Monday, April 8, 2013

G is for Green Children of Woolpit Village

Yes, this is what I look like right now.
Gruesome, isn't it?
G is for grasping at straws! I promised I'd keep up my normal posts along with the A-to-Z ones, but I was so intent on my research that my mind went blank when I thought about what to write today. You know what else G is for? Gearing up for insanity! Let's see, this month I have the A-to-Z (of course!), Pikes Peak Writers Conference, which I am staff at (pitch desk, moderator, ballroom, so on and so forth), as well as an attendee, and I have an advance job that takes a bit of time and coordination with lots of different people. Plus, I'm still the managing editor at the PPW blog, which I was lucky to be able to pre-schedule most of the month's posts for. AND I'm still director of non-conference events for PPW, which means I'm trying to schedule out workshops/speakers for May forward. AND I'm the flash fiction chair for a flash fiction contest for a different writer's group (Pen Women), which happens to have a deadline of May 1. Not to mention (but I am), two events I'm attending and working at, one of those (Mountain of Authors) I'm attending as a representative for BOTH my writer's groups! ACK! Plus, this is the last full month of school for my kids, and my daughter has her first field trip the day before the conference starts, and I'm trying to be sure I attend as a chaperone so I can be part of it with her.

Did I also mention that there's a book release this month (the 15th) for my first publication (a flash piece in an anthology, Sunday Snaps on the right) and I've signed up for a fitness challenge with some friends? When exactly is it I figure I have time to workout? WHEN, I ASK YOU!?

~sheepish grin~

So...what all have you got going on this month? Do share! Shame me for starting to feel overwhelmed, will ya'?? I need a kick in the pants. Or maybe I don't. Maybe I just need a good night's sleep and a milk shake. Eh?

***









is for Green Children of Woolpit Village




It is said that in the twelfth century, a small town by the name of Woolpit, Suffolk, England, became the home of two quite strange little children. You see, they were found in a wolf pit, so named because they were said to be holes dug in the ground to trap wolves. But the strangest thing of all was that they were green and spoke an unknown language. Other than that, they looked like any other child might.

They were taken into a local home of one Sir Richard de Calne, where they would initially only eat beans. However, after some time they began eating regular food and their skin changed to a normal "flesh-toned" color. They were baptized and treated as one of the family.

The actual sign for Woolpit Village. By Rod Bacon (http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1161413)
[CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons


Sadly, the little boy died, having never been brought back to complete health. The sister, Agnes, went on to learn English, take gainful employment, and eventually marry. They do say she had loose morals, was wanton and impudent, during her time as a maid, though none explain how this is so.

Once she learned to speak English, she claimed she and her brother had come from the Land of St. Martin. It's noted that there was a nearby town called Fornham St. Martin. However, she made her home sound like a foreign, if not mystical place. She said there was no sun, that it was always dark, and that everyone who lived there was green. She and her brother had become lost while tending livestock, and had followed a loud sound into a cave, where they ultimately came out here, in Woolpit.

This tale is often thought to be true, and some have tried to trace down a line leading to Agnes, with no luck. Were these children real? Some say they came from space, most say they came from underground somewhere, another world or dimension beneath the Earth. Others say they were young and assigned strange details to their nearby village, and that their skin was green due to malnourishment or arsenic poisoning, which would also explain the boy dying.

What is your take? Did these children in fact exist? Were they from a strange dimension/world, or were they simply lost from a nearby village, possibly abandoned, neglected or abused?

May you find your Muse.

Letter G courtesy of abaverman, clker.com

44 comments:

Aurora Smith said...

I love stuff like that. Is it true? I must find out and spend hours on the internet googling things like "Bigfood"

or is that just me...

mshatch said...

I have heard of these green children and I suspect the last theory is probably the correct one.

Anonymous said...

There is no shame. Shame on you for wanting to be shamed! The trick to getting through a month like this is to pick a future date and tell yourself you'll have a little breakdown then. Say...May 10th. Of course, by the time you get there, the stress will be gone and you won't need the breakdown, but you've given yourself permission to save it up for later if you need to. It's kind of like saying "I'll sleep when I'm dead." Although, through all my interactions with you, you never look or act like you're under pressure. Kinda hating on you for that. :)

Tina said...

Your schedule sounds INSANE. Best of luck...
Love this mystery. I say outer space. Love me some sci-fi.

Tina @ Life is Good
Co-host, April 2013 A-Z Challenge Blog
@TinaLifeisGood, #atozchallenge

Nick Wilford said...

Probably some horrible disease, hopefully lost in the midst of time. Things like that always attract all sorts of theories.

I feel slightly dizzy from reading your workload for this month, and like a total slacker. Just remember to breathe!

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

Interesting story!

And I vote for a goodnight's sleep and that milkshake. But that's just me. :)

Julie Flanders said...

