The baffling mystery of the green children.

It's a dodgy tale this one, The Woolpit kids connect many
dots regarding culture and country differences. I'm not saying
it wasn't has the story relates, but there's lots of smoke.

Green is the colour for Fairy-lore, of mystical forces of
the land and of what most folk of the Suffolk area at that
time, would add into a tale to 'brighten' it up.
One part of the yarn says that they would only eat green peas
or other certain vegtables, again peas were looked on as
Fairy food.

The children spoke in another language, well if you came
from fifty miles north of Suffolk, the accent will change, heck...
if you were from Scotland, you'd be deemed to have a 'foreign'
language in those days!

Also the Flemish connection is a good one and there's some
evidence that this is the probable route. The fact that they were
children may have borrowed tones from a 'Childrens Crusade'
that supposedly occurred around that time and may have been
looked on as 'trendy news' by rural folk.

St. Martin's Land is the only thing I find odd about the tale,
I doubt it has connections with the Carribbean island... although
it may have been added because of the later problems of England
and Spain.
I think the Anglo/Spanish war may have diluted, rejigged, relocated
and added to a simple story for children... maybe.

I suppose the gren skin could be explained away by a medical problem. The accents of the uk were less homogenous back then: no tv or radio. So the foreign accent could be from somewhere very close. But back then if I was a foreigner it may be better to come from fairy land than somewhere nearer: you then may be an enemy clan or group. The uk was extremely violent back in medeiveal times. Also memories can be overwritten if remembered incorrectly. Pity it is so long ago so difficult for anyone to investigate.

I do wonder however with similar stories being from different places if it is not a folk tale which infact comes from somewhere completely different. I suppose in one way it is easy to refute: has anyone ever seen any underground land near Woolpit in Suffolk.I dare say there must be pot hollers; no one found the land I dare say. So there must be a obviously simpler explanation.