel, who had helped defend East Anglia against Danish attack in the early 11th century. Ulfketel, a name of Scandinavian origin: from ulf, meaning wolf, and ketel: trap, though I have elsewhere seen it translated as helmet, which might give rise to an Old English name such as Wulfhelm, or cauldron: Wolf’s pot. There are so many ways you could take this!
At the time, so legend has it, the town was renowned for its wolf pits: deep pits dug on the outskirts of the town, lined with stone, baited with something meaty, a tasty piece of dead cow, perhaps, then covered with branches. Attracted by the smell of fresh meat, a wolf would approach, then fall into the pit, and be unable to climb out because of the steep sides.
Now, you may be thinking that none of that has anything to do with “green”. But you’d be wrong. Because once, long ago, in the county of Suffolk, in the town of Woolpit, a strange thing happened one harvest time. The folk were out in the fields, gathering the harvest, when they saw two young children walking towards them, two young children, a boy an a girl, not from those parts. No-one recognised them; no-one could understand the strange language they spoke; no-one had seen the like of the strange, if ragged, clothes they wore; and no-one could take their eyes off the children’s green skin.
The children had been tending their father’s flock. The light was, as it always was, a perpetual twilight. There was no sun to give any indication of how long they had been at their task — their bellies would tell them that - hunger would tell them when it was time to return home. Across the wide river, a world away: a land of light. In the distance, the children heard something, a noise not unlike the sound of bells — church bells — ringing. It led them to a cavern; they followed the sound; they followed the sound deeper, and deeper, into the cavern. And then, as they were about to come across the source of the sound, as they turned a corner, they were overcome by a light, a bright light, a light brighter then anything they had seen before. It dazzled them, they covered their eyes, they stumbled their way outside, not knowing where they were, what the source of this strange light was. By the time they had regained their senses, they could hear voices, strange voices, speech the like of which they had never heard before. And they saw people, dressed strangely; people, of the strangest pale cream colour. The children were led away, led into a strange house. By now, they were hungry. Really hungry. The people offered them … offered them something, gesturing to their mouths as if to eat; but it looked like no food they had ever eaten before. The days went by. The children became hungrier, and hungrier still. One day, when they were outside, in the pale light they were most comfortable with, before the great bright light that hurt their eyes so, appeared in the sky, they saw one of the strangers carrying a basket of green stalks - food! They grabbed several from the basket, broke them open. But there was no nurturing pulse inside them. The children cried. The stranger looked at them, picked one of the strange pods that hung from the sides of the stalk, and broke it open: inside, in the soft white down that filled the pod, a row of beans. Beans! The children grabbed them greedily: food, at last. For several days, they ate nothing else. But even so, the boy, the younger of the two, grew sick, grew sick with melancholy. Some ritual was performed over them by one of the strangers, using another, even stranger, language; but they boy sickened further, and died. The girl, however, started to thrive, began to accept the strange foods the strange people ate. Her green colour began to fade, and she came to look like them. She started to learn their language. She started to flirt with their boys. She developed something of a reputation. And she told them this story, that I have just told to you.
So, if you do ever happen to find yourself in the county of Suffolk, in the town of Woolpit, look out for the village sign: a silhouette of a Wolf, of the Church, a pilgrim site of old, and two small children, hand in hand. And that is the end of my tale.
The History of the Tale#
There are two accounts of the tale from the decades following the events, one by Ralph of Coggeshall, the other by William of Newburgh.
Original (Latin) Account in Ralph of Coggeshall, Chronicon Anglicanum
In Ralph of Coggeshall (RADULPHI DE COGGESHALL), “Chronicon Anglicanum”, RERUM BRITANNICARUM MEDII AEVI SCRIPTORES, OR, CHRONICLES AND MEMORIALS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND DURING THE MIDDLE AGES, published 1875
De quodam puero et puella de terra emergentibus.
