Of the Green Children

                Again, this is segment from the History of English Affairs by William Newburgh. It tells of two children who turn up in an East Anglian village with green skin and who can’t speak a word of English. I have read an account of this occurrence in the venerable Fortean Times and I’ve been given the idea that this has gone down into local folklore and the facts of which have been modified into a local fairy tale.

                Enjoy!




Woolpit, Suffolk




Green Children of Woolpit, Suffolk




Woolpit, Suffolk




Woolpit,,Suffolk

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 a matter, 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; 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. 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 sunset. 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 everyone 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.

Appendix 1: On further research, I have found that there is a form of lead poisoning that comes about when a person lives without proper access to daylight.  This can give a person grey skin tinged with a little green. This is the nearest thing I have found to a none supernatural explanation to this phenomena. As for the children not being able to understand a word of English, it could be speculated that they could have been Welsh or Cornish. The Celtic language would still have been common in Wales or Cornwall in the 12^th century. Could that have been the case with these two youngsters? With small parties of Vikings making their way to the Arabian court and to America during the previous four centuries, it could be possible. Stranger things have happened.




Welsh tin mine

Appendix 2: In regards to the two youngsters appearing out of the ground, there could very well be a connection with this and the possibility that they were from mining families – see above, in relation to the possible lead poisoning/sunlight deprivation. Mines would have employed children in this period. Living in or near mines and caverns may well have been the only thing that they were used to. Thus, they would have sought shelter in similar places on their possible journey east.

Of a similar occurrence at Berwick

 

Berwick upon Tweed and the Tweed river



Berwick upon Tweed and Tweed estuary

                Here’s another episode from William of Newburgh’s History of English Affairs. Though a historic document, I imagine it could have made a good pulp horror short story from the Twenties. Cue Frank Belnap Long, Clark Ashton Smith or Fritz Leiber Jnr.

 

Zombie

In the northern parts of England, also, we know that another event, not unlike this and equally wonderful, happened about the same time. At the mouth of the river Tweed, and in the jurisdiction of the king of Scotland, there stands a noble city which is called Berwick. In this town a certain man, very wealthy, but as it afterwards appeared a great rogue, having been buried, after his death sallied forth (by the contrivance, as it is believed, of Satan) out of his grave by night, and was borne hither and thither, pursued by a pack of dogs with loud barkings; thus striking great terror into the neighbours, and returning to his tomb before daylight. After this had continued for several days, and no one dared to be found out of doors after dusk -- for each dreaded an encounter with this deadly monster -- the higher and middle classes of the people held a necessary investigation into what was requisite to be done; the more simple among them fearing, in the event of negligence, to be soundly beaten by this prodigy of the grave; but the wiser shrewdly concluding that were a remedy further delayed, the atmosphere, infected and corrupted by the constant whirlings through it of the pestiferous corpse, would engender disease and death to a great extent; the necessity of providing against which was shown by frequent examples in similar cases. They, therefore, procured ten young men renowned for boldness, who were to dig up the horrible carcass, and, having cut it limb from limb, reduce it into food and fuel for the flames. When this was done, the commotion ceased. Moreover, it is stated that the monster, while it was being borne about (as it is said) by Satan, had told certain persons whom it had by chance encountered, that as long as it remained unburned the people should have no peace. Being burnt, tranquillity appeared to be restored to them; but a pestilence, which arose in consequence, carried off the greater portion of them: for never did it so furiously rage elsewhere, though it was at that time general throughout all the borders of England, as shall be more fully explained in its proper place.



Being burnt, tranquillity restored!

Salutations All!

He’s a little piece of my researches that I hope you find interesting. It’s a piece taken from a book called Bradwell: Ancient and Modern that was published in 1912 – Bradwell is a village in Derbyshire. A man called Seth Evans wrote about a beast called a Lumb Boggart.

Bradwell, Derbyshire



Old Bradwell, Derbyshire

In the book, Evans entitles this piece ‘an absurd tale which everybody believed even down to half a century ago. A Lumb, you might like to know is the old English word for pool and a Boggart is traditionally a type of rogue hobgoblin that had left their homes because their human co-inhabitants didn’t care for them properly, but by the 1800s, a boggart referred to something different. Where previously a boggart had been a shunned, rogue domestic goblin living in the wilds, living off what it could steal from travellers, it became interchangeable with the word ghost. Many tales from the late 1700s and most of the 1800s including boggarts have a lot of similarities with what we know categorise as cases of poltergeist activity.

Exorcism

I did a little research into what an ousel was. Just for peace of mind and ease of reading, it’s a bird that nests in rocky crevices.

Ousel

Anyway, here’s the extract:

It used to be said that about a century and a half ago (1710 ish) the body of a young girl who was supposed to have been murdered was found buried under the staircase of a house at Hill Head. The ghost of the girl appeared every night until everyone in the neighbourhood were terrified and thrown into a cold sweat. Unable to bear it any longer the people got a well-known individual who belonged to the Baptists… to undertake the task of ‘laying’ the ghost. As this individual professed to be able to rule the planets. Of course, no one doubted his power of getting rid of the ghost.

The time came, and the haunted house was filled with affrighted spectators when the exorcist appeared among them with his paraphernalia, and when he prayed until streams of sweat poured from his face as he knelt within a ring he had chalked on the chamber floor, the lookers-on kneeling around, and later afterwards declared that they “felt the floor move for yards up and down in quick succession.” Then the magician arose and exclaimed, “Arise! Arise! I charge and command thee,” when the spirit appeared, and the man ordered it to depart and assume the body of a fish, and to locate itself in the Lumb Mouth. He also ordered that every Christmas Eve the ghost should assume the form of a white ousel, and fly to Lumbly Pool.

Consequently, the family that lived at Hill Head moved soon after this incident.