Come away human child ...

..... Where the wandering water gushes
From the hills above Glen-Car,
In pools among the rushes
That scarce could bathe a star,
We seek for slumbering trout
And whispering in their ears
Give them unquiet dreams;
Leaning softly out
From ferns that drop their tears
Over the young streams.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.
From The Stolen Child WB Yeats

The winds have stopped and sun, showers and rainbows have replaced it. I did a little work this morning then later went to try and pay Jim for the car service - still no luck, he was at his mother's and the other man didn't do bills.
I stopped off at this ringfort on the way home. What a magical place. To get to it you have to cross over a sturdy clapper bridge with a sheet of gushing waterfall to your right, then climb up an emerald green field and there is the ringfort on the top of the hill. But this one is especially interesting. It is surrounded by a moat! All ringforts had huge ditches, made when constructing the banks, but this one by chance or design, fills with water. It was mirrorlike still and mesmerising. No wonder people of Celtic persuasion (notice I'm not saying Celts as there are now severe doubts they were ever in Ireland, whoever they were) were drawn to water and considered it something magical -a portal to the next world. I could easily have slipped into the crystal clear and enticing waters myself. I was reminded of the WB Yeats poem about the Stolen Child, for ringforts are also called fairy forts and only the brave or daft go near them! They are the domain of the 'other crowd', the fairies and strange goings-on are associated with them. Mysterious tales occur of people entering them and never coming out, of strange lights and voices, of enticing women and startled horses! Whatever, they are left alone, unploughed and treated with respect.
Worth biggifying for the full allure.
Tonight Arthouse starts again and the first offering is Nebraska. I'll report back.
The Stolen Child