The baffling mystery of the green children.

In 1887 two children with green skin, speaking an unfamiliar language were found by a cave near Banjos, Spain. A similar case occurred in Woolpit, Engalnd during the 12th century.
For more on the Banjos children see: unansweredmysteries.blogspot.com...
For more on the Woolpit children (with some unconconvincing debunking theories) see:
en.wikipedia.org...

For a rather esoteric, novel take on things see:
unveiledsecretsandmessagesoflight.blogspot.com...

I think they debunked the green skin. Some sort of mineral deficiency or something. I'm sure someone here knows a bit more.

reply to post by MrDudle

Well some commentators for the Woolpit children have calimed that they were Flemish refugees who somehow came to England. That supposedly explained their strange clothes and language. The green skin was said to be from aneamia. However, I'm sure the locals would have known most of these clothes and conditions. I don't find this plausible, although diet may have played some part, the stories of these children concerning their own origin were unwordly.

...

Even the wikipedia article cites Chlorosis as a probable cause.
But thats not as interesting as time travelling and aliens.

Knowledge is power. I wish I was born hundreds of years ago, and without a conscience. Id be rich and have many followers...

reply to post by Ridhya

Well, I'm not surprised that many would choose the "debunking" arguments proposed until now. However I'm not convinced, just as I'm not convinced that mummy tissue became infested with coc aine in the 19th century, or that water-spouts cause all manner of wierd animals to fall from the sky.
- the children were dressed in strange, unrecognizable material (all material would have been known to nobles, unless another mystery from the East is involved)
- they spoke an unrecognized language (all major dialects would have been recognized by somebody)
- they told a similar story of a different land to "earth" at the time - unless the sources themselves are debunked, this is startling
- there was a preference in a vegan diet (?) at a time when this was not popular, apart from fasting clergy. This is hardly the diet to restore an anaemic person, nor one that they would demand

Therefore, I cannot be convinced to conclude that this is not a true mystery.
Debunkers should then also offer a more coherent theory except for focusing on the green skin, which is but one highlight in a convergence of mysterious circumstances.

NOTE - the two stories are nearly the same.
Only the date differs.

THE WOOL PIT KIDS -
Two children.
Both green
Boy and girl
Dont speak the language.
Dress strangely
The boy dies and the girl lives longer and changes colour.

THE BANJOS KIDS
Two kids
both green
Boy and girl
Dont speak the language
Dress strangely
The boy dies the girl lives longer and changes colour.

Are there corroborating witness atatments??
Considering this is Spain, im suprised if not.

Seems a bit funnny that the stories coinside nearly exactly though.

reply to post by andy1972

Well no, it is not corrobarating "evidence" from Spain. The first and initial example is from Woolpit in England. If anything the Spanish 19th century narrative is borrowed from there. But we should not only consider the similarities, but also the differences in the narratives.



[edit on 25-3-2010 by halfoldman]

Update - i live in Spain so, and in Cataliña, where you´ll find Banjos, so i thought id look it up and.....

The kids were given to a local judge Ricardo Calnos, in August of 1887 whos maid spent hours scrubbing trying to get the green to come off,thinking it was makeup, but in the end realised it was in fact pigmentation of the skin.

Their features were negroid with the eyes being that of an Asian.
They were offered food but eat nothing but juidas verdes.
The boy died of exhaustion while the girl lived a few years more working in the judges house.
With time she turned white (like Michael Jackson) and learnt Spanish, and was able to explain her story.

She said they lived in a country underground, where there was no sun, and it was always twilight.

Nows the strange part -

They didnt have a pancreas, they only had one lung and the piel was of a substance unknown then to science.
Apparantly the illumination in their was though "sun balls" that allowed the

plants to grow, their world was seperated from ours by a huge and dangerous river, which one day caused a tidal wave that inundated their country and they escaped by entering a grotto near the river, that led out into Spain.

Now the truth -
This story caused a tremendous fuss when it came out, came out of a book that is.
The book GOBLINS; ELF AND FAIRES by KATHERINE BRIGGS came out in the 70's, and dedicates a page to legends of Suffolk, which includes the story of the Children of Woolpit.

