This is a well known Irish ballad - tho obviously not in England!
THE DARK FAIRY RATH.
Long, long have I wander'd In search of my love,
O'er mooriand and mountain, thro' greenwood and grove,
From the hanks of the Malg unto Flnglas's flood,
I have ne'er seen the peer of this Child of the Wood.
One bright summer evening alone on my path,
My steps led me on to the Dark Fairy's Rath;
And seated a-near it, my fair one I found,
With her long golden locks trailing down to the ground.
And I said to myself, as I thought on her charms,
"Oh, how fondly I'd lock this young lass in my arms;
How I'd love her deep eyes, full of radiance and mirth,
Like new risen stars that shine down upon earth."
Then I twin'd round her waist my arms as a zone,
As I fondly embraced her to make her my own;
But when I glanc'd up, hehold! nought could I see,
She had fled from my sight like the bird from the tree!