ears are
soundly boxed by invisible hands.

The night-washers (_eur tunnerez noz_) are evil spirits who appear at
night on the banks of streams and call on the passers-by to assist
them to wash the linen of the dead. If they are refused, they seize
upon the person who denies them, drag him into the water, and break
his arms. These beings are obviously the same as the Bean Nighe, 'the
Washing Woman' of the Scottish Highlands, who is seen in lonely places
beside a pool or stream, washing the linen of those who will shortly
die. In Skye she is said to be short of stature. If any one catches
her she tells all that will befall him in after life. In Perthshire
she is represented as "small and round and dressed in pretty green."

_The Teurst_

In the district of Morlaix the peasants are terribly afraid of beings
they call teursts. These are large, black, and fearsome, like the
Highland ourisk, who haunted desert moors and glens. The _teursta
poulict_ appears in the likeness of some domestic animal. In the
district of Vannes is encountered a colossal spirit called Teus or
Bugelnoz, who appears clothed in white between midnight and two in the
morning. His office is to rescue victims from the devil, and should he
spread his mouth over them they are secure from the Father of Evil.
The Dusii of Gaul are mentioned by St Augustine, who regarded them as
_incubi_, and by Isidore of Seville, and in the name we may perhaps
discover the origin of our expression 'the deuce!'

_The Nicole_

The Nicole is a spirit of modern creation who torments the honest
fishermen of the Bay of Saint-Brieuc and Saint-Malo. Just as they are
about to draw in their nets this mischievous spirit leaps around them,
freeing the fish, or he will loosen a boat's anchor so that it will
drift on to a sand-bank. He may divide the cable which holds the
anchor to the vessel and cause endless trouble. This spirit received
its name from an officer who commanded a battalion of fishermen
conscripts, and who from his intense severity and general reputation
as a martinet obtained a bad reputation among the seafaring
population.

_The 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 Mou