One day at harvest time, according to William of Newburgh during the reign of King Stephen (1135–1154),[1] the villagers of Woolpit discovered two children, a brother and sister, beside one of the wolf pits that gave the village its name.[4][b] Their skin was green, they spoke an unknown language, and their clothing was unfamiliar. Ralph reports that the children were taken to the home of Richard de Calne. Ralph and William agree that the pair refused all food for several days until they came across some raw beans, which they consumed eagerly.[c] The children gradually adapted to normal food and in time lost their green colour.[1] The boy, who appeared to be the younger of the two, became sickly and died shortly after he and his sister were baptised. After learning to speak English, the children – Ralph says just the surviving girl – explained that they came from a land where the sun never shone and the light was like twilight. William says the children called their home St Martins Land; Ralph adds that everything there was green. According to William, the children were unable to account for their arrival in Woolpit; they had been herding their fathers cattle when they heard a loud noise (according to William, the bells of Bury St Edmunds[9]) and suddenly found themselves by the wolf pit where they were found. Ralph says that they had become lost when they followed the cattle into a cave and, after being guided by the sound of bells, eventually emerged into our land.[1] According to Ralph, the girl was employed for many years as a servant in Richard de Calnes household, where she was considered to be very wanton and impudent. William says that she eventually married a man from Kings Lynn, about 40 miles (64 km) from Woolpit, where she was still living shortly before he wrote.[1] Based on his research into Richard de Calnes family history, the astronomer and writer Duncan Lunan has concluded that the girl was given the name Agnes and that she married a royal official named Richard Barre.[10]
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 19:32:44 +0000
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