Besides those that were acknowledged and worshipped as gods or goddesses, there were battle-furies who delighted in blood and slaughter; also loathsome-looking witch-hags, and plenty of goblins, sprites, and spectres--some harmless, some malignant--who will be found enumerated and described in either of my two Social Histories. The idols worshipped by the pagan Irish were nearly all of them stones, mostly pillar-stones, which were sometimes covered over with gold, silver, or bronze. The people also worshipped the elements--that is to say, water, fire, the sun, the wind, and such like. The worship of wells was very general. Most of those old Pagan fountains were taken possession of by St. Patrick, St. Columkille, and other early missionaries, who blessed them, and devoted them to baptism and other Christian uses; so that they came to be called holy wells; and though they were no longer worshipped, they were as much venerated by the Christians as they had been by the pagans. It must not be supposed that each of the objects mentioned above was worshipped by all the people of Ireland. Each person, in fact, worshipped whichever he pleased. And it was usual for individuals, or a tribe, to choose some idol, or element, or pagan divinity, which they held in veneration as their special guardian god. There was a belief in a pagan heaven, a land of everlasting youth, peace, and happiness, beautiful beyond conception, called by various names, such as Teernanoge, Moy Mell, I-Brassil, etc., which is often described as being situated far out in the Western Ocean. It was inhabited by fairies, but it was not for human beings, except a few individuals who were brought thither by the fairies. There is a pretty story, more than a thousand years old, in the Book of the Dun Cow, which tells how Prince Connla of the Golden Hair, son of the great king Conn the Hundred-Fighter, was carried off by a fairy 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 western sea-shore, a boat of shining crystal was seen moving towards them: 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 FAIRY MAIDEN’S CHANT TO PRINCE CONNLA. I.