Buckriders

thumb|Plaque at the former town hall of Valkenburg aan de Geul|Valkenburg

The Buckriders (, ) are a part of South-Eastern Dutch and North-Eastern Belgian folklore. They are witches, who rode through the sky on the back of flying bucks provided to them by the Devil to rob and murder common people and church possessions. The trials against the buckriders differed from 'ordinary' criminal proceedings because in many cases a so-called 'ungodly oath' was involved ("I renounce God and swear submission to the Devil"). Once a year, they would visit their master, the Devil, on the Mook Heath.