The drowned master of Verijärv

Verijärv, the 'blood lake', lies in a deep, wooded hollow just outside Võru. Folk tradition says a cruel manor master was once being driven along its steep shore by his coachman, who had suffered at his hands for years. At the edge of the water the coachman made his choice and drove the carriage straight into the lake, drowning his master in the dark depths. The lord was never seen again, but the lake did not quite let him go. At sunset, people say, the silver knob of his sunken carriage can sometimes be glimpsed glinting beneath the surface. Verijärv is now a bathing lake with a nature trail around its shore.