It ws then stolen by someone here in Spain, nationalised it and from thereon in became Spanish folklore. Nothing more, nothing less.

reply to post by andy1972

So your're arguing Briggs invented the story, although the author focused on folklore and came across something strange. It makes sense, but is what you say proven? Was there indeed no Spanish knowledge of the story before Briggs and the 1970s?

reply to post by halfoldman


On my, I remember this from the 1970's when I first heard it. S & F to you for giving me a "project" to research tonight. From what I recall the kids were definately not from "round these parts" if ya get my drift.

reply to post by halfoldman


No Briggs didnt invent the story. Her book was published here in the 70's.
Before then there isnt any record of this story here in Spain.
The villaje of BANJOS doesnt even exist, and never has.

Like the OP says, its English fron the XII century.
It was simply stolen and rehashed by the Spanish for they're own use.

Where the ORIGINAL story comes from i dont know,
But, it seems a little too far fetched not to be true in some extent. considering as its from the XII century, and back then they didnt have the telly to feed their fantasies as we have today.

[edit on 26-3-2010 by andy1972]

reply to post by andy1972

Thanks for clarifying your point .
I'll be doing more research on whether Banjos existed - of course Europe had so many unfortunate wars since 1914 that entire towns and villages were wiped off the map. For example, the village where Hitlers's birth was recorded - Doellersheim - was used for Nazi Wehrmacht shelling paractise in Austria.
But you do say that some mystery exists concerning the medieval reports from Woolpit. Something documented back then could hardly be faked. However, I haven't seen the documents, and I'm hoping somebody can provide more on this.

the boy died lest then a year after she learnt english and said that she came from a country called st martin land and she had followed flocks to an underground tunnel.
from the book the unexplained

reply to post by halfoldman


Ah, my friend.
You always give us something rich to wrap our minds around.
Fascinating story...especially since the children in Spain did indeed prefer a vegan diet...not a popular choice at the time by any means.
As far as I can tell, there are no mineral deficiencies that lead to a green hue of the skin, so we can effectively rule that possibility out.
Good find my friend.

In Kentucky there is a town known for its "blue people", and my teacher taught us that it was due to a genetic anemic deficiency. It was likely that.

en.wikipedia.org...

The first photo taken of a human was in 1839 if I am not mistaken. Before then drawing was a popular form of photography. Nearly 50 years after the first photo taken of a person surely they would have been photographed. My personal opinion is, if someone is taken in that has green skin, I am gonna get some pics for proof. The culture may of been different but I don't see this being real.

reply to post by ventian


I was thinking something similar as well.
But, just because cameras had been invented by then, doesn't mean they were widely available, especially in semi-rural areas.

reply to post by Matthew Dark


I agree and it is doubtful that they would have one. On the other hand people did tend to draw pictures. My bet is that the judge or whoever they stayed with had several pictures hanging up on his wall.

reply to post by ventian


That I'd be willing to agree with you on.
I'm thinking though, that most likely whomever they stayed with would have eventually wanted to respect the children's privacy and kept most of that stuff to themselves lest the children be vivisected to find out what made them so unique.
Too bad there isn't more information out there on these topics.
I wonder if anything similar has happened since.

reply to post by Matthew Dark

It appears that while the alleged Spanish children died quite young, the medieval narrative says that the female lived for a considerable while and was of "loose morals". This would mean she would have been quite robust, or at least not starving. The real comment here for me however is that medieval men weren't too picky, and that "green" isn't all that unattractive. No sign of any off-spring however.

Related cases can be found in conspiracy views on inner earth races, and maybe they were part reptilian, or hybrid races like the nagas. That was my first thought - they came from the hollow earth, literally from a cave.
Fairy legends and the "green man" may be similar myths based on possible facts of subterranean races. Well, that's one theory. Several Eastern deities are blue to green.

I suppose: let's have intercourse with that and find out what it is is one form of scientific research . Who knows, maybe they came to study us that way?