Birket kirkegård gemmer på et grusomt sagn – en historie om den hængte pige, hendes mand, hendes trolovede og et ufødte drengebarn
VIGTIG information om Cachen: Følg stien, spiralen til toppen, og bliv på stien!
Ikke noget med at gå på skrænterne. Der er givet tilladelse af menighedsrådet til denne cache, hvis dette overholdes!
Cachen indeholder:
På en jordhøj 30 meter over havets overflade, med en sneglegang til toppen, findes der en geocache, indholdene blyanter, bytteting og logbog.
Jordhøjen/galgebakken
Jordhøjen havde engang en bænk på toppen, så man kunne sidde og kigge ud på andre fortidsminder i området.
Jordhøjen kaldes for galgebakken og blev benyttet til henrettelse af folk der var dømt for de til denne strafs udmålelse fornødne ugerninger.
Sagnet om den hængte pige
Sagnet om den hængte pige i Birket har sin begyndelse i 1600 tallet. Hun var forældreløs og blev mod hendes vilje gift med en velstående gårdmand, hvilket var befalet af lensmanden fra Halsted Kloster, der på den måde fik pigen ud af sognets fattighus. Men pigen var hemmeligt trolovet og havde svoret troskab til en ung mand fra fattighuset, hvilket blev afvist på trods af at de elskede hinanden.
Efter seks måneders ægteskab med gårdmanden faldt han og brækkede halsen, straks gik snakken på egnen om den unge kone og dette kom lensmanden og præsten i Birket for øre. Pigen kom i forhør med datidens milde tortur og her tilstod hun, at have forvoldt sin mands død, ved at have styrtet han i døden.
Tre dage senere førtes pigen til galgebakken, hvor en masse mennesker var mødt op. Bødlen som var kendt som en dygtig håndværker, faldt dog ned af stigen og brækkede sin venstre arm, under pigens hængning. Pigen faldt så langt ned, at hendes tåspidser rørte jorden men død var hun. Pigens kæreste blev beskyldt for at have pillet ved rebet og blev efterfølgende underkastet tortur, som fremkaldte en tilståelse. Han blev hængt i samme træ på galgebakken og man hejste dem så højt op at ”de kunne hænge og se ind over kirkemuren til pigens mands grav i ihukomme deres brøde.” Pigens rådne lig faldt ned efter to måneder og man opdagede, at hun havde været gravid. Drengefostret blev begravet på kirkegården og velsignet af præsten. Siden hen blev pigen genbegravet inde på kirkegården, da der i mørke nætter kunne høres og ses et lille grædende barn, i ligklæder, knæle ved galgebakken. Man mente, at der var begået en synd mod pigen og hendes barn men spøgeriet ophørte ikke med dette. For det lille barn og piges sås nu gå hånd i hånd til galgebakken og knæle dér og man forstod nu, at pigens trolovede måtte være barnets fader. Men da der var bedrevet hor blev ansøgningen i første omgang afslået, og spøgeriet fortsatte. Først ved udvidelsen af kirkegårdens område omfattede galgebakken, ophørte spøgeriet.
English:
Birket cemetery hides a cruel legend – a story about the hanged girl, her husband, her betrothed and an unborn baby boy
The cache contains:
On a mound 30 meters above sea level, with a snail's pace to the top, there is a geocache, the cache contents pencils, loot and log book.
The mound of earth/the gallows hill
The earthen mound once had a bench on top, so you could sit and look out at other ancient monuments in the area.
The earthen mound is called the Gallows Hill and was used for the execution of people who were convicted of the misdeeds required for this punishment.
The Legend of the Hanged Girl
The legend of the hanged girl in Birket has its beginnings in the 17th century. She was an orphan and against her will was married to a wealthy farmer, which was ordered by the sheriff from Halsted Kloster, who in this way got the girl out of the parish poorhouse. But the girl was secretly betrothed and had sworn fealty to a young man from the poorhouse, which was rejected despite their love for each other.
After six months of marriage with the farmer, he fell and broke his neck, the young wife was immediately the talk of the town and the sheriff and the priest in Birket heard about this. The girl was interrogated with the mild torture of the time, and here she confessed to having caused her husband's death by pushing him to his death.
Three days later the girl was taken to the gallows hill, where a lot of people had gathered. The executioner, who was known as a skilled craftsman, fell down the ladder and broke his left arm during the hanging of the girl. The girl fell so far that her toes touched the ground, but she was dead. The girl's boyfriend was accused of tampering with the rope and was subsequently subjected to torture, which elicited a confession. He was hanged from the same tree on the Gallows Hill and they were hoisted up so high that "they could hang and look over the church wall to the girl's husband's grave in memory of their bread." The girl's rotting body fell down after two months and it was discovered that she had been pregnant. The baby boy was buried in the cemetery and blessed by the priest. Since then, the girl was reburied inside the cemetery, as in dark nights a small crying child, in shrouds, could be heard and seen kneeling by the gallows.
It was believed that a sin had been committed against the girl and her child, but the banter did not stop there. For the little babyboy and the girl were now seen walking hand in hand to the gallows and kneeling there, and it was now understood that the girl's betrothed must be the child's father. But since adultery had been committed, the application was initially rejected, and the pranking continued. Only when the area of the cemetery was expanded to include the gallows did the banter stop.