Haha, I love your top pic. I look like that too this morning. :D

Love this story too, you have such an awesome theme.

A Beer for the Shower said...

Hey, it's good to be busy. We wouldn't have it any other way. The alternative is sitting around asking, "Well, crap, what now?"

Between the movie (casting calls, writing a screenplay, acting), writing a new short story collection, and writing a new novel, our plates are very full. And it's pretty damn awesome.

Maple Syrup Land said...

Holy crap, I thought I was busy this month but I've got nothing on you! I hope you're able to take some time to decompress and have a 2 day nap once things calm down :)

Logic is telling me the later, but I'd rather believe the kids were aliens because it's less depressing and more interesting

Deb Betz said...

Maybe they wandered north from Stonehedge. That is my guess.

www.wearinglemon.blogspot.com

Misha Gerrick said...

Wow that's an insane schedule to be keeping! I'm mostly quiet, except for revising my book.

But got through the first revisions, so I'm thinking I should take a short break.

Best of luck!

Kim Van Sickler said...

Ah the possibilities of who the mysterious children are. I like to contemplate all of them! Great story.

Anonymous said...

Alternate reality, mos def. Be sure to make time for fun amongst all your busyness!

orneryswife said...

G is for "Good Heavens!" You are one busy lady! I always feel like too much to do is better than too little, though. Boredom is a killer!
Happy G day!
tm

Nancy C. Weeks said...

G is for Good Grief. You need a serious vacation after this month is over. If I could send you some of my energy, I would.
I love the tale. I guess a part of me would like to believe the children were not from this world. There are so many things that I can't explain, don't understand nor can I accept. But with that said, it doesn't mean those things don't exist. Interesting tale.

Andrew Leon said...

I've heard of that one before, but who really knows? Generally speaking, I'd say use the Sherlock Holmes method to decide.

Unknown said...

Sounds like there is no reason it wouldn't be true. If they had arsenic poisoning, that would explain the skin and poor health. Maybe everyone in the town had the same malnourishment issues and were all green. It could be they lived in a heavily wooded area or one that was cloud or fog covered much of the time so it seemed dark. Or it could be they were kept in a basement and escaped to the woolpit place.

Susan Kane said...

Absolutely this story could be real! Why not?

Mark Means said...

I'll always go with the most fantastic explanation...those are the most fun :)

Best of luck with your busy month!

Left and Write

Jo said...

What an odd little story, I hope someone finds out if it is true or not. I don't think anyone can become green by eating beans.


JO ON FOOD, MY TRAVELS AND A SCENT OF CHOCOLATE

Kristen said...

If they were real, I would say arsenic poisoning or bad disease. I know, I'm so boring and logical, LOL.

You're schedule sounds nuts! Mine is crazy too. I have to finish a web site from my old web development job so I don't have that hanging over my head, and I can enjoy writing without worry (hey, that's a good W!) :)

From A to Z, Kristen's blog: kristenhead.blogspot.com

katie eggeman said...

Anemia and malnourishment could cause the skin to turn green.
Katie atBankerchick Scratchings

klahanie said...

Hi Shannon,

According to what I've heard from living in England, these children did exist.
Gary

DL Hammons said...

G is also for Glutton... for punishment,which you are!!! :)

Chuck said...

Fascinating story, and I'll bet if anyone knows about the green children, Hilary will.

Chuck at Apocalypse Now

Anonymous said...

That's an odd and interesting story. Thanks for sharing it.

Unknown said...

Take a deep breath, drink some wine, rinse & repeat! And here I thought the only "green" people were on Star Trek:)
WriterlySam

Jaime said...

Must be one of those Mondays. I can't remember the last time I had a milkshake (probably 6-8 years) and today I treated myself to a vanilla milkshake with whipped cream. It was bliss.

Lucy R said...

Holy cow--look at all those things on your plate! I'm rooting for you! Once you finish you should give your pat on the back and consider yourself wonder-woman. Good luck with it all.
Kids Math Teacher

Kellie @ Delightfully Ludicrous said...

I've read the story of the green children before and it's certainly an interesting one. In all likelihood the rational explanation is the right one ... but wouldn't it be interesting if it was aliens or parallel dimensions.

Unknown said...

This is the first I've heard of this story- How thought provoking! Now you have me curious! A really creepy legend is the story of the black-eyed kids! Google that, just not before bed!! :-O

Wishing you the best of luck and tons of fun this month! Sound's like you have a ton to keep you busy!!!

Erick @ A Brief Sinfonia: Loving You're Wife From A-Z

Cynthia said...

You are wearing a lot of different hats, Shannon! Yay to you for being so involved. I hope you get to take a break every now and then just to chill.

Jenelle Leanne said...

I'm just doing the A-Z... and trying to edit my second book so we can publish in June... and writing my 5th book... and about to get started on editing my 3rd book... all while being a stay-at-home Mom to my two beautiful daughters...

