I got sucked into a strange obsession recently, one of those late-night Googles that spirals out of control. You know the kind—Lincolnshire Day pops up, and suddenly, I’m knee-deep in the wild history of Yellow Bellies. It’s one of those terms that sticks in your mind, but then you start asking the big question: wtf does it mean? why are we calling people yellow bellies? where did it even come from?
Spoiler alert: Nobody actually knows. But that doesn’t stop us from having a ton of theories. And as someone who grew up in South Lincolnshire, let me tell you, they’re all as mad as a bag of frogs—or maybe newts, depending on which theory you fancy.
t’s not just Lincolnshire that gets this nickname. People from the East Anglian fens claim the term too. Depending on who you ask, Yellow Belly might mean someone from the Lincolnshire fens [1], or just as easily, a fen dweller from Norfolk or Cambridgeshire. [2] This one term covers a lot of muddy ground.
THEORY 1: THE SOLDIERS
Right, so if you were like me, you probably heard this one the most. The soldiers of Lincolnshire’s 10th Foot Regiment apparently strutted around in bright yellow waistcoats. During the English Civil War, they allegedly wore yellow sashes too, marching into battle like walking targets [3]. Some of the locals cling onto this theory, because it sounds kind of brave, doesn’t it? Except for the fact that there’s another story about them running away from a battle and getting labelled cowards—hence “yellow.” Not quite as glamorous. [4]
THEORY 2: FROGS, NEWTS, & EELS
Now we’re getting slippery. Another tale is that the yellow belly name comes from some creature lurking in the fens. Is it a newt? A frog? Maybe an eel? [2] Apparently, one of these little guys had a yellow underside, and, because fens folk were in close quarters with these slimy critters, they got painted with the same brush. I mean, it’s not far-fetched—frogs were known as Fen Nightingales.
THEORY 3: FARMERS & WILDFOWLERS
Picture it: farmers in the summer, shirts off, toiling away under the sun. They’d bend over all day, backs getting nice and toasty in the sun, but their bellies? Those stayed pale as a ghost, hidden in the shadows. The corn fields supposedly reflected just enough light to give them a yellowish glow. And thus, the farmers of Lincolnshire and the East Anglian fens became yellow bellies.
Then there’s the Wildfowlers, spending their days lying on their fronts in the marshes, stalking their prey and staining their clothes with the yellow clay in the silt fens. [5]
THEORY 4: THE ELLOE BELLIES
Here’s a theory that sends us way back to the Saxons. In the days of wapentakes—essentially local councils, or towns—there was the Elloe people. Now, Elloe translates roughly to ‘out of the morass,’ and bel is Celtic for ‘hollow.’ In other words, these folks came from a boggy hole in the ground [6], which is...very fenny. The theory is that over time, Ye Elloe Bellie evolved into Yellow Belly. Bit of a stretch, maybe, but it’s got that ancient mystery vibe, which I quite like.
The Anglo-Saxon Elloe Stone can still be seen! It is said to have originally marked the site where the men of Elloe Wapentake held their Hundred Court, a type of council.
THEORY 5: MARSH FEVER
Before the fens were drained, many residents suffered from a malaria-like illness. One theory has it that the illness caused jaundice, which makes the skin go yellow, and another that the opium they would take to relieve it caused the same effect. [3]
THE WEIRD ONE: BELLY FUNGUS
This one’s straight out of a horror film. Simon Reeks, a Boston local, shared a theory from his school days— who was taught by G Edward Campion that people in the fens got their name from a yellow fungus that would grow on their bellies in the damp, swampy conditions. Can you imagine? Waking up in the morning, belly covered in fungus. Sounds like something out of a nightmare, but it does fit the vibe of the fens. Things are always just a bit weirder here. [7]
WHAT ARE WE LEFT WITH?
A bag of theories, a lot of mud, and a good amount of yellow. We might never know exactly where Yellow Belly comes from, but it’s the kind of mystery that gives Lincolnshire and the fens their character. Whether you’re thinking of old soldiers, slimy newts, or farmers with weird tans, the term has stuck. And, as with all the best folklore, it’ll keep giving us something to talk about for generations to come.
Have you heard a different theory? We'd love to hear it, drop us a message!
FEN FOLK
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[1] Gutch; Mabel Peacock; Examples of printed folk-lore concerning Lincolnshire, 1908
[2] Michael Rouse; How to Speak Fen, 2016 (Revised 2018)
[3] Sue Dowman; Visit Lincoln
[4] Lincolnshire Yellow Bellies; genuki.org.uk
[5 Michael Campbell, Lincolnshire People - Why yellowbelly? Your stories
[6] The Lincolnshire Dialect; pridemagazines.co.uk
[7] Simon Reeks, Lincolnshire People - Why yellowbelly? Your stories
Illustrations by Fen Folk
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