Friar Rush

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Friar Rush

A character in medieval German folklore, Friar Rush (Brüder Rausch) was the devil disguised as a friar. He was a mis-chief-maker who entered monasteries to cause trouble for the monks by confusing and tempting them. His pranks were described in English chapbooks of the sixteenth century, and he is also mentioned in an anonymous farce, Gammer Gurton's Needle (ca. 1575), ascribed to John Still or William Stevenson. In English folklore Friar Rush is associated with drunkenness, playing such pranks as turning on the wine taps in the cellars.

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