Whatever the case, the "wild-man" carvings depict two figures that were already by 1578 called "Green Men," and they are emerging from the ears of the Foliate Head.

Well something is emerging from the ears of the Foliate Head, Nerd - but Green Men? Either way this is but one (see Here) of a number Foliate Heads on the Crowcombe bench ends made on the very cusp of the reformation, and quite possibly in reaction to it. One is depicted with dolphins spouting from his ears (Here) - what are we to make of that I wonder? In fact, a closer look at these (so-called) Green Men reveals that they too would appear to have rather fishy tails... I actually like Mr Centerwall's idea - I wouldn't have linked to it otherwise; I also like the idea of The Legend of the Rood as written about by James Coulter in his The Green Man Unmasked (Author House, 2006) but neither Coulter nor Centerwall cover nowhere near enough bases given the variables involved. Indeed, Mr Centerwall's Pageant Hypothesis barely covers one - thus, once again, it remains easier to say what they most certainly aren't.