Recordings & Info 26. The Three Ravens
[Although US and Canadian versions lack the integrity of the original ballad, they make up for it in variety and style. In the US the three ravens become crows and the crows become minstrel stage performers in blackface. The three published versions in the 1860s were all "lined out"-- spoken slowly by the lead and then sung by the group. This was a parody of the old church hymns that were "lined out" in a similar fashion.
Some of the US versions came from print sources and others were learned second hand from print sources, which makes most of the US "traditional" versions suspect. A wide variety of college songbooks, starting with the Carmena Collegensia (Boston) in 1868, included a version and as Niles stated in his Ballad Book, "This piece of nonsense was sung in my family for the purpose of creating humor, when I was a boy (c. 1900). Although the situation was not amusing, "Willie McGee McGaw" never failed to get a laugh."
It appears the "Willie McGee McGaw" refrain was added in the late 1800s and was published that way as early as 1909. The ballad has commonly been sung to the melody of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home." William A. Owens collected the song from both Whites and African-Americans in Texas, and said a version he found in the Carolinas had been learned in the 1880s. These Texas versions also included the three verses mentioned above, in variant forms. Tunes heard in Texas approximated "When Johnny Comes Marching Home." Wm. A. Owens, Texas Folk Songs, 1950 (1976 ed.), "Three Black Crows," pp. 14-15 with music. Listen to a version with that melody: Peggy Seeger.
Traditional Ballads of Virginia (Davis 1929) contributors report the ballad sung to the Burns melody, "Bonny Doon."
R. Matteson 2012]
CONTENTS
1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index
3) Folk Index
4) Child Collection Index
5) Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
6) Wiki
7) Mainly Norfolk (lyrics and info)
8) Assorted lyrics
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud number 5: The Three Ravens (213 Listings)
2) "The Three Ravens" Explicated- Chatman 1963
3) 'The Twa Corbies'- Douglas Hamer 1947
4) 'The Twa Corbies'- William Montgomerie 1955
5) The Three Ravens Alive and Well in Gloucestershire
6) Folklore and John Gay's Satire- Dugaw 1991
Alternative Titles
Billie Magee Magaw
Willie McGee McGaw
Two Old Crows
Three Black Crows
The Three Crows
The Two Crows
The Crow Song (1909 Harvard Songbook)
The Corby and the Crow
The Four Vultures
--------------
The Three Ravens and the Twa Corbies: A Study in Continuity and Corruption. Author, William E. McInvaille. Publisher, University of South Florida, 1988.
-------------
Traditional Ballad Index: Three Ravens, The [Child 26]
DESCRIPTION: (Three) ravens decide that a new-slain knight would make a nice lunch. He is guarded by hawk, hounds, and leman, who either guard the body from the birds or abandon it to its fate
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1611 (Ravenscroft)
KEYWORDS: death bird food
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland,England) US(MW,NE,SE,So,SW) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (43 citations):
Child 26, "The Three Ravens" (2 texts)
Bronson 26, The Three Ravens" (21 versions)
Lyle-Crawfurd1 40, "The Three Ravens" (1 text, 1 tune)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 435-437, "The Three Ravens" (notes plus a partial reprint of Ravenscroft)
Belden, pp. 31-33, "The Three Ravens" (2 texts, plus 2 tunes not derived from Missouri)
Randolph 9, "The Three Crows" (2 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #18}
Davis-Ballads 10, "The Three Ravens" (17 texts, some very short; the "Q" fragment may be another song; the additional songs in the appendix are "Johnny Fill Up the Bowl"; 4 tunes entitled "The Three Ravens," "[The] Three Crows"; 10 more versions mentioned in Appendix A) {I=Bronson's #16 J=K=#17, P is not printed by Bronson}
Davis-More 13, pp. 84-88, "The Three Ravens" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
BrownII 9, "The Three Ravens" (1 very short text)
Chappell-FSRA 5, "Three Black Crows" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #4}
Hudson 6, pp. 72-73, "The Three Ravens" (1 fragment)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 193-195, "The Three Ravens/The Twa Corbies" (1 short text, entitled "Three Old Crows" and typical of that type, plus the text from Ravenscroft for comparison)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 149, (no title) (1 fragment, mentioning three crows on a tree with an ending about a sick old horse; the whole might well be a dead horse song with a few "Three Ravens" lines, but without more text we cannot tell)
Brewster 8, "The Three Ravens" (1 text plus a fragment)
Creighton/Senior, p. 21, "The Three Ravens" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #11}
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 1, "The Three Crows" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown, p. 129, "Three Black Crows" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders-Ancient1, pp. 243-256, "The Twa Corbies" (10 texts, many of them quite short, 3 tunes; the last two items, "I" and "J," appear to be somewhat rewritten)
Linscott, p. 289, "Three Crows" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 111-113, "The Three Ravens/The Twa Corbies" (2 texts)
Leach-Labrador 1, "The Three Ravens" (1 text, 1 tune)
OBB 67, "The Twa Corbies"; 68, "The Three Ravens" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 23, "The Three Ravens (The Twa Corbies)" (3 texts)
PBB 28, "The Three Ravens" (1 text)
Doerflinger, p. 21, "Blow the Man Down (IV)" (this text combines the words of "The Three Crows" with the tune and metre of "Blow the Man Down")
Hugill, p. 212, "The Three Ravens" (1 text sung to the tune of "Blow the Man Down," taken from Doerflinger)
Niles 17, "The Three Ravens" (3 texts, 3 tunes, although the first piece, "Lovers' Farewell," is at best distantly related to this ballad)
Gummere, pp. 167+336, "The Three Ravens" (1 text)
SharpAp 11 "The Three Ravens" (1 short text plus 2 fragments, 3 tunes){Bronson's #16, #15, #14}
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 5, "The Two Crows (The Three Ravens)" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #15}
Chase, pp. 114-115, "The Two Ravens" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 37, "The Three Ravens"; p. 38, "The Twa Corbies" (2 texts)
JHCox 31, "The Three Ravens" (2 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #10}
JHCoxIIA, #5, pp. 19-20, "The Crow Song" (1 short text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #5}
TBB 36, "The Three Ravens" (1 text)
Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 75-76, "There Were Three Ravens" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 73-74, "The Three Ravens"; p. 74, "The Twa Corbies" (2 texts)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 173-176, "The Three Ravens"; "The Twa Corbies"; "The Three Crows" (3 texts, 3 tunes) {Bronson's #1, #8; the third tune was not known to Bronson}
Darling-NAS, pp. 26-28, "The Three Ravens (or, 'Rauens')"; "The Twa Corbies"; "The Three Crows" (3 texts)
Silber-FSWB, p. 405, "Billy Magee Magaw"; p. 215, "The Three Ravens" (2 texts)
DT 26, THRERAVN* THRERAV2* THRERAV3* THRERAV4 THRERAV5* THRERAV6
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #117, "The Twa Corbies" (1 text)
Henry Randall Waite, _College Songs: A Collection of New and Popular Songs of the American Colleges_, new and enlarged edition, Oliver Ditson & Co., 1887, p. 58, "Crow Song" (1 text, 1 tune, a "Billy Magee Magaw" version)
Roud #5
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Blow the Man Down" (lyrics)
cf. "Lover's Farewell (I)" (lyrics)
cf. "The Crow Song (I)" (lyrics, theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Billie Magee Magaw
Willie McGee McGaw
Two Old Crows
Three Black Crows
NOTES: The degree of degeneration suffered by the American versions of this song is phenomenal (They are often quite silly, and if they retain the theme of the birds eating carrion, it is usually an animal, such as a horse). Brewster's longer version is, in fact, a trick upon listeners: "You may think there is another verse -- but there isn't."
If it weren't for the intermediate versions, we could hardly recognize them as one piece. But that's oral tradition -- though Belden says the song was part of the minstrel tradition in the 1860s, and Flanders-Ancient notes the inclusion of a "rewritten form in books like Cleveland's Compendium of 1859." In many of these versions it is a horse, not a man, which supplies the birds' meal.