Aliud quoque mirum priori non dissimile in Suthfolke contigit apud Sanctam Mariam de Wulpetes. Inventus est puer quidam cum sorore sua ab accolis loci illius juxta oram cujusdam foveae quae ibidem continetur, qui formam omnium membrorum caeteris homini bus similem habebant, sed in colore cutis ab omnibus mortalibus nostrae habitabilis discrepabant. Nam tota superficies cutis eorum viridi colore tingebatur. Loque lam eorum nullus intelligere potuit. Hi igitur ad domum domini Ricardi de Calne cujusdam militis, ad ducti prae admiratione, apud Wikes, inconsolabiliter flebant. Panis ac caetera cibaria eis apposita sunt, sed nullis escis quae eis apponebantur vesci volebant, cum utique maxima famis inedia diutius cruciarentur,quia omnia hujusmodi cibaria incomestibilia esse credebant, sicut puella postmodum confessa est. Tandem cum fabae noviter cum stipitibus abscissae in domo asportarentur, cum maxima aviditate innuerunt ut de fabis illis sibi daretur. Quae corameisallatae, stipites aperiunt, non fabarum folliculos, putantes in concavitate stipitum fabas contineri. Sed fabis in stipitibus non inventis, iterum flere coeperunt. Quod ubi astantes animadverterunt, folliculos aperiunt,fabas nudas ostendunt, ostensis cum magna hilaritate vescuntur, nulla alia cibaria ex multo tempore penitus contingentes. Puer vero semper quasi languore depressus infra breve tempus moritur. Puella vero sospitate continua perfruens, ac cibariis quibuslibet assuefacta, illum prassinum colorem penitus amisit, atque sanguineam habi tudinem totius corporis paulatim recuperavit. Quae postmodum sacri baptismatis lavacro regenerata, ac per multos annos in ministerio praedicti militis, (sicut ab eodem milite et ejus familia frequenter audivimus,) commorata, nimium lasciva et petulans exstitit. Interrogata vero frequenter de hominibus suae regionis, asserebat quod omnes habitatores et omnia quae in regione illa habebantur viridi tingerentur colore, et quod nullum solem cernebant, sed quadam claritate fruebantur, sicut post solis occasum contingit. Interrogata autem quomodo in hanc terram devenisset cum puero praedicto, respondit, quia cum pecora sequerentur, devenerunt in quandam cavernam. Quam ingressi, audierunt quendam delectabilem sonum campanarum; cujus soni dulcedine capti per cavernam diutius errando incedebant, donec ad exitum illius devenirent. Qui inde emergentes, nimia claritate solis et insolita aeris temperie, quasi attoniti et exanimes effecti, diu super oram speluncae jacuerunt. Cumque a supervenientium inquie tudine terrerentur, diffugere voluerunt, sed introitum speluncae minime reperire potuerunt, donec ab eis comprehenderentur.
A translation is provided in Thomas Keightley’s The Fairy Mythology of 1850:
Translation of Chronicon Anglicanum by Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, 1850
In Thomas Keightley, The fairy mythology, 1850, pp281-2.
The Green Children.
“ANOTHER wonderful thing,” says Ralph of Coggeshall, [As quoted by Picart in his Notes on William of Newbridge. We could not find it in the Collection of Histories, etc., by Marténe and Durand,—the only place where, to our knowledge, this chronicler’s works are printed.] “happened in Suffolk, at St. Mary’s of the Wolf-pits. A boy and his sister were found by the inhabitants of that place near the mouth of a pit which is there, who had the fit of all their limbs like to those of other men, but they differed in the colour of their skin from all the people of our habitable world; for the whole surface of their skin waa tinged of a green colour. No one could understand their speech. When they were brought as curiosities to the house of a certain knight, Sir Richard de Calne, at Wikes, they wept bitterly. Bread and other victuals were set before them, but they would touch none of them, though they were tormented by great hunger, as the girl afterwards acknowledged. At length, when some beans just cut, with their stalks, were brought into the house, they made signs, with great avidity, that they should be given to them. When they were brought, they opened the stalks instead of the pods, thinking the beans were in the hollow of them; but not finding them there, they began to weep anew. When those who were present saw this, they opened the pods, and showed them the naked beans. They fed on these with great delight, and for a long time tasted no other food. The boy, however, was always languid and depressed, and he died within a short time. The girl enjoyed continual good health; and becoming accustomed to various kinds of food, lost completely that green colour, and gradually recovered the sanguine habit of her entire body. She was afterwards regenerated by the laver of holy baptism, and lived for many years in the service of that knight (as I have frequently heard from him and his family), and was rather loose and wanton in her conduct. Being frequently asked about the people of her country, she asserted that the inhabitants, and all they had in that country, were of a green colour; and that they saw no sun, but enjoyed a degree of light like what is after sunset. Being asked how she came into this country with the aforesaid boy, she replied, that as they were following their flocks, they came to a certain cavern, on entering which they heard a delightful sound of bells; ravished by whose sweetness, the went for a long time wandering on through the cavern, until they came to its mouth. When they came out of it, they were struck senseless by the excessive light of the sun, and the unusual temperature of the air; and they thus lay for a long time. Being terrified by the noise of those who came on them, they wished to fly, but they could not find the entrance of the cavern before they were caught.”
