Amsterdam Phantom Archive
Amsterdam has the weight of layered history that lots of people have inscribed stories in the city over centuries.
This blog will guide you to haunted spots in Amsterdam.
WATERSPOOK BULLEBAK
17th-century Mokum legend about Bullebak the water spook that rises from the canal and draws children into the water.
Bullebak is also the name of the bridge in the Marnixstraat, across the water between the Singelgracht and the Brouwersgracht.
He swims around in the rivers, canals and swamp areas looking for children who are too close to the waterfront. He lurks just above the surface after which he grabs them by their legs, drags them into the water and drowns them. Children could also fall prey to this monster in the Amsterdam canals.
Sags
For generations, frightening fairy tales were told so that the lesson stuck well with children. In this case, they had to be careful in their ears so as not to stand too close to a waterfront. The narrators, mostly parents, wanted to unlearn careless and disobedient behavior in their children and promote desirable behavior.
Parenting position
Unlike fairy tales, sagas took place in a secular setting. It is precisely the combination of a supernatural being in a local environment that creates the so-called 'child scare'. Characteristic of this type of fairy tale is the bad outcome for the main character. With this, the narrator wanted to stimulate his children safe behavior with his children through this warning. A similar fairy tale, also related to the Bullebak, is the 'Boeman' that rests children from unsafe locations into the house.
Monster & Co
In Dutch narrative culture, supernatural water creatures are common. The Bullebak lived in the waters of the northern Netherlands. But the narrators invent all kinds of mythical water creatures that would live below the water surface of the Low Countries. Other notorious water spirits include the Antwerp Lange Wapper and the Brabant Flodderduivel.
The linguistic origin of the word 'Bullebak' is an old Dutch. 'Bul' or 'bullen' is an old variant of the verb bulderen (making a thudd sound), and 'bak' refers to 'bek' or 'bakkes' as popularly known. Nowadays, the term is also often used to describe snoky, unpleasant people.
(source: https://amsterdam750.nl/verhaal/bang-voor-de-bullebak/)