The by-blow "The Twa Corbies" is one of the handful of traditional songs in Palgrave's Golden Treasury (item CXXXVI). Not sure what that says about either Palgrave or the song. Properly, "The Twa Corbies" should probably be split off, since it is recensionally different from "The Three Ravens." But this is impossible in practice, because the degenerate forms often could come from either, or indeed recombine the two. - RBW
Keefer's Folk Index: The Three Ravens [Ch 26/Sh 11]
Rt - Lover's Farewell; Three Crows/Craws; Twa Corbies
Rm - Northport; To Die No More
Seeger, Ruth Crawford (eds.) / American Folk Songs for Children, Doubleday/Zephyr Books, Sof (1948), p121 (Poor Old Crow) Abrahams, Roger; & George Foss / Anglo-American Folksong Style, Prentice-Hall, Sof (1968), 9-2
Shekerjian, Haig and Regina (eds.) / Book of Ballads, Songs and Snatches, Harper, sof (1966), p 46
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p 23 [1611]
Wells, Evelyn Kendrick (ed.) / The Ballad Tree, Ronald, Bk (1950), p151 (Two Crows)
Wells, Evelyn Kendrick (ed.) / The Ballad Tree, Ronald, Bk (1950), p152
Kines, Tom (ed.) / Songs from Shakespeare's Plays and Popular Songs of S, Oak, sof (1964), p 87 [1611]
Luboff, Norman; and Win Stracke (eds.) / Songs of Man, Prentice-Hall, Bk (1966), p290
Boni, Margaret Bradford (ed.) / Fireside Book of Folk Songs, Simon & Schuster, Bk (1947), p 94
Silverman, Jerry / Folk Guitar - Folk Song, Scarborough Book, Sof (1983/1977), p 64
Yolen, Jane, et.al. / Fireside Song Book of Birds and Beasts, Simon & Schuster, Bk (1972), p140
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), P111 [1700s]
Leach, MacEdward / The Heritage Book of Ballads, Heritage, Bk (1967), p 48 [1611]
Latest 101 Hootenanny Folk Song Favorites, Modern World Library No. 28, Fol (1963), p91
Ball, Patrick. Celtic Harp, Vol II. From a Distant Time., Fortuna For 011, Cas (1983), trk# B.01
Blake, Norman. Rising Fawn String Ensemble, Rounder 0122, LP (1979), trk# A.06
Burgess, Ben. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 63/# 11A [1916/09/28]
Clapp, June. Buttermilk Hill, Butterfly CP 1992, Cas (1992), trk# B.01
Cox, John Harrington. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p 31,522/# 6A [1915] (Three Crows/Craws)
Dowdy, Guy; and Floyd M. Sayre. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p 32/# 6B [1920ca] (Three Crows/Craws)
Dyer-Bennet, Richard. Richard Dyer-Bennet 4, Dyer-Bennet 4000, LP (1957), trk# A.07 (Three Ra'ens)
Gentry, Jane Hicks. Smith, Betty N. / Jane Hicks Gentry. A Singer Among Singers, U. Ky, Sof (1998), p143/# 4 [1917/07/27]
Holmes, John. Kidson, Frank (ed.) / Traditional Tunes. A Collection of Ballad Airs, S.R. Publishers, Bk (1970/1891), p 17 [1880s]
Maddox, Ada. Sharp, Cecil & Maude Karpeles (eds.) / Eighty English Folk Songs from th, MIT Press, Sof (1968), p 25 [1917ca] (Two Crows)
Maddox, Ada. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 64/# 11B [1918/05/03]
McCurdy, Ed. Ballad Record, Riverside RLP 12-601, LP (1955), trk# A.02
Rains, Eileen. Dulcimer Players News, DPN, Ser, 1/6, p 3(1975)
Seeger, Peggy and Mike. American Folk Songs for Children, Rounder 8001/8002/8003, CD( (1977), trk# 2-02 (Poor Old Crow)
Smith, Ralph Lee. Dulcimer. Old Time and Traditional Music, Skyline DD 102, LP (1975), trk# 14
Summers, Andrew Rowan. Andrew Rowan Summers, Folkways FA 2348, LP (1957), trk# A.04
Woods, Queenie. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 64/# 11C [1918/05/02]
----Three Crows/Craws [Ch 26]
Rt - Three Ravens
Sm - Boon Doon
Mf - When Johnny Comes Marching Home
Ford, Ira W. / Traditional Music in America, Folklore Associates, Bk (1965/1940), p449
Cazden, Norman (ed.) / Book of Nonsense Songs, Crown, Sof (1961), p 1
Leisy, James / Songs for Pickin' and Singin', Gold Medal Books, sof (1962), p 47 (Billy Magee Magaw)
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p 25 [1930s]
Lynn, Frank (ed.) / Songs for Swingin' Housemothers, Fearon, Sof (1963/1961), p189 (Billy Magee Magaw)
Best, Dick & Beth (eds.) / New Song Fest Deluxe, Hansen, Sof (1971/1948), p 26 (Billy Magee Magaw)
Chapple, Joseph Mitchell / Heart Songs, Chappell, Bk (1909), p485 (There Were Three Crows)
Luboff, Norman; and Win Stracke (eds.) / Songs of Man, Prentice-Hall, Bk (1966), p292 (Billy McGee McGaw)
Lorenz, Ellen J.(ed.) / Men's Get-Together Songs, Lorenz, fol (1938), p106/#156
Leisy, James F. (ed.) / Folk Song Abecedary, Bonanza, Bk (1966), p 30 (Billy Magee Magaw)
Yolen, Jane, et.al. / Fireside Song Book of Birds and Beasts, Simon & Schuster, Bk (1972), p142 (Billy Magee Magaw)
Yolen, Jane, et.al. / Fireside Song Book of Birds and Beasts, Simon & Schuster, Bk (1972), p144
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p113
Ashbury, Samuel Lee. Owens, William A. (ed.) / Texas Folk Songs. 2nd edition, SMU Press, Bk (1976/1950), p 13 [1938] (Three Black Crows)
Bliss Family. Flanders, Helen H. & George Brown / Vermont Folk Songs and Ballads, Folklore Associates, Bk (1968/1931), p129 [1930] (Three Black Crows)
Dyer-Bennet, Richard. Richard Dyer-Bennet 6; Songs with Young People in Mind, Smithsonian/Folkways SFW 45053, CD (Smi1), trk# 15
Knight, R. J.. Morris, Alton C. / Folksongs of Florida, Univ. Florida, Bk (1950), p254/#151 [1934-39]
Mahnkey, Mrs. C. P.. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p 75/# 9B [1939/10/18]
McAllister, Marybird. Abrahams, Roger; & George Foss / Anglo-American Folksong Style, Prentice-Hall, Sof (1968), 9-4 [1961]
Mills, Alan. More Songs to Grow On, Scholastic SC 7676, LP (1955), trk# A.05
Mulleneoux, Pete. Niles, John Jacob / Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, Bramhall House, Bk (1961), p103/N 17C [1909] (Two Old Crows)
Niles, John Jacob. Niles, John Jacob / Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, Bramhall House, Bk (1961), p103/N 17B (Willie McGee McGaw)
Raven, Nancy. Lullabies and Other Children's Songs, Pacific Cascade LPL 7007, LP (1969), trk# B.02
Revels Children. Rose and Thistle. The Christmas Revels, Revels CD 2005, CD (2005), trk# 21
Terry, Fred. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p 75/# 9A [1933/01/30]
Watson, C. S.. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p 34/# 12 [1940s]
Wilkins, Sara Stuart. Linscott, Eloise Hubbard (ed.) / Folk Songs of Old New England, Dover, Bk (1993/1939), p289 [1920-30s]
-----Twa Corbies [Ch 26]
Rt - Three Ravens ; Crow Song
Rm - Swan (Al Alar'ch)
Abrahams, Roger; & George Foss / Anglo-American Folksong Style, Prentice-Hall, Sof (1968), 9-3
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p 24 [1803ca]
Clayre, Alasdair (ed.) / 100 Folk Songs and New Songs, Wolfe, Sof (1968), p 87
Buchan, Norman (ed.) / 101 Scottish Songs, Collins, poc (1962), p103
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p112 [1806]
Leach, MacEdward / The Heritage Book of Ballads, Heritage, Bk (1967), p 50
Brooks, Mrs. Willard. Chase, Richard (ed.) / American Folk Tales and Songs, Dover, sof (1971/1956), p114 [1930-40's] (Two Ravens)
Dransfield, Robin and Barry. Popular to Contrary Belief, Free Reed FRR 018, LP (1977), trk# B.07 (Two Ravens)
Gingerthistle. Live at the Univ. of Maryland, Kudzu KPP 009, CD (2005), trk# 10
McCurdy, Ed. Ballad Record, Riverside RLP 12-601, LP (1955), trk# A.03
O'Hara, Mary. Mary O'Hara's Scotland, Tradition 2121, LP (197?), trk# B.06
Redpath, Jean. Scottish Ballad Book, Elektra EKL 214, LP (1962), trk# 3
Sands Family. You'll Be Well Looked After, EMI Green Label LEAF 7005, LP (197?), trk# 6
Steeleye Span. Lark in the Morning, Castle Music CMCD 781, CD (2003/1972), trk# 1.11 [1970]
------Crow Song [Ch 26]
Rt - Twa Corbies ; Leatherwing Bat
Breeden, A. W. (Professor). Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume II, Songs of the South and ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p356/#275C [1933/10/05]
Duvall, Leone. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume II, Songs of the South and ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p355/#275A [1928/10/14]
Higgins, Mrs. Dorn. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume II, Songs of the South and ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p356/#275D [1936/08/02]
McClure, J. F.. Cox, John Harrington(ed.) / Traditional Ballads Mainly from West Virgini, WPA, Bk (1939), 5 [1927ca]
McCurdy, Ed. Ballad Record, Riverside RLP 12-601, LP (1955), trk# A.08
St. John, O. (Dr.). Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume II, Songs of the South and ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p357/#275E [1923/12/20]
Volo Bogtrotters. Young Fogies, Vol. II, Rounder 0369, CD (1995), trk# 23 [1994/11]
Wilson, Laura A.. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume II, Songs of the South and ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p356/#275B [1916/04/21]
------Crow Song (I), The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, said the blackbird to the crow, To yonder cornfield I must go, Picking up corn has been my trade, Ever since Adam and Eve was made." Regarding the life of the crow and other birds
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: bird floatingverses food
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Randolph 275, "The Crow Song" (5 texts, 1 tune, with the "A," "B," and "C" texts being this piece though "B" and "C" texts mix with "The Bird's Courting Song (The Hawk and the Crow; Leatherwing Bat)"; "D" is perhaps "Ain't Gonna Rain No More"; "E" is "One for the Blackbird")
Belden, pp. 31-33, "The Three Ravens" (the two fragments in the headnotes are this piece)
BrownIII 156, "Said the Blackbird to the Crow" (5 texts, though "D" and "E" appear mixed, with "D" being this combined with "Bird's Courting Song, The (The Hawk and the Crow; Leatherwing Bat)")
DT, THRERAV6*
Roud #747?