The A-Z is taking up a lot more time than I thought it would... but it's fun!

http://jenelleschmidt.com/blog

Melissa Ann said...

I like this mystery, very interesting. :)

Melissa at My Creatively Random Life

Unknown said...

best of luck with your commitments (have the sleep and milkshake). Great story, very intriguing.

Jagoda said...

And I thought I was busy. All the best as you forge ahead through this month.
The wolf pit children story is intriguing.

Jak said...

Holy smokes you have a crazy schedule! I have no idea how I could even manage 1/4 of that. King Kong ain't got @#$% on you!

I almost missed this post somehow on my feed. That can't happen... I have to fill my mind with tales of ghosts, mysterious rocks, and little unheard of green children.

This was another new tale for me. I'd love to think they were from some underground "world" but the most logical may be the last theory. I'd say it was odd no one attempted to "find" or "claim" the children, but I guess if they were malnourished... eh... yeah.

Jak at The Cryton Chronicles & Dreams in the Shade of Ink

Unknown said...

And I was thinking that I felt overloaded. I wouldn't dare try to shame you. You are legitimately busy. I'm in awe how you manage to keep up with everything.

That is an amazing story about the green children. And all of a sudden it's sparked a plot bunny for me. this post gets bookmarked for a future writing project I think...

Anonymous said...

I'm going to go to bed and dream about how green-skinned children tie into green-boooded half-Vulcans. Yup.

I thought I was busy! A to Z, regular blogging, ROW80, and April CampNaNo, a poetry book and three flash pieces to edit....

No school ever for my kids - but I do have homeschool reports to file by June 1, so I know what I will be doing lifeless writing for those....

May you find time somehow to do all that joyfully!

Rachel said...

I thought I had a lot going on! Two part time jobs, a vacation to see my boyfriend, and the Challenge. When do you even sleep!?

Anyways, I think the children might have lived in some form of underground cave. Some people are actually burned by light (though its an incredibly rare condition) and if that's the case, that could explain why they never saw the sun. They stayed inside unless they had to, which could make it hard for them to get what they needed to survive.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Aurora, it's as true as any of it can be.

Marcy, I love that you've heard of them!

MB, shew, that's good to know! Thanks for your support. Don't be hatin'.

Tina, ah, aliens!

Nick, I can finally breathe again! A disease or poisoning/malnutrition seems likely.

Madeline, if you can believe it, I had my first milkshake in years just a day or two after I posted this. It was GOOD.

Julie, I'm glad I'm not the only one that looked like that.

Bryan & Brandon, indeed! I do like being busy, but when I reach the point where I'm not sure how to do it all, I've gone too far! You guys are definitely super busy.

Maple, I like to believe they were from another dimension, even if I rationally believe something completely different.

Deb, ah, of course! Stonehenge! Explains so much. They were green druids.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Misha, I hope you got a bit of a break!

Kim, all could be an interesting story!

Milo, conference was fun, despite the work! And so was the challenge. I need to find a better way to prepare for April in the future, though.

TM, I definitely don't like being bored! I'm also terrible at allowing that to even be a possibility, lol. Always filling my time.

Nancy, I would have loved some extra energy!

Andrew, remind me of the Sherlock Holmes method. Is that the most obvious one?

J Kieth, I do think this one has more reasonable explanations than some.

Susan, I agree!

Mark, I agree, they're always more fun!

Jo, lol, I think we'd see quite a bit more of that if beans were the cause.

Kristen, I hope you got everything accomplished!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Katie, and that is probably the explanation, or at least something along those lines.

Gary, what were the prevalent explanations you heard?

DL, ha, I am! I'm trying to be better.

Chuck, it's too bad she didn't come by!

Medeia, thanks for coming by and reading it!

Sam, ha! Apparently not.

Jaime, I treated myself, too, also after many years without. Man, milkshakes are tasty.

Lucy, Wonder Woman, I dig it!

Kellie, my favorite would be the parallel dimension. Or something like them being faerie children.

Erick, I totally googled that when you left this comment, and they are definitely freaky. Thank you for passing that along!

Cynthia, I do, too! It hasn't really happened yet, but I'm sure it will. Sometime.

Jenelle, we're all busy, man!

Melissa, thanks!

Wicked, I did get the milkshake!

Jagoda, thank you!

Jak, yes on the King Kong quote! Haha, love it. Yeah, sounds like they weren't being cared for very well to begin with. :(

Imogen, please keep me updated!!

Shanjeniah, I hope all went well for you, as well!

Rachel, could be a parent had an issue with the light, and that's why? And are you kidding? You've got two jobs--you're plenty busy!

Andrew Leon said...

No, that's Occam's Razor.
Sherlock's is to discount everything that's impossible and whatever's left, no matter how improbable, is the answer.