Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 3 (Celtic and Slavic).djvu/331

Rh pass away until he had believed in God, before the faith had yet reached Erin. He is said to have been the first pagan who went thence to heaven, though not till after his soul had journeyed to hell, whence it was carried with other souls by Christ at the Harrowing of Hades, he having died just after the Crucifixion.8 Cuchulainn was a pagan to the last, but coincidentally with his passing thrice fifty queens who loved him saw his soul floating in his spirit-chariot over Emain Macha, singing a song of Christ's coming, the arrival of Patrick and the shaven monks, and the Day of Doom.9 Loegaire, King of Erin, refused to accept the faith unless Patrick called up Cúchulainn in all his dignity, and next day Loegaire told how, after a piercing wind from hell preceding the hero's coming, while the air was full of birds—the sods thrown up by úchulainn's chariot-horses—he had appeared as of old. He was in bodily form, more than a phantom, agreeably to the Celtic conception of immortality; and he was clad as a warrior, while his chariot was driven by Loeg and drawn by his famous steeds. Loegaire now desired that Cúchulainn should return and converse longer with him, whereupon he again appeared, performing in mid-air his supernatural feats and telling of his deeds. He besought Patrick to bring him with his faithful ones to Paradise and advised Loegaire to accept the faith. The king now asked Cúchulainn to tell of his adventures, and he did so, finishing by describing the pains of hell, still urging Loegaire to become a Christian, and again begging the saint to bring him and his to Paradise. Then heaven was declared for Cúchulainn, and Loegaire believed.10

Some of the Féinn stories also show this kindly attitude toward the old paganism, especially The Colloquy with the Ancients, which dates from the thirteenth century.11 When Oisin had gone to the'síd, Caoilte with eighteen others survived long enough to meet St, Patrick and his clerics. These were astonished at "the tall men with their huge wolf-dogs," but the saint sprinkled holy water upon them and dispersed