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "The Crow Song" (Victor V-40149, 1929) Columbia 15449-D [as Al Craver]/Harmony 992-H [as Mack Allen], 1929) (Broadway 8144 [as Lone Star Ranger], c. 1930) [Note: the Broadway recording may be by John I. White rather than Dalhart, as he is also known to have used that pseudonym. - PJS]
Whitey Johns, "Crow Song" (Oriole 1810, 1930)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Three Ravens" [Child 26] (lyrics, theme)
cf. "Hidi Quili Lodi Quili" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Bird's Courting Song (The Hawk and the Crow; Leatherwing Bat)" (lyrics)
cf. "Hilo, Boys, Hilo" (lyrics)
NOTES: Some have thought this a relative of "The Three Ravens." While it's possible that the various by-blows of that austere ballad inspired this, it certainly qualifies now as a separate song. It's more likely to be derived from "The Bird's Courting Song (The Hawk and the Crow; Leatherwing Bat)"; the first verse in particular is often found with that song.
Another possibility is that some of the lyrics derive from the sea song "Hilo, Boys, Hilo," which shares quite a few words, but my guess is that the dependence is the other way. - RBW
-----The Lover's Farewell
Rt - Three Ravens ; Highland Widow's Lament
Wetmore, Alice. Niles, John Jacob / Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, Bramhall House, Bk (1961), p 99/N 17A [1930s]
Child Collection Index
026 A Chorus of Two Three Ravens Death, Doom, Destruction and Other Pleasant Things 1998 2:57 Yes
026 A Chorus of Two Twa Corbies Death, Doom, Destruction and Other Pleasant Things 1998 2:45 Yes
026 Alan Mills Three Crows More Songs to Grow On 1955 No
026 Alastair McDonald Twa Corbies Bears, Crows and Centipedes 1996 2:59 Yes
026 Alastair McDonald Twa Corbies Through Scotland in Song 1995 No
026 Alastair McDonald Twa Corbies Tam Lin 197? 2:46 Yes
026 Alex Campbell The Twa Corbies Traditional Ballads of Scotland 1977 3:29 Yes
026 Alfred Deller The Three Ravens The Three Ravens - Elizabethan Folk and Minstrels Songs 2003 3:22 Yes
026 Alfred Deller The Three Ravens The Three Ravens - Elizabethan Folk and Minstrels Songs 1994 3:18 Yes
026 Alfred Deller The Three Ravens Portrait of a Legend 2004 2:51 Yes
026 Alfred Deller, Mark Deller & Desmond Dupré The Three Ravens Folksongs 1972 2:52 Yes
026 Allison Gross Twa Corbies Black Ballads 2003 6:44 Yes
026 Allison Gross Twa Corbies (original folk song) Black Ballads 2003 :51 Yes
026 Amos Eaton Three Black Crows The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
026 An Drasda The Twa Corbies Live at the Atlanta Celtic Festival 1999 4:24 Yes
026 Andreas Scholl The Three Ravens English Folksongs & Lute Songs 1996 3:18 Yes
026 Andreas Scholl The Three Ravens The Voice 2000 3:21 Yes
026 Andreas Scholl The Three Ravens A History of Baroque Music/Une Histoire De la Musique Baroque - Secular Music/Musiqie Profane 1999 3:16 Yes
026 Andreas Scholl The Three Ravens The Essential Andreas Scholl 2006 No
026 Andrew King The Three Ravens Deus Ignotus 2011 No
026 Andrew Rowan Summers The Three Ravens Andrew Rowan Summers 1957 3:29 Yes
026 Andrew King The Raven Banner Sol Lucet Omnibus - A Tribute to Sol Invictus 2002 No
026 Andy Hunter The Twa Corbies King Fareweel 1984 No
026 Anna Fiske Hough Three Black Birds The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
026 Anna Fiske Hough Three Crows The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
026 Anna Maria Schallenburg The Three Crows The John Donald Robb Field Recordings 1944-1979 1:19 Yes
026 Annwn The Twa Corbies A Barroom Bransle 1994 3:33 Yes
026 Annwn The Twa Corbies Live at the Starry Plough 1998 5:34 Yes
026 Archaeopteryx Twa Corbies First Flight - A Collection of Songs About Birds 1976 2:29 Yes
026 Ariella Uliano The Three Ravens The Wandering Spirit 2005 4:47 Yes
026 Ariella Uliano The Three Ravens A.U. (Almost) a Compilation 2009 No
026 Asonance Dva Havrani (The Twa Corbies) Dva Havrani 1995 2:51 Yes
026 Asonance Dva Havrani (The Twa Corbies) 30 Let Na Pódiu 2008 No
026 Asonance Dva Havrani (The Twa Corbies) Asonance 1 & 2 - Dva Havrani + Duse Mé Lásky 1995 2:51 Yes
026 Asonance Dva Havrani (The Twa Corbies) Live - Scottish and Irish Folk Songs and Ballads 1998 2:48 Yes
026 Atwater-Donnelly Two Crows The Weaver's Bonny 2009 No
026 Barbara Bellows Three Ravens At the Bee and Thistle Inn 1978 2:53 Yes
026 Barleycord Morning Dew + Twa Corbies Travellers Tale 2006 No
026 Barry Bridgewater & Holme Valley Beagles Singers There Were Three Crows Bob & Jacqueline Patten Collection 1970-1999 No
026 Bedlam The Twa Corbies Made in Bedlam 2002 3:32 Yes
026 Beggars' Circus Twa Corbies + The Road to Sligo + The Butterfly + Drowsy Maggie Peddling Bedlam 2002 5:44 Yes
026 Benjamin Luxon & David Willison The Twa Corbies When I was One-and-Twenty - Butterworth and Gurney Songs 1990 No
026 Bert Jansch Twa Corbies Moonshine 2001 3:01 Yes
026 Bill Cooper Three Black Crows The Gwilym Davies Collection No
026 Black Rose The Three Ravens Out on the Ocean [Black Rose] 2007 5:17 Yes
026 Bob Cross There Were Three Crows The Gwilym Davies Collection No
026 Bob Cross Three Crows We Were All Brought Up on Cider - Folkmusic of Gloucestershire 1975 No
026 Bob Cross Two Old Crows The Horkey Load - English Traditional Singers Vol 2 197? No
026 Bob Lewis Three Old Crows A Sweet Country Life - Sussex Family Songs 1979 No
026 Bob Mills The Old Crow's Song Let This Room Be Cheerful - Echoes of Hampshire 1 1991 No
026 Bob Mills Two Old Crows Songs of a Hampshire Man 1982 No
026 Boiled in Lead Twa Corbies Old Lead 1991 3:27 Yes
026 Brian Asawa & David Tayler There Were Three Ravens The Dark Is My Delight and Other 16th Century Lute Songs 1997 No
026 Brian Johnstone Twa Corbies Music Whaur I'm Frae - Songs O' the Scots-Anglo Border 2003 No
026 Brian Jumper Collins There Were Three Crows The Gwilym Davies Collection No
026 Brian Peters Three Ravens Songs of Trial and Triumph 2008 6:16 Yes
026 Brigands' Folie Twa Corbies Twain 2010 No
026 Brocelïande Three Ravens Barley Rigs - Song of the Season 2004 4:48 Yes
026 Brothers of the Baladi Twa Corbies (Scottish Anti War Song) Eye on the World 1994 4:21 Yes
026 Burl Ives The Three Crows I'm Goin' Away 2000 2:12 Yes
026 Burl Ives The Three Crows Philco's Friendly Troubadour - 20 Vintage Radio Broadcasts 1946-47 2004 No
026 Burl Ives The Three Crows The Collection 2001 1:54 Yes
026 Burlap Lute Twa Corbies Here Be Monsters 2005 4:02 Yes
026 Cammi Vaughan The Three Ravens Lass of Roch Royal 2005 No
026 Campbell Road Twa Corbies Bare Bones 2002 No
026 Cannach Twa Corbies The Moons of Glenloy 1998 3:26 Yes
026 Cara Three Ravens + Raving in the Bathroom In Colour 2004 5:36 Yes
026 Cara Three Ravens + Raving in the Bathroom In Full Swing - Live 2008 5:19 Yes
026 Caroline & Sandy Paton The Three Ravens The English and Scottish Popular Ballads - Digital Child Companion CD 2003 2:35 Yes
026 Carved in Stone Die 2 Raben The Forgotten Belief 2002 2:45 Yes
026 Cece Borjeson & Ruth George Twa Corbies Perennials 2006 No
026 Cecile Corbel Three Ravens Songbook Vol. 1 2006 4:23 Yes
026 Charlie Clissold There Were Two Crows We Were All Brought Up on Cider - Folkmusic of Gloucestershire 1975 No
026 Charlie Clissold Three Old Crows The Horkey Load - English Traditional Singers Vol 2 197? No
026 Charlie Clissold Two Black Crows The Gwilym Davies Collection No
026 Charlie Clissold + Bob Cross 3 Old Crows + 2 Old Crows Down in the Fields - an Anthology of Traditional Folk Music from Rural England 2001 No
026 Charlotte Greig Crows Night Visiting Songs 1999 No
026 Cheyenne Brown & Seylan Baxter Twa Corbies 2 Forty 2007 No
026 Chris Nelson The Two Ravens Well of Good Hope 2007 1:35 Yes
026 Clam Chowder Twa Corbies Salvaged 1997 No
026 Clara Sanabras & William Carter The Three Ravens The New Irish Girl and Other Folk Songs and Ballads to the Lute 2002 3:52 Yes