A slightly later, but still “near contemporary” (within a couple of generations) retelling of the tale is also provided by William of Newburgh:
Of the Green Children, Wlliam of Newburgh
In The Church Historians of England: The History of William of Newburgh, published 1856:
CHAP. XXVII.— OF THE GREEN CHILDREN.
NOR does it seem right to pass over an unheard of prodigy, which, as is well known,took place in England during the reign of king Stephen. Though it is asserted by many, yet I have long been in doubt concerning the matter, and deemed it ridiculous to give credit to a circumstance supported on no rational foundation, or at least one of a very mysterious character; yet, at length I was so overwhelmed by the weight of so many and such competent witnesses,that I have been compelled to believe, and wonder over amatter,which I was unable to comprehend,or unravel, by any powers of intellect.
In East Anglia there is a village, distant, as it is said, four or five miles from the noble monastery of the blessed king and martyr, Edmund [Bury St.Edmunds,in Suffolk.]; near this place are seen some very ancient cavities, called Wolfpittes,” that is, in English, “ Pits for wolves,” and which give their name to the adjacent village. [Wulpet, a market town, concerning which, see Camden's Brit. col. 443, who mentions this story from Newburgh. Ralph of Coggeshall, (cited by Picard in his notes upon this passage,) mentions this occurrence, but refers it to the reign of Henry II. He derived his information, as he states, from Sir Richard de Calne, in whose house these children resided.] During harvest, while the reapers were employed in gathering in the produce of the fields, two children, a boy and a girl, completely green in their persons and clad in garments of a strange colour, and unknown materials, emerged from these excavations. While wandering through the fields in astonishment, they were seized by the reapers, and conducted to the village, and many persons coming to see so novel a sight,they were kept some days without food. But, when they were nearly exhausted with hunger, and yet could relish no species of support which was offered to them, it happened,that some beans were brought in from the field, which they immediately seized with avidity, and examined the stalk for the pulse, but not finding it in the hollow of the stalk, they wept bitterly.
Upon this, one of the bystanders, taking the beans from the pods, offered them to the children, who seized them directly, and ate them with pleasure. By this food they were supported for many months, until they learnt the use of bread. At length, by degrees, they changed their original colour, through the natural effect of our food, and became like ourselves, and also learnt our language. It seemed fitting to certain discreet persons that they should receive the sacrament of baptism, which was administered accordingly. The boy, who appeared to be the younger, surviving his baptism but a little time, died prematurely; his sister, however, continued in good health, and differed not in the least from the women of our own country. Afterwards, as it is reported, she was married at Lynne, and was living a few years since, at least, so they say. Moreover, after they had acquired our language, on being asked who and whence they were, they are said to have replied, “ We are inhabitants of the land of St. Martin, who is regarded with peculiar veneration in the country which gave us birth.” Being further asked where that land was, and how they came thence hither, they answered, “We are ignorant of both those circumstances; we only remember this, that on a certain day, when we were feeding our father’s flocks in the fields, we heard a great sound, such as we are now accustomed to hear at St. Edmund’s, when the bells are chiming; and whilst listening to the sound in admiration, we became on a sudden, as it were, entranced, and found ourselves among you in the fields where you were reaping.” Being questioned whether in that land they believed in Christ, or whether the sun arose, they replied that the country was Christian, and possessed churches; but said they, “ The sun does not rise upon our countrymen; our land is little cheered by its beams; we are contented with that twilight, which, among you, precedes the sun-rise, or follows the sun-set. Moreover, a certain luminous country is seen, not far distant from ours, and divided from it by a very considerable river.” These,and many other matters, too numerous to particularize, they are said to have recounted to curious inquirers. Let every one say as he pleases, and reason on such matters according to his abilities; I feel no regret at having recorded an event so prodigious and miraculous.
