A few days back I went for yet another bicycle ride. This time I had set my route for a visit to the Scourge Mountain {NL: Geselberg - NS: Gieselbaarg} near the village of Wedde. A bike ride of about half an hour from the smalltown of Winschoten. When us Northerners talk about a 'mountain' though you have to think about it as a heap of soil. A wee bit higher than the rest of the landscape. In some cases one might even refer to these bumps as hills. It is all relative in the eye of the observer innit?
There are several of these areas in the region where I live. While in Oldambt North there are mostly wide flat polders. Which does make some people who visit that part of our municipality feel dizzy. They cannot handle the flatness of the land, or something like that. Well, I do prefer some forests and more bumpy hill like landscapes. And fortunately that is also near where I live in Nederland {EN: Netherland}. Much of the landscape has gotten its current form after the ice-age. Basically when that time period slowly ended it formed a moraine kind of landscape. With the most famous one going from the center of the city of Groningen all the way to Emmen in the province of Drenthe. That specific moraine is known as the Dog's Back {NL Hondsrug}.
And one of the many Northern moraines is near the village of Wedde. It is known as the Scourge Mountain. The story behind its name is quite horrible and dates back to the 16th century. At that time there were a lot of so called 'witch hunts' in these regions. And one of the spots that were known for the 'trials' was this moraine near Wedde. It was the place where the bailiff {NL: Drost} of the region would put people on trial who where accused of witchcraft.
There was an extended record kept of the grewsome handlings that took place there. And I will not bother you with all the details. But basically people where first put on water. If they floated they where a witch, if they drowned they were not. If they floated they where tied to a pole next and tortured until they confessed to be a 'witch'. And when they did, they were burned alive. The bailiff made a lot of money off of that. Getting payed for each execution by the lords of mansion of Wedde, after 'ein olde custume' {EN: an old custom}. While the family of the 'witch' had to pay for the costs of the execution, like the costs for the drinks used by the executioner.
A remembrance stone can be found at the place where these horrible events took place. To me it is almost unbelievable that human beings are capable of such atrocious crimes against their fellow humans. Unfortunately these things really happen. And it is not just something that is only known from a dark past history long gone.
Such a beautiful place, serenity all around, yet once a place of terror. Luckily most of the moraines in the region are not cursed with such an aweful history. And I am planning on visiting that area more often. As there are still a lot of great spots to be found there. Hopefully this weekend the weather will be better, so I can take my bicycle out for a spin again.