l Ireland could get the
corpse anyway into the churchyard; but as they would be trying to go
into the churchyard, their feet would seem to be going backwards instead
of forwards; ay, continually backwards the whole funeral would seem to
go; and they would never set foot with the corpse in the churchyard. Now
they say that it is the fairies do all this; but it is my opinion it is
all idle talk, and people are after being wiser now.

The country people in Ireland certainly HAD great admiration mixed with
reverence, if not dread, of fairies. They believed that beneath these
fairy mounts were spacious subterraneous palaces, inhabited by THE GOOD
PEOPLE, who must not on any account be disturbed. When the wind raises
a little eddy of dust upon the road, the poor people believe that it is
raised by the fairies, that it is a sign that they are journeying from
one of the fairies' mounts to another, and they say to the fairies, or
to the dust as it passes, 'God speed ye, gentlemen; God speed ye.' This
averts any evil that THE GOOD PEOPLE might be inclined to do them. There
are innumerable stories told of the friendly and unfriendly feats of
these busy fairies; some of these tales are ludicrous, and some romantic
enough for poetry. It is a pity that poets should lose such convenient,
though diminutive machinery. By the bye, Parnell, who showed himself
so deeply 'skilled in faerie lore,' was an Irishman; and though he
has presented his fairies to the world in the ancient English dress
of 'Britain's isle, and Arthur's days,' it is probable that his first
acquaintance with them began in his native country.

Some remote origin for the most superstitious or romantic popular
illusions or vulgar errors may often be discovered. In Ireland, the old
churches and churchyards have been usually fixed upon as the scenes of
wonders. Now antiquaries tell us, that near the ancient churches in
that kingdom caves of various constructions have from time to time been
discovered, which were formerly used as granaries or magazines by the
ancient inhabitants, and as places to which they retreated in time
of danger. There is (p.84 of the R. I. A. TRANSACTIONS for 1789) a
particular account of a number of these artificial caves at the west
end of the church of Killossy, in the county of Kildare. Under a rising
ground, in a dry sandy soil, these subterraneous dwellings were found:
they have pediment roofs, and they communicate with each other by small
aper