Though the story of the Green Children of Woolpit can be found in a large number of books today with just a little effort, the actual number of sources for the story can be quickly narrowed down to just a handful of earlier texts... to be precise, three: two from around the year 1200, and the last from 1850. The first two accounts, written around fifty/sixty years after the time the event is said to have occurred, are 'Historia Rerum Anglicarum' by William of Newburgh, and 'Chronicon Aglicanum' by Ralph of Coggeshall Abbey. The last of these three texts is Thomas Keightley's 'The Fairy Mythology', which presents a translation of Ralph's account of the Green Children and mentions some details from William's account.1
Most modern copies of the Green Children story are derived from the account in Keightley's book published in 1850; in fact, a great deal of these accounts are almost exactly word for word what Keightley originally printed [Keightley's account is presented in complete form in the notes]. As mentioned above, Keightley's version of the Green Children story is simply a translation and re-presentation of the two earlier accounts, so he doesn't add anything new to the tale except for a notable mistake... notable because it has been widely duplicated and distributed by modern authors, Keightley's version of the story being easier to find and easier to read than the earlier accounts. The mistake? Keightley refers to William of Newburgh as William of Newbridge, an error that is repeated in almost all newer accounts.
Having pointed that out, let's review what I've found about the two earliest sources.
The original sources, one by one
William of Newburgh -- 'Historia Rerum Anglicarum'
I have yet to track down my own copy of William of Newburgh's account of the Green Children, so what I can say I know of him is simply what I get of him from two other authors: Thomas Keightley's brief reference to William's work in 'The Fairy Mythology' 1, and John Carey's translation of William's account in 'Eyewitness to History' 2, which I hope is reasonably accurate. Carey's translation came from a volume called 'Church Historians of England' that was published in the mid-1800's. I will track down a copy of this, though I hope to find my own copy of William's original account to translate at some point. [By the way, Harold Wilkins in 'Strange Mysteries of Time and Space' gives a much condensed version of William's account, but he adds nothing new.]
According to both Keightley and Carey, it's William's account which places the event as happening within the reign of King Stephen; as there was only one King Stephen, this narrows the occurrence to happening sometime within this monarch's nineteen year reign between A.D. 1135 and 1154. In 'Eyewitness to History', Carey gives an approximate date of about 1150 for the occurrence; but there is nothing within his translation of William's account that can confirm this date, so it appears to be more of a guess on Carey's part.
Though William was likely alive at the time the event is said to have occurred -- William was born in 1136 and died around 1198-1201 -- he didn't write the 'Historia Rerum Anglicarum' until 1196, so his recording of the account is definitely after the fact. It's clear from William's account that he was by no means an eyewitness. It's equally clear that he never saw any physical evidence of the event -- the Green Girl, if she existed, had apparently already passed away before William looked into the matter -- so William had only the stories of multiple people as proof anything happened. This was enough evidence to convince William, however, as he explains: "...at length I was so overwhelmed by the weight of so many and such competent witnesses, that I have been compelled to believe..."2 Despite the fact that he never met the children, the translation of William's account as presented by Carey contains quotes of what the children are supposed to have said under questioning.
According to William's account, the children were seen to emerge from one of the wolf-pits (for which the village of Woolpit was named) by reapers working the harvest, and caught shortly afterwards. He states that, over time, both children lost the green hue to their skin and learned the local language, and that both were baptized shortly before the boy died.
Also according to William's account, both children were questioned about their origins. In regards to the children's origins, this account is the only source for several of the details that are often mentioned. It's the only source that gives a name for the children's original home: according to Keightley, the children called their original home 'St Martin's Land'; according to Carey's translation, William states that the children are supposed to have said: "We are inhabitants of the land of St Martin, who is regarded with peculiar veneration in the country which gave us birth."2 This account is also the only source that credits the children with saying that all the people in their original home were Christians and that they had churches, and that they could see a bright country across a very large river.
On the subject of just exactly how the children traveled from St. Martin to Woolpit, only Carey's translation has the story. In this, William quotes the children as saying: "...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."2
William's account is also the only source that claims the Green Girl married, but there is disagreement about who and where. According to Keightley, William says she married a man from Lenna; according to Carey, William says she married a man at Lynne. I won't be able to sort out who's right until I can get at an earlier copy of William's account.
William ends his account by asserting that there were many more strange details that the children told, but that they are "too many to particularize."2 Unfortunate.
Ralph of Coggeshall -- 'Chronicon Anglicanum'
The 'Chronicon Aglicanum' is a historic chronicle of important and interesting events that occurred at or near the abbey of Coggeshall from the time of it's establishment in the early part of the 12th century (the earliest event that I know was noted in the chronicle is dated A.D. 1113). This chronicle was reprinted in 1857 as part of a preservation of ancient rolls and manuscripts of England, and this reprint, in turn, was reprinted in 1965; it is from a copy of this last reprint that I've located a Latin original of the account ['Rerum Britannicarum Medii Aevi Scriptores, or Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland During the Middle Ages', 1857 London, no. 66 - 'Radulphi de Coggeshall Chronicon Anglicanum' 3].
The section of the chronicles reprinted was authored by Ralph (Radulphi) of Coggeshall, and the section in particular that we're interested in was written sometime in the year 1200. Now I don't understand Latin, so I have to rely on translations offered by two authors; Thomas Keightley's translation from 'The Fairy Mythology' 1 and Harold Wilkins' translation from 'Strange Mysteries of Time and Space' 4. But before I examine these translations, there is still a bit that can be said about the Latin source [a copy of the full Latin text of Ralph's account is in the notes].
The account of the Green Children, on pages 118-120 of the reprint, is presented in a section featuring many fantastic stories that Ralph had heard and chose to write down; in fact, the Green Children story is sandwiched between a story about a merman that was seen and a story about some giant teeth that were discovered. If this fact is taken with the fact that Ralph wrote the account a minimum of 46 years after the Green Children were supposed to have been found, it seems a safe bet that Ralph was not a witness to the events and is therefore merely noting an interesting story he has heard.
And so, on to the translations... but first, some notable mistakes were made on the part of Harold Wilkins in his general commentary about Ralph's account. He states it was written in A.D. 1207; a brief examination of the latin reprint clearly places it as having been written in A.D. 1200. Wilkins also claims that Ralph placed the event as happening sometime in the reign of Henry II (A.D. 1154-1189); but no actual date is mentioned within either translation, and Henry II is not mentioned anywhere in the Latin text at all.
What is in the translations is the fact that Ralph's account is the only source that claims the children were taken to the home of Sir Richard de Calne, at Wikes... perhaps this is because, as Ralph states, he had frequently heard this story from de Calne himself. In this version, it is at de Calne's home that it was discovered that the children would eat the raw beans. Also, Ralph's account claims that, after the death of her brother, the girl then worked for de Calne's family as a servant for several years, during which time she was "rather loose and wanton in her conduct"1. Concerning de Calne's occupation, there is some small disagreement in the two translations: Keightley says he was a knight, while Wilkins says he was a soldier.
In Ralph's account, the girl lost her green hue, learned the local language, and was baptized only after the boy had died; and so it was only the girl who was questioned about the origins of herself and her brother. As to the question of how the children traveled to Woolpit from their original home, Ralph says: "...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, they went for a long time wandering on through the cavern, until they came to its mouth"1. Upon exiting the cave, the children were overwhelmed by both the excessive sunlight and the temperature of the air (which was too warm for them, according to Wilkin's translation); when found, they tried to find the cavern they came out of but were caught before they could.
And thus ends Ralph of Coggeshall's account of the Green Children of Woolpit.