026 Connemara Stone Company The Three Ravens Birds & Beasts 2004 4:37 Yes
026 Connie Fisher & Steve Mitchell Twa Corbies (Two Crows) Mythos - Celtic Tradition: The Traditional Music of Ireland, Scotland & Wales 2006 2:22 Yes
026 Corvus Corax Rabenballade Tempi Antiquii 1988-1992 1997 4:30 Yes
026 Costy L Three Ravens Pagan Tales 2004 6:05 Yes
026 Country Matters Twa Corbies Praeludium Ad Simulationem 1993 1:46 Yes
026 Craig Herbertson The Twa Corbies The Lullaby of Scotland 2001 2:02 Yes
026 Crannog Three Ravens (Twa Corbies) Out on the Limb 2004 No
026 Dan Dutton The Two Crows A Murder of Crows 2004 2:54 Yes
026 Damh the Bard Twa Corbies Tales from the Crow Man 2009 5:49 Yes
026 Daniel Bouwman & Andrew Guy Three Ravens Suite White Swans Black Ravens 2006 5:58 Yes
026 Daniel Taylor & Sylvain Bergeron The Three Ravens Lie Down, Poor Heart - English Lutesongs & Folk Ballads 2000 2:57 Yes 026 Dave Gibb The Twa Corbies Goldscaur 2010 No
026 Dave Hart (paparotzie) Twa Corbies <website> 2007 1:34 Yes
026 David Kilpatrick Twa Corbies O'er the Castle Wall 2001 3:36 Yes
026 Deborah Friou Three Ravens Renaissance Muse - Celtic Harp 1992 2:33 Yes
026 Dee Strickland Johnson The Three Ravens The Unquiet Grave and Other British Ballads 1976 No
026 Dee Strickland Johnson The Twa Corbies The Unquiet Grave and Other British Ballads 1976 No
026 Delta Burnett Reed Twa Corbies Children of the Mist 2010 No
026 Des Teufels Lockvögel Rabenballade Schwarze Kunst 2008 No
026 Diana Obscura Twa Corbies Diana Obscura 2000 1:34 Yes
026 Djazia Satour The Three Ravens Jack the Ripper 2004 2:21 Yes
026 Doede Veeman De Twa Roeken Dutch Rare Folk - 43 Lost Classics from the Golden Age of Nederfolk 1967 - 1987 2007 2:05 Yes
026 Drowned in Salt Twa Corbies Oktoberpest 2011 2:31 Yes
026 Drowned in Salt Twa Corbies (Vivo) Folk Jugend 2011 2:57 Yes
026 Duo Arioso Three Ravens + Turtledoves Cantico - Early Music for Flute & Harp 2002 No
026 Ed McCurdy The Crow Song The Ballad Record 1955 1:46 Yes
026 Ed McCurdy The Three Ravens The Ballad Record 1955 2:35 Yes
026 Ed McCurdy The Three Ravens Riverside Folk Song Sampler 2 1956 2:29 Yes
026 Ed McCurdy The Twa Corbies The Ballad Record 1955 1:57 Yes
026 Elfdaughter Three Ravens <website> 2005 3:01 Yes
026 Elfdaughter Three Ravens [re-done] <website> 2005 3:19 Yes
026 Emma Kirkby There Were Three Ravens The Essential Emma Kirkby 1999 No
026 Eugenia Zukerman The Three Ravens Incantation 1996 No
026 Ewan MacColl Blow the Man Down [English] The Long Harvest, Vol. 7 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1967 3:04 Yes
026 Ewan MacColl The Three Ravens The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (Child Ballads) - Vol. 1 1961 1:43 Yes
026 Ewan MacColl The Three Ravens [English] The Long Harvest, Vol. 7 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1967 4:46 Yes
026 Ewan MacColl The Twa Corbies Poetry and Song, Vol. 2 1967 No
026 Ewan MacColl The Twa Corbies [Scots] The Long Harvest, Vol. 7 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1967 1:52 Yes
026 Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger The Three Ravens [English] The Long Harvest, Vol. 7 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1967 2:07 Yes
026 Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger The Three Ravens (A Folk Song) Poetry and Song, Vol. 12 1967 No
026 Feisty Besoms Twa Corbies Auld Flames 1997 1:29 Yes
026 Florian Hoffmann Die Rabenballade Tristans LARP-Liederbuch 2002 2:19 Yes
026 Folly Bridge Twa Corbies All in the Same Tune + Unabridged 2007 No
026 Folque Ravnene Folque 1974 2:22 Yes
026 Folque Ravnene Stormkast 1998 3:24 Yes
026 Frances Faye The Three Ravens Frances Faye Sings Folk Songs 1999 No
026 Frances Faye Three Ravens Frances Faye Sings, Russell Garcia Conducts 2006 No
026 Fred Jordan The Three Crows The Elfin Knight - The Classic Ballads 1 1976 No
026 Fred Jordan Three Old Crows A Shropshire Lad - English Folk Singer 2003 2:08 Yes
026 Fred Jordan Three Old Crows Songs of a Shropshire Farm Worker 1966 2:01 Yes
026 Frederick Worlock & C.R.M. Brookes The Twa Corbies Poetry of Robert Burns & Scottish Border Ballads 1959 No
026 Gaberlunzie Twa Corbies Twa Corbies 2000 3:00 Yes
026 Gallows Tree Twa Corbies <demo> 2004 2:46 Yes
026 Gebroeders Kikstra Twa Roeken De Boerenbruiloft - Nederlandse Volksmuziek Op Harmonika En Akkordeon 1994 No
026 George Cook Three Old Crows (The Old Carrion Crow) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
026 George Deacon & Marion Ross The Three Ravens Sweet William's Ghost 1973 6:18 Yes
026 George Withers Two Old Crows The Fly be on the Turmut - the Songs of a Somerset Man 1995 No
026 George Withers Two Crows (1) Bob & Jacqueline Patten Collection 1970-1999 No
026 George Withers Two Crows (2) Bob & Jacqueline Patten Collection 1970-1999 No
026 Gingerthistle Twa Corbies Live at the University of Maryland, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, March 17, 2005 2005 No
026 Glastonbury There Were Three Ravens Music and Stories 2005 2:43 Yes
026 Gordon Mooney The Twa Corbies O'er the Border - Music of the Scottish Borders played on the Cauld Wind Pipes 1994 3:54 Yes
026 Greg Winkfield Three Ravens At the Hootenanny, No. 3 1964 3:57 Yes
026 Hamish Imlach The Twa Corbies The Hamish Imlach Sampler 1 1969 3:26 Yes
026 Hamish Imlach The Twa Corbies Cod Liver Oil & Orange Juice - The Transatlantic Anthology 2006 3:32 Yes
026 Hannah James & Sam Sweeney Three Ravens Catches & Glees 2009 No
026 Harry Adams The Three Crows Somerset Scrapbook - Songs, Stories and Music from the County of Somerset by Bob Patten - Accompanying Cassette 1987 No
026 Harry Adams Three Old Crows Bob & Jacqueline Patten Collection 1970-1999 No
026 Heather Alexander Twa Corbies Festival Wind 2003 4:29 Yes
026 Henry Reed Johnny Comes Marching Home Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier - the Henry Reed Collection 1966-1967 2:25 Yes
026 Heritage Twa Corbies Passport 1989 No
026 Hermes Nye The Three Ravens - Twa Corbies Ballads Reliques - Early English Ballads from the Percy and Child Collections 1957 3:38 Yes
026 Holly Gwinn-Graham Three Ravens Folk in Sandwich 1973 No
026 Howard Baer Three Ravens (The Twa Corbies) Celtic Charm - The Enduring Legacy of Celtic Harp 1998 3:55 Yes
026 Idlewild There Were Three Ravens The Song of Fionula - Traditional Celtic Music 1995 No
026 Isla Cameron Three Ravens Northumbrian Minstrelsy 1964 No
026 Isla St. Clair Twa Corbies Murder & Mayhem 2000 4:03 Yes
026 Isla St. Clair Twa Corbies Highland Songs 2004 4:06 Yes
026 Isla St. Clair Twa Corbies Great Songs and Ballads of Scotland 2009 No
026 Jack Beck Twa Corbies O Lassie, Lassie 1989 4:30 Yes
026 Jack Drury Three Old Crows Songs from the Singing Tradition of the People of Lavenham and Its Surrounding Area 2001 No
026 Jaded Mandolin Twa Corbies Jaded Mandolin 2006 2:49 Yes
026 Janet Russell The Twa Corbies Fyre and Sworde - Songs of the Border Reivers 2000 1:46 Yes
026 Jean Jenkins Three Crows The Wife of Usher's Well - Mountain Ballads 1976 No
026 Jean Redpath Twa Corbies Jean Redpath's Scottish Ballad Book 1962 No
026 Jean Redpath Twa Corbies Maiden Voyage 2002 No
026 Jerry Yester & Judy Henske Three Ravens Farewell Aldebaran 1969 3:26 Yes
026 Jesse Ballantyne Twa Corbies (Two Crows) + Vigilante Cowboy Serenade 2003 No
026 Jim McNabb Ravens Nothing's Changed - It's Still About the Songs 2004 3:46 Yes
026 Jim McNabb Twa Corbies Drifter 2007 2:38 Yes
026 Joe Bethancourt Twa Corbies Celtic Circle Dance 2004 2:21 Yes
026 John Fleagle Twa Corbies World Bliss - Medieval Songs of Love and Death 2000 2:02 Yes
026 John Malcolm The Twa Corbies Sands of Time 2008 No
026 John Mark Ainsley & David Wilson-Johnson The Three Ravens Grainger - Jungle Book 1996 No
026 John Rutter & The Cambridge Singers The Three Ravens Olde English Madrigals and Folk Songs at Ely Cathedral 1990 No
026 Johnny Dickinson Three Ravens Hilo Town 2007 No
