So far as we are able to judge from our old writings, the pagan Irish had no one religion common to all the people, and no settled general form of worship. They had many gods; and it would appear that every person chose whatever god he pleased for himself. Some worshipped idols; and we read of certain persons who had spring wells for gods: while some again adored fire, and others the sun and moon. The people also worshipped the shee or fairies, who were supposed to live in grand palaces underground, as described at page [3]. The persons who taught the people all about these gods were the Druids, who were the learned men of those times. They were believed to be wizards, and some think that they were pagan priests.
The pagan Irish had a dim notion of a sort of heaven, a happy land of [perpetual] youth and peace. It was believed that there were many happy lands in different places, which were called by various names, such as Moy-Mell, I-Brazil, and Tirnanoge. Some were out in the Atlantic Ocean, off the western coast, while others were down deep beneath lakes, and some in caves under forts or cairns. They were all inhabited by fairies, who sometimes carried off mortals: and those whom they brought away hardly ever came back. A fairy who wished to [allure] a mortal often chanted a sort of magical song called an incantation, which exercised a spell over the person that listened to it.
There is a pretty story, more than a thousand years old, in the [Book of the Dun Cow], which relates how Prince Connla of the Golden Hair, son of the great king [Conn the Hundred-fighter], was carried off by a fairy from the western shore in a [crystal] boat to Moy-Mell. One day—as the story relates—while the king and Connla and many nobles were standing on the sea-shore, a boat of shining crystal approached from the west: and when it had touched the land, a fairy, like a human being, and richly dressed, came forth from it, and, addressing Connla, tried to entice him into it. No one saw this strange being save Connla alone, though all heard the conversation: and the king and the nobles [marvelled], and were greatly troubled. At last the fairy chanted the following words in a very sweet voice: and the moment the chant was ended, the poor young prince stepped into the crystal boat, which in a moment glided swiftly away to the west: and prince Connla was never again seen in his native land.
THE [CHANT] OF THE FAIRY TO CONNLA OF THE GOLDEN HAIR.
I.
A land of youth, a land of rest,
A land from sorrow free;
It lies far off in the golden west,
On the verge of the [azure] sea.
A swift canoe of crystal bright,
That never met mortal view—
We shall reach the land ere fall of night,
In that strong and swift canoe:
We shall reach the strand
Of that sunny land
From druids and demons free;
The land of rest,
In the golden west,
On the verge of the azure sea!
II.
A pleasant land of winding vales, bright streams, and [verdurous] plains,
Where summer, all the live-long year, in changeless splendour reigns;
A peaceful land of calm delight, of everlasting bloom;
Old age and death we never know, no sickness, care, or gloom;
The land of youth,
Of love and truth,
From pain and sorrow free;
The land of rest,
In the golden west,
On the verge of the azure sea!
III.