The preface to that work provides some background to William of Newburgh’s History:
Preface to The Hisory of William of Newburgh
In The Church Historians of England: The History of William of Newburgh, published 1856:
PREFACE TO WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH.
NEARLY all the scanty information which we possess respecting the biography of William of Newborough, —the author of the history which occupies the larger portion of the present volume, -is derived from his own writings. The earlier bibliographers, indeed, add a few details, which, although unsupported by collateral authority, are here incorporated with the more trustworthy notices gleaned from the author’s own statements.
Leland, followed by Bale and others, tell us that his family name was Pettit, or Parvus, and that he was born at Bridlington, in Yorkshire. He himself records the date of his birth, which took place in the first year of the reign of king Stephen; consequently, in the few last days of December, 1135, or in 1136. In his Prefatory Epistle, he describes himself as “ William, a canon of Newborough, ❞—a priory of Black or Augustine monks, —which he appears
[See Book I. chap. xv. p.419]to have entered shortly after it was founded by Roger de Moubray, in 1145.[See Tanner, Notit. Monast., p.658; Dugd. Monast. vi. 317.]Here he probably spent the whole of his life. He is said[Cave, ii.253; Tanner, p.595. In his first edition of the Scriptores Britanniæ (4 Gippes v.1548), fol.100 b, Bale says that he flourished about A.D. 1216; but in the second edition (fol.Basil.1557), he alters the date to A.D. 1200. (Cent. iii. § liii.)]to have died in the year 1208, aged seventy-two. For this date no satisfactory authority is vouched; and, until such is produced, its accuracy may be considered questionable, —if we consider how improbable it is that the author, who had chronicled with such minuteness of detail the earlier exploits of king Richard, should have neglected to record the death of his sovereign, had he himself been alive at the period of its occurrence.This history, which commences with the Norman conquest, in 1066, and ends in 1197, was undertaken at the request of Ernald
[This Ernald resigned his dignity of abbot in 1199; see Chron. Melr. ad an. (Ch. Hist. iv.147.) Picard (see p.397) surmised that the abbot to whom it was dedicated was the more celebrated Ealred, or Ailred, forgetting that he died in 1166; see Acta Sanct. Januar. i. 751.], abbot of the neighbouring monastery of Rievaux, to whom, on its completion, it was dedicated by the author. …
We can also contrast William of Newburgh’s account with Keightley’s summary, which immediately followed his translation of Ralph of Coggeshall:
Keightley, summarising Newburgh, 1850
In Thomas Keightley, The fairy mythology, 1850, pp282-3.
This story is also told by William of Newbridge,[Guilielmi Neubrigensis Historia, sive Chronica Rerum Anglicarum. Oxon. 1719, lib. i. c. 27.] who places it in the reign of King Stephen. He says he long hesitated to believe it, but he was at length overcome by the weight of evidence. According to him, the place where the children appeared was about four or five miles from Bury St. Edmund’s: they came in harvest-time out of the Wolf-pits; they both lost their green hue, and were baptised, and learn English. The boy, who was the younger, died; but the girl married a man at Lenna, and lived many years. They said their country was called St. Martin’s Land, as that saint was chiefly worshiped there; that the people were Christians, and had churches; that the sun did not rise there, but that there was a bright country which could be seen from theirs, being divided from it by a very broad river.