026 Jon Grant & The Lords O' Convention The Three Ravens The Three Ravens 2000 6:19 Yes
026 Jon Boden & Fay Hield Three Ravens A Folk Song a Day - September 2010 3:09 Yes
026 Jonathan Moses Three Crows The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
026 Justin Eiler Twa Corbies <website> 2005 2:37 Yes
026 Kara Shallenberg The Three Ravens Librivox Folk Ballad Collection 001 2007 5:21 Yes
026 Kathleen Danson Read The Three Ravens Spoken Literature of Early English Ballads 1956 2:17 Yes
026 Kathleen MacInnes An Dà Fheannaig (The Twa Corbies) Òg-Mhadainn Shamhraidh (Summer Dawn) 2007 3:00 Yes
026 Katriona Gilmore & Jamie Roberts Two Ravens A Game for Two 2006 No
026 Katriona Gilmore & Jamie Roberts Two Ravens Live 2008 No
026 Kelly Kennedy Twa Corbies Springfield Mountain and Other Traditional Songs of Love & Destiny 2003 No
026 Kenneth McKellar Twa Corbies Greensleeves and Other Songs of the British Isles 1965 No
026 Kenneth McKellar Twa Corbies The Very Best of Kenneth McKellar 1997 No
026 Kenny Speirs The Twa' Corbies Bordersong 1999 3:09 Yes
026 Kobialka Three Blackbirds Celtic Quilt 1997 4:18 Yes
026 Laura Berlage The Three Ravens Legends of the Troubadours 2006 8:43 Yes
026 Les Brown Twa Corbies Twa Corbies 3:21 Yes
026 Linda Sigismondi Two Ravens Appalachian Ballads and Songs for the Mountain Dulcimer Companion CD 2005 No
026 Lionel Long The Four Ravens Troubadour [Folk Songs of the British Isles] 1965 4:49 Yes
026 Lolly Cross & Friends Three Ravens Celtic Charm 2008 No
026 Lynne Heraud & Pat Turner Twa Corbies September Days 2007 No
026 Mac Mackay There Were Two Crows The Gwilym Davies Collection No
026 Maddy Prior Twa Corbies Year 1993 3:16 Yes
026 Magpie Lane Two Ravens Jack-In-The-Green - English Songs and Tunes 1998 3:33 Yes
026 Malinky Three Ravens 3 Ravens 2002 6:13 Yes
026 Malinky Three Ravens + The Raven's Return Live in Sneek, Netherlands, February 6th, 2004 2004 6:04 Yes
026 Marc Gunn Twa Corbies Happy Songs of Death 2009 No
026 Marie Little Twa Corbies The World of Folk 1971 2:36 Yes
026 Marie Little Twa Corbies Factory Girl 1971 No
026 Marijan Die 2 Raben Past Times Today 2004 4:13 Yes
026 Marijan & Felix Heyd Die 2 Raben <website> 2006 4:11 Yes
026 Martin Best Two Ravens Knight on the Road 1977 No
026 Martyn Hill The Twa Corbies Grainger - Vol. 7 Songs for Tenor 1998 No
026 Martyn Hill The Two Ravens Grainger - Vol 14 Music for Chamber Ensemble 2 2000 No
026 Mary Jane Twa Corbies John Barleycorn Reborn - Dark Britannica 2007 5:13 Yes
026 Mary O'Hara The Twa Corbies Mary O'Hara's Scotland 1974 3:19 Yes
026 Mary O'Hara The Twa Corbies Mary O'Hara Sings 1987 3:23 Yes
026 Michael Bannett Three Ravens Journey Through the British Isles 2004 No
026 Michael George The Twa Corbies War's Embers - A Legacy of Songs By Composers Who Perished or Suffered in World War I 2006 No
026 Mr. Fred Smith Three Crows The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection 1:46 Yes
026 Mrs. G.C. Erskine Two Black Crows The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
026 Mrs. G.C. Erskine Two Crows The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
026 Mrs. Henry Carr Two Old Crows The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
026 Mrs. Ida Bonham The Three Crows The Edith Fowke Collection No
026 Mrs. Myra Daniels Billy Magee Magaw The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
026 Mrs. Myra Daniels Three Black Crows The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
026 Mrs. Oscar Allen Two Old Crows Cumberland Gap - Maud Karpeles' Appalachian Collection 2 1976 No
026 Nigel Denver Twa Corbies Moving On 1965 No
026 Norman & Nancy Blake Three Ravens Natasha's Waltz 1988 No
026 Norman Blake The Three Ravens The Rising Fawn String Ensemble 1979 No
026 O Tempo Canta The Three Ravens Live at Palacio Da Independencia, Lisboa 2006 2:21 Yes
026 Ogham Twa Corbies MacGregor's Barn - Scottish Folk 1997 3:30 Yes
026 Old Blind Dogs The Twa Corbies Live 1999 3:48 Yes
026 Old Blind Dogs The Twa Corbies Close to the Bone 1997 3:34 Yes
026 Old Blind Dogs The Twa Corbies New Celtic Dimensions - A Collection of Some of Todays Best New Sounds in Celtic Music 1998 No
026 Old Blind Dogs The Twa Corbies The Collection [Old Blind Dogs] 2009 3:33 No
026 Oliver Bootle Two Ravens Oliver Bootle 1997 No
026 Oliver Bootle Two Ravens Evolving Tradition 2 - A Fresh New Generation of Britfolk Performers 1996 4:06 Yes
026 Omnia Twa Corbiez Pagan Folk 2006 4:27 Yes
026 Outgrabe Two Corbies Love & Death 1997 4:07 Yes
026 Patrick Ball The Three Ravens Celtic Harp, Vol. 2 - From a Distant Time 1983 3:02 Yes
026 Paul McNeill Twa Corbies Traditionally at the Troubadour 1966 No
026 Peggy Seeger Poor Old Crow American Folk Songs for Children 1997 :51 Yes
026 Peggy Seeger Poor Old Crow [American] The Long Harvest, Vol. 7 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1967 :47 Yes
026 Peggy Seeger The Crow Song [American] The Long Harvest, Vol. 7 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1967 2:18 Yes
026 Peggy Seeger The Three Crows [American] The Long Harvest, Vol. 7 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1967 1:25 Yes
026 Peggy Seeger The Three Ravens [American] The Long Harvest, Vol. 7 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1967 1:35 Yes
026 Peter, Paul & Mary Three Ravens In Concert 1964 3:54 Yes
026 Peter, Paul & Mary Three Ravens The Collection - Their Greatest Hits and Finest Performances 1998 3:50 Yes
026 Peter, Paul & Mary Three Ravens Carry It On 2004 3:52 Yes
026 Pied Pipers Twa Corbies Scottish and Irish Music 1992 5:51 Yes
026 Pig's Ear Twa Corbies Choice Company 2002 1:48 Yes
026 Pledge Drive Willie McGee McGaw I Gave at the Office 1999 3:48 Yes
026 Ralph Lee Smith & Mary Louise Hollowell The Three Ravens Dulcimer - Old Time and Traditional Music 1973 No
026 Raven Twa Corbies Twa Corbies 1996 No
026 Ravens Twa Corbies Rise with the Moon 1994 3:03 Yes
026 Ray & Archie Fisher The Twa Corbies Far Over the Forth 1961 1:57 Yes
026 Ray & Archie Fisher The Twa Corbies The Folk Collection 1999 2:09 Yes
026 Ray & Archie Fisher The Twa Corbies Traditional & New Songs from Scotland 2002 2:05 Yes
026 Ray & Archie Fisher The Twa Corbies The Acoustic Folk Box 2002 2:09 Yes
026 Ray & Archie Fisher The Twa Corbies New Electric Muse - The Story of Folk Into Rock 1996 2:05 Yes
026 Ray & Archie Fisher Twa Corbies Bonny Lass Come O'er the Burn 1962 2:09 Yes
026 Ray & Archie Fisher The Twa Corbies Three Score and Ten - A Voice to the People 2009 No
026 Raymond Crooke The Twa Corbies <website> 2007 2:17 Yes
026 Rebecca Fox Twa Corbies Birmingham Traditional Music Club - Live at the Wagon & Horses 2006 1:59 Yes
026 Rebecca Pidgeon The Twa Corbies Four Marys 1998 2:50 Yes
026 Richard Dyer-Bennet The Three Ra-ens (The Three Ravens) Richard Dyer-Bennet Vol. 4 1957 4:07 Yes
026 Richard Levitt, Charles Byrd & Carl Tucker The Three Ravens Wayfaring Stranger 1960 3:20 Yes
026 Robin & Barry Dransfield The Two Ravens Up to Now - A History of Robin & Barry Dransfield 1997 4:16 Yes
026 Robin & Barry Dransfield The Two Ravens Popular to Contrary Belief 1977 4:06 Yes
026 Roy & Val Bailey & Leon Rosselson The Three Ravens Oats & Beans & Kangaroos 1967 2:08 Yes
026 Roy Faulkner Two Black Crows The Leaves of Life 1989 No
026 Runt O' the Litter The Twa Corbies + The New Mown Hay Knot the Metronome 1996 4:40 Yes
026 Sarah Leonard & John Harle The Three Ravens Terror & Magnificence 1997 No
026 Scafell Pike The Three Ravens The Month of Maying 1973 3:36 Yes
026 Schelmish Rabenballade Mente Capti 2006 3:31 Yes
026 Schelmish Rabenballade + Man of the House Von Räubern, Lumpen Und Anderen Schelmen 2001 6:14 Yes
026 Schelmish Twa Corbies Mente Capti 2006 3:00 Yes
026 Scott Shannon Three Ravens Medieval Muse 2003 No
026 Seannachie Twa Corbies + Cairnscarrow + Salisbury Crags Take Note! 1988 5:11 Yes
026 Sedayne Crows: Twa Corbies Saint Cuthbertn - a Life in Miracles 2007 No
