The oldest known version of the legend is to be found in William Camden's Britannia (1586). A variant version is given by Robert Atkyns in his History of Gloucestershire (1712, p. 188). The Camden version was reworked by the boy poet Thomas Chatterton (Bristol Record Office, doc. ref. Harford 28048), who attributed his verses, as usual, to his alter ego, a medieval monk named Rowley.