ea in his chariot. The god told him that the sea
was a flowery plain, Mag Mell, and that all around, unseen to Bran, were
people playing and drinking "without sin." He bade him sail on to the
Land of Women. Then the voyagers went on and reached the Isle of Joy,
where one of their number remained behind. At last they came to the Land
of Women, and we hear of their welcome, the dreamlike lapse of time, the
food and drink which had for each the taste he desired. Finally the tale
recounts their home-sickness, the warning they received not to set foot
on Erin, how one of their number leaped ashore and turned to ashes, how
Bran from his boat told of his wanderings and then disappeared for
ever.[1234]

Another story tells how Connla was visited by a goddess from Mag Mell.
Her people dwell in a _sid_ and are called "men of the _sid_." She
invites him to go to the immortal land, and departs, leaving him an
apple, which supports him for a month without growing less. Then she
reappears and tells Connla that "the Ever-Living Ones" desire him to
join them. She bids him come with her to the Land of Joy where there are
only women. He steps into her crystal boat and vanishes from his father
and the Druid who has vainly tried to exercise his spells against
her.[1235] In this tale there is a confusion between the _sid_ and the
island Elysium.

The eighteenth century poem of Oisin in Tir na n-Og is probably based on
old legends, and describes how Niam, daughter of the king of Tir na
n-Og, placed _geasa_ on Oisin to accompany her to that land of immortal
youth and beauty. He mounted on her steed, which plunged forwards across
the sea, and brought them to the land where Oisin spent three hundred
years before returning to Ireland, and there suffering, as has been
seen, from the breaking of the tabu not to set foot on the soil of
Erin.[1236]

In _Serglige Conculaind_, "Cuchulainn's Sickness," the goddess Fand,
deserted by Manannan, offers herself to the hero if he will help her
sister's husband Labraid against his enemies in Mag Mell. Labraid lives
in an island frequented by troops of women, and possessing an
inexhaustible vat of mead and trees with magic fruit. It is reached with
marvellous speed in a boat of bronze. After a preliminary visit by his
charioteer Laeg, Cuchulainn goes thither, vanquishes Labraid's foes, and
remains a month with Fand. He returns to Ireland, and now we hear of the
struggle for him between his wife Emer and Fan