026 Sedayne The Twa Corbies Zither Songs Volume 1 - the Wax Baby 2005 No
026 Seth Lakeman The Bold Knight Kitty Jay 2004 3:51 Yes
026 Shanua The Twa Corbies Salmagundi 1990 5:56 Yes
026 Shegui The Twa Corbies In the Wind 1984 3:32 Yes
026 Sol Invictus Twa Corbies Sol Veritas Lux 1990 1:59 Yes
026 Sol Invictus Twa Corbies The Devil's Steed 2005 2:42 Yes
026 Sol Invictus Twa Corbies In the Jaws of the Serpent 1989 2:05 Yes
026 Sonne Hagal The Three Ravens Nidar 2005 5:03 Yes
026 Spud Twa Corbies The Happy Handful 1975 4:43 Yes
026 Stairheid Gossip The Twa Corbies Stirrin' It Up 2002 2:35 Yes
026 Stan Cope The Crow Song The Gwilym Davies Collection No
026 Stark Raven The Three Ravens Stark Raven 1996 4:34 Yes
026 Steeleye Span Corbies Time [CD] 1996 3:42 Yes
026 Steeleye Span Corbies New Electric Muse II - The Continuing Story of Folk Into Rock 1997 3:40 Yes
026 Steeleye Span Twa Corbies The Hills of Greenmore - An Anthology 1998 2:03 Yes
026 Steeleye Span Twa Corbies Hark! The Village Wait 1970 2:03 Yes
026 Steeleye Span Twa Corbies The Journey 1999 3:30 Yes
026 Steeleye Span Twa Corbies Marrowbones 2002 2:07 Yes
026 Steeleye Span Twa Corbies The Fairport Companion - Loose Chippings from the Fairport Convention Family Tree 2006 2:05 Yes
026 Steeleye Span Twa Corbies The Lark in the Morning: The Early Years 2003 No
026 Steeleye Span Twa Corbies The King - The Best of Steeleye Span 1996 No
026 Steve Wickham Three Crows Geronimo 2004 3:00 Yes
026 Tammerlin [Tory Voodoo] Twa Corbies Third Weeks A'Lightnin' 1996 4:43 Yes
026 Tansey's Fancy Twa Corbes Tansey's Fancy 1983 6:36 Yes
026 Tanya Brody The Three Ravens Lady Rowan 1996 3:39 Yes
026 Telynor The Two Ravens Sprig of Thyme 1998 No
026 Terre Di Mezzo Twa Corbies The Eagle and the Harp 1999 2:30 Yes
026 The Baltimore Consort There Were Three Ravens Watkins Ale: Music of the English Renaissance 1991 7:47 Yes
026 The Baltimore Consort There Were Three Ravens A Baltimore Consort Collection 1995 No
026 The Baltimore Consort There Were Three Ravens Shakespeare's Music 2000 No
026 The Baltimore Consort There Were Three Ravens Elizabeth's Music 1999 7:49 Yes
026 The Black Country Three The Three Ravens The Black Country Three 1966 No
026 The Black Country Three The Three Ravens The Best of English Folk 1999 2:53 Yes
026 The Black Country Three The Three Ravens Anthems in Eden - an Anthology of British and Irish Folk 1955-1978 2005 2:53 Yes
026 The Black Country Three The Three Ravens Transatlantic Folk Box Set 2005 2:52 Yes
026 The Boondock Saints Two Ravens Release the Hounds 2000 5:01 Yes
026 The Boston Camerata & Joel Cohen There Were Three Cows + There Were Three Ravens New Britain: The Roots of American Folksong 1989 5:01 Yes
026 The Cambridge Singers The Three Ravens There Is Sweet Music - English Choral Songs 1890-1950 2003 No
026 The City Waites The Three Ravens Music of the Tudor Age 1987 3:06 Yes
026 The City Waites The Three Ravens Low and Lusty Ballads - The Elizabethan Underworld 1992 3:59 Yes
026 The City Waites The Three Ravens The City Waites 1976 3:59 Yes
026 The Corrie Folk Trio & Paddie Bell The Twa Corbies More Folk Songs for the Burds 1963 2:17 Yes
026 The Corries Twa Corbies Those Wild Corries + Kishmul's Galley 1996 2:55 Yes
026 The Corries Twa Corbies Focus on Folk 1971 No
026 The Corries Twa Corbies Spotlight on the Corries 1977 2:47 Yes
026 The Demon Barbers Three Ravens The Adventures of Captain Ward 2010 No
026 The Devil's Interval Two Crows Blood & Honey 2006 2:27 Yes
026 The Dufay Collective The Three Ravens Johnny, Cock Thy Beaver - Popular Music Making in 17th Century England 1996 6:01 Yes
026 The Duplets The Twa Corbies Tree of Strings 2008 No
026 The Gregorach The Twa' Corbies The Gregorach 1978 1:50 Yes
026 The Hare and the Moon The Three Ravens The Hare and the Moon 2009 2:52 Yes
026 The Hilliard Ensemble The Three Ravens The Singing Club 1984 6:39 Yes
026 The Hilliard Ensemble They Were Three Ravens A History of Baroque Music/Une Histoire De la Musique Baroque - Secular Music/Musiqie Profane 1999 4:34 Yes
026 The Ian Campbell Folk Group The Twa Corbies Ceilidh at the Crown 1962 No
026 The Iron Horse The Twa Corbies The Wind Shall Blow for Evermore 2004 3:04 Yes
026 The Maerlock Two Ravens Sofa 2008 No
026 The Magickal Folk of the Faraway Tree Twa Corbies The Mildew Leaf 2004 1:41 Yes
026 The Magickal Folk of the Faraway Tree Twa Corbies The Soup & The Shilling 2010 1:41 Yes
026 The Oxford Waits There Were Three Ravens Love's Holyday 2009 No
026 The Rodolfus Choir The Three Ravens Among the Leaves so Green - English and Scottish Folk Songs 1995 No
026 The Sands Family Twa Corbies Tell Me What You See 1982 3:03 Yes
026 The Sands Family Twa Corbies Collection 1998 3:06 Yes
026 The Sands Family Twa Corbies Celtic Mysteries - Tales of Celtic Traditions 1999 3:08 Yes
026 The Sands Family Twa Corbies Le Chant Profond De L'Irlande [True Songs of Ireland] 1994 No
026 The Sherwood Consort The Twa Corbies One Day as I Went Riding 2002 2:38 Yes
026 The Tim Malloys Twa Corbies Bloody Irish Music - Live at Kieran's Irish Pub 1997 3:46 Yes
026 The Whistlebinkies The Twa Corbies The Whistlebinkies 3 1981 3:37 Yes
026 The Wisconsin Wind Orchestra The Three Ravens Old Wine in New Bottles 2001 No
026 Theatre of Voices & Fretwork The Three Ravens The Cries of London 2006 No
026 Tim Radford The Three Ravens Home from Home 2005 7:17 Yes
026 Tim Van Eyken Twa Corbies New Boots 1998 2:44 Yes
026 Timothy Seaman Three Ravens in a Mountain Pine Sycamore Rapids 2002 No
026 Tom Kines The Three Ravens Songs from Shakespeare's Plays and Popular Songs of Shakespeare's Time 1961 4:01 Yes
026 Tony Ballinger Two Black Crows The Gwilym Davies Collection No
026 Tramps & Hawkers Twa Corbies Sailor's Alphabet 1995 4:03 Yes
026 Troubadour Three Ravens The Best of Balladry - Islands and Centuries of Celtic Songs 1998 No
026 Unidentified Singer Two Black Crows The Gwilym Davies Collection No
026 Venereum Arvum Twa Corbies Scowan Urla Grun + Fower Muckle Sangs 2003 No
026 Walter Broadbank Two Old Crows Steve Gardham Collection 1970-1982 :53 Yes
026 Warren Fahey Three Black Crows Australia - Folk Songs and Bush Verse - Give Me a Hut in My Own Native Land - Colonial Settlers 2001 No
026 White Raven The Twa Corbies The Water Is Wide - Traditional Irish Songs in Harmony 2006 No
026 Wildkater Three Ravens ? 2003 3:34 Yes
026 Yona-Kit Twa Corbies Yona-Kit 1995 4:26 Yes
Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America by Tristram Coffin 1950
From the section, A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
26. THE THREE RAVENS (THE TWA CORBIES)
Texts: Barry, rit Bids Me, 435 (trace) / Belden, Mo F-S, 31 / Botkin, Am Play-Party Sg, 63 / Brewster, Bids Sgs Ind, S3 1 Brown Coll / Bull Tenn FLS, VIII, #3, 76 / Chappell, F-S Rnke Alb, 15 / Chelsea Song Book, 31 / Christy's New Songster and Black Joker (cop. 1863), 58 / Cleveland's Compendium, Philadelphia, (1859) / Cox, F-S Soutb, 31 / Davis, Trd Bid Va, 137 /
Flanders, Ft F-S Bids, 198 / Focus, V, 279, 281 / Frank Brower's Black Diamond Songster (cop. 1863), 3 / Frank Converse's Old Cremona Songster (cop. 1863), 56 / Haun, Cocke Cnty, 102 / Heart Songs, 485 / Henry, F-S So HgUds, 48 / Hudson, F-S Miss, 72 / Hudson, F-T Miss, i / Hudson, Spec Miss F-L, # 6 / Jones, F-L Mick, 5 / JAFL, XX, 1 54; XXXI, 273; XLV, 8 / Linscott, F-S Old NE, 289 / McCill University Song Book (Montreal, 1921), 94 / Morris, F-S Flo, 387 / Niles, Bids Crls Tgc Lgds, 7 / Owens, Studies Tex F-S, 23 / PTFLS, VII, no / Randolph, Oz F-S, I, 74 / Scarborough, Sgctcbr So Mts, 194 / Scottish Student's Song Book, 268 / Singer's Journal, I, 239 / SharpC, Eng F-S So Aplcbns, # 10 / SharpK, Eng F-S So dplchns, I, 63 / Shoemaker, Mt Mnstly, 276 / Stout, F-L la, 2 / Fa FLS Bull, #s 4, 5, 710 / Wake's Carmina Collegensia (Boston, cop, 1868), 26 / Wetmore and Bartholomew, Mt Sgs NC, 10.
