Mourioche

The Mourioche is a malicious demon of bestial nature, able, it would seem, to transform himself into any animal shape he chooses. In general appearance he is like a year-old foal. He is especially dangerous to children, and Breton babies are often chided when noisy or mischievous with the words: "Be good, now, the Mourioche is coming!" Of one who appears to have received a shock, also, it is said: "He has seen the Mourioche." Unlucky is the person who gets in his way; but doubly so the unfortunate who attempts to mount him in the belief that he is an ordinary steed, for after a fiery gallop he will be precipitated into an abyss and break his neck.

References

Source

  • Spence, Lewis. (1917). Legends and Romances of Brittany. New York: Fredrick A. Stokes, p. 101.

This article incorporates text from Legends and Romances of Brittany (1917) by Lewis Spence, which is in the public domain.