Local Titles: The Crow Song, The Three (Two) Ravens, The Two (Three) Crows, The Twa Corbies, Three Black Crows.
Story Types: A: Two or three carefree crows wonder what they will have for supper. The corpse of a horse, or some other animal, is spied in a near-by field, and in the spirit of revelry they fly down for a feast.
Examples: Brewster (A), Davis (A), Stout (A).
B: Two birds on a tree wonder where they can dine. One remarks that a ship went down by the seashore and that he plans to go there. The other says he knows of a sweeter meal a knight who has been slain. Only the knight's hawk, hound, and lady know the man is lying there. All three are away, the lady with another lover. The birds plan their feast, while the last
six lines tell of the cold bare grave of the knight in Anglo-Saxon style. This is the original Twa Corbies type.
Examples: JAFL, XLV, 10; Shoemaker.
C: The Type B story is told, except that the English Three Ravens text is followed in that the hawks and true-love remain faithful. The girl dies at dawn. Examples: Stout (E).
D: The two crows decide to eat a newly-born lambkin lying by a rock. A bird overhears the plan, goes to rouse the lamb, and tells him to flee. There is a moralistic, sentimental close.
Examples: JAFL, XX, 154.
E: A lyric song is sung by a girl of a lover who went to war in the Lowlands and now lies there known only to his horse and his "Lady Marie". He will sleep there, but she must grieve. There is no crow dialogue, and the mood is tragic.
Examples: Niles.
Discussion: The American versions of this song lack, in general, the dignity and feeling or cynicism of the English and Scottish versions. Except for the few texts in Types B and C, and the corrupted Type E, there are no human actors in the New World. The ballad has become an animal song, degenerated and parodied. (For its relations to the minstrel stage refer to Kittredge,
JAFL, XXXI, 273. Also check Davis, Trd Bid Va, 145 and Cox, F-S South, 31 for notes on the comic degeneration of the ballad.)
Keys to the general spirit of almost all the American texts are the refrains ("Billy Magee Magaw"; "Caw, Caw, Caw"; "Skubaugh"; etc. in place of the "hey down, hey derry day" and "sing lay doo and la doo and day" of Child B) ; endings such as the stock lines "Oh maybe you think there's another verse, but there isn't" on Brewster, BUs Sgs Ind, A; the interpolations
of cures, "cracker-barrel philosophy," and politics (See Davis, Trd Bid Va, C, G; Haun, Cocke Cnty, 102) ; and the sentimentality of Type D. The rationalization that the horse has been slain by a butcher (Randolph, Oz F-S, A) carries the whole thing one step further. See also Davis, op. cit., F, M where the horse becomes a "pig with a glass eye" and where a "quack, quack" refrain can be found.
There are a few texts in existence in America that retain the spirit of the Child versions. One Iowa song follows the English tradition, of the faithful girl. The others (Type B) probably owe their existence to the inclusion of a Twa Corbies text in Cleveland's Compendium (1859). Shoemaker found this form in Pennsylvania, and Barry located a Maine sea-captain who recognized seven of the ten Child stanzas. However, this man remembered a rescue of the knight directed by the ravens and a subsequent return to health by the warrior.
The degenerated forms that I have used as Types D and E are not related to anything in Child. The sentimental rescue of the lambkin in D reminds one of the ending Barry's sea-captain claimed for the song. The absence of the crows and the confused story of Type E seem to indicate corruption, though there is a moving lyric-tragic tone to this text.
Mention should be made of the extensive study of the ballad and its English and Scottish variants in Hermann Tardel's Zwei Liedstudien, /. Die engliscb schottiscbe Rolen Ballade, Beilage zum Jahresheit des Realgymnasiums zu Bremen. See also Zielonko, Some American Variants of Child Ballads, /iff.
For a description of the ballad as a play-party game see Botkin, Am Play-Party Sg, 63.
The Three Ravens: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Child's Ballads/26
"The Twa Corbies", Illustration by Arthur Rackham to Some British Ballads
"The Three Ravens" (Child 26, Roud 5) is an English folk ballad, printed in the song book Melismata[1] compiled by Thomas Ravenscroft and published in 1611, but it is perhaps older than that. More recent versions (with different music) were recorded right up through the 19th century. Francis James Child recorded several versions in his Child Ballads (catalogued as number 26). A common derivative is called "Twa Corbies" ("Two Ravens" or "Two Crows"), and it follows a similar general story, but with a cynical twist.
The ballad takes the form of three scavenger birds conversing about where and what they should eat. One mentions a recently slain knight, but they find he is guarded by his loyal hawks and hounds. Furthermore a "fallow doe", an obvious metaphor for the knight's pregnant ("as great with young as she might go") lover or mistress (see "leman") comes to his body, kisses his wounds, bears him away, and buries him, leaving the ravens without an apparent meal. The narrator, however, gradually departs from the ravens' point of view, ending with “God send euery gentleman/Such haukes, such hounds, and such a Leman” - the comment of the narrator on the action, rather than the ravens whose discussion he earlier describes.
Alternatively, the lyrics may simply ascribe the apparent narrator's sentiments to the raven(s), which given the previous personification of the raven(s) seems just as possible.
Text of the ballad
The lyrics to “The Three Ravens” are here transcribed using 1611 orthography. They can be sung either straight through in stanzas of four lines each, or in stanzas of two lines each repeating the first line three times depending on how long the performer would like the ballad to last. The second method appears to be the more canonical, so that is what is illustrated below. The refrains are sung in all stanzas, but they will only be shown for the first.
There were three rauens[2] sat on a tree,
downe a downe, hay downe, hay downe,[3]
There were three rauens sat on a tree,
with a downe,
There were three rauens sat on a tree,
They were as blacke as they might be.
With a downe, derrie, derrie, derrie, downe, downe.
The one of them said to his mate,
Where shall we our breakfast take?
Downe in yonder greene field,
There lies a Knight slain under his shield,
His hounds they lie downe at his feete,
So well they can their Master keepe,
His Hawkes they flie so eagerly,
There's no fowle dare him come nie[4]
Downe there comes a fallow Doe,
As great with yong as she might goe,
She lift up his bloudy head,
And kist his wounds that were so red,
She got him up upon her backe,
And carried him to earthen lake,[5]
She buried him before the prime,[6]
She was dead her self ere euen-song time.
God send euery gentleman,
Such haukes, such hounds, and such a Leman.[7]
The Twa Corbies
"The Twa Corbies" is a related song with a more cynical tone. There are only two scavengers in “Twa Corbies”, but this is the least of the differences between the songs, though they do begin the same. Rather than commenting on the loyalty of the knight's beasts, the corbies mention the hawk and the hound have abandoned their master, and are off chasing other game, while his mistress has already taken another lover. The ravens are therefore guaranteed an undisturbed meal, as no one else knows where the man lies, or even that he is dead. They discuss in some gruesome detail the meal they will make out of him, plucking out his eyes and using his hair for their nests. Some themes believed to be portrayed in "Twa Corbies" are: the fragility of life, the idea life goes on after death, and a more pessimistic viewpoint on life. The loneliness and despair of the song are summed up in the final couplets;
O'er his banes [bones], when they are bare,
The wind sall [shall] blaw for evermair
There may be a few different versions of this anonymously authored poem. The full text of at least one version of the poem is as follows:
As I was walking all alane,[8]
I heard twa[9] corbies[10] making a mane;[11]
The tane[12] unto the t'other say,
‘Where sall we gang and dine to-day?’
‘In behint yon auld fail[13] dyke,
I wot[14] there lies a new slain knight;
And naebody kens[15] that he lies there,
But his hawk, his hound, and lady fair.
‘His hound is to the hunting gane,[16]
His hawk to fetch the wild-fowl hame,[17]
His lady's ta'en[18] another mate,
So we may mak our dinner sweet.
‘Ye'll sit on his white hause-bane,[19]
And I'll pike[20] out his bonny blue een;[21]
Wi ae lock o his gowden[22] hair
We'll theek[23] our nest when it grows bare.
‘Mony[24] a one for him makes mane,[25]
But nane sall ken[26] where he is gane;[27]
Oer[28] his white banes,[29] when they are bare,
The wind sall blaw[30] for evermair.[31]’
This ballad was one of 25 traditional works included in Ballads Weird and Wonderful (1912) and illustrated by Vernon Hill.
Recordings
"The Three Ravens" or "Twa Corbies" have been performed and recorded by artists such as Heather Alexander, Annwn, A Chorus of Two, Bishi, Boiled in Lead, Scott Boswell, Clam Chowder, The Corries, Alfred Deller, The Duplets, Frances Faye, Fiddler's Dram, Ray & Archie Fisher, John Fleagle and Ewan MacColl, John Harle, Peter, Paul and Mary, Bert Jansch, Kalin Sivov, Andrew King, Marie Little, Malinky, Old Blind Dogs, Omnia, Kate Price, Schelmish, Sol Invictus, Sonne Hagal, Sequester, Steeleye Span, Andreas Scholl, Hamish Imlach, Richard Thompson, Ariella Uliano, Diana Obscura, Terre di mezzo, Kenneth McKellar, Custer LaRue and the Baltimore Consort, Merry Wives of Windsor, Sportive Tricks, and Astral Weeks.[32]
Popular culture
The song is featured in The Adventure Company's game Jack the Ripper and plays a major role in the gameplay.
The song features in Simon Schama's A History of Britain, particularly in the episodes "The Body of the Queen", "The British Wars" and "The Two Winstons".
There is reference to "The 3 Ravens" as told by John Hurt in Jim Henson's HBO special "The Storyteller".
The popular american rock band the The Horrible Crowes takes its name from the poem twa corbies
Reception in other languages
Both "The Three Ravens" and "Twa Corbies" have been translated to other languages, typically all sung to the same melody as Twa Corbies, or that of the Breton song called An Alarc'h (The Swan)[citation needed]. Known versions include:
Danish: Ravnene (The Ravens), a translation of Twa Corbies (i.e. the cynical lyrics, sans the final stanza) by Danish folklorist Svend Grundtvig (1824–1883)
Hebrew: שלושה בני עורב (Three sons of a raven), translated by Nathan Alterman, and a the more popular translation שלושה עורבים (Three ravens) by Yaakov Shabtai.
Finnish: Kaksi korppia is a translation of "Twa Corbies" by Finnish band Tarujen Saari.
Frisian: De twa roeken, translated by Klaes Bruinsma, sung by Doede Veeman on his LP "Frustraasjebloes".
German: Die drei Raben, a quite literal translation of The Three Ravens, by Theodor Fontane (1819–1898). Die zwei Raben by the same author, is the best known German version of Twa Corbies.
the German medieval/rock crossover group Schelmish wrote a German version of The Three Ravens lyrics, also titled Rabenballade (Raven's Ballad).
also, the German group Subway to Sally wrote the song Krähenfraß (Food for the Crows), also based on the Twa Corbies version and using a very similar melody, but with even more sinister lyrics. This version places the story in our times, replaces the knight with a soldier, and adds a new stanza in the end, loosely translating to "the bare bones will be clean / and preserved for a long time / and announce shining from the dirt / what a soldier's purpose is" (namely: the song title).
the Czech folk music group Spirituál kvintet adapted the melody of The Three Ravens to record a song Válka růží [1]. However, the theme has been completely changed, as the new lyrics concerned the Wars of the Roses between Yorks and Lancasters.
the Czech folk music group Asonance adopted the Twa Corbies in very lyric translation, quite similar to original.
the Czech folk metal group Hakka Muggies used the tune in song Havrani (lit. Ravens). The lyrics however follow a story of two Scottish outlaw brothers, so the ravens are rather metaphorical.
Norwegian: Ravnene (The Ravens), a translation very similar to the Danish version. The Norwegian folk rock group Folque performed this song on their debut album, and used a tune very similar to Steeleye Span's version.
Russian: The great Russian poet Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin published in 1828 partial translation of the French translation of Sir Walter Scott's Border Poems. It includes the poem entitled "Шотландская песня" (Scottish Song), which has become known to almost every literate Russian-speaking person. Pushkin's translation contains only the first half of the poem, ending with "and the mistress awaits for her lover, not the killed one, but the alive one", thus making a dark hint the central point of the story. Many composers of the time wrote musical interpretations of the poem [2].
Notes
1.^ Thomas Ravenscroft, William Ravenscroft (1611). "Covntry Pastimes". Melismata. p. 20. http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/ravenscroft/melismata/mel35small.html. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
2.^ In printed text of the time, u and v were often used interchangeably.
3.^ The refrain consists of nonsense words that create a vocal musical interlude between lines of the stanza. See Puirt a beul.
4.^ Nie: Variant of nigh.
5.^ Lake: Pit.
6.^ Prime, Euen-song: see Canonical hours.
7.^ Leman: Sweetheart or mistress
8.^ alone
9.^ two
10.^ carrion crows
11.^ moan
12.^ one
13.^ turf
14.^ know
15.^ knows
16.^ gone
17.^ home
18.^ taken
19.^ breast bone
20.^ peck
21.^ eyes
22.^ with a lock of his golden
23.^ feather
24.^ many
25.^ a moan
26.^ none shall know
27.^ gone
28.^ over
29.^ bones
30.^ shall blow
31.^ evermore
32.^ . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVdHfju7Wc0.
Files Rabenanwälte und Abmahnkrähen (help·info) (German) — a parody of “The Three Ravens”.
The various versions of these ballads as collected by Child
Kentucky artist and ballad singer Daniel Dutton has a painting of this ballad on his Ballads of the Barefoot Mind website
Minneapolis band The Tim Malloys' version from their first CD
The Three Ravens sung by Sarah Leonard on John Harle's CD Terror and Magnificence
Further reading
A literary analysis of the work: Vernon V Chatman III, “The Three Ravens Explicated,” Midwest Folklore, Vol. XIII #3, Summer 1963
Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music
Twa Corbies / Two Ravens
[ Roud 5 ; Child 26 ; Ballad Index C026 ; words trad., music R.M. Blythman]
Ray Fisher sang this bleak ballad, accompanied by her brother Archie on guitar, in 1962 on their EP Far Over the Forth; it was reissued on the famous 4LP compilation album Electric Muse and on its CD version New Electric Muse. The original EP's sleeve notes comment:
When is a ballad not a ballad? Answer—when it isn't sung. The Twa Corbies has for long been regarded as one of the most flawless as it is one of the grimmest of all our ballads; but it wasn't being sung. No tune appeared to survive in oral tradition and attempts at setting it remained literary, academic and dead. Then R.M. Blythman (the Scots poet “Thurso Berwick”) set it to this marvellously sombre old Breton tune, Al Alar'ch, The Swan, learned from the Breton folk-singer Zaig Montjarret. The result was astonishingly right and The Twa Corbies has passed into the repertoire of our younger folk-singers. It is related to the English Three Ravens.
The Ian Campbell Folk Group (then with Dave Swarbrick) sang The Twa Corbies at an evening at the Jug of Punch folk club at the Crown, Station Street, Birmingham. This concert was published in 1962 on the Topic EP Ceilidh at the Crown.
Steeleye Span recorded Twa Corbies in 1970 for their very first album Hark! The Village Wait and more than 25 years later for their album Time, this time with the shortened title Corbies. A live recording from The Forum, London on September 2, 1995 was released on the CD The Journey. The original recording's sleeve notes commented:
... otherwise known as the Two Ravens, and sometimes called The Three Ravens. First printed in Motherwell's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border in 1803 it is one of the most popular of the Scottish ballads. For those unused to the dialect the two birds are discussing the pros and cons of eating a newly slain knight. Ashley Hutchings: “This goes back to the 13th Century at least, and it was recorded at Tim's suggestion.” Why is it particular about a knight? Why not a footsoldier? “Songs that go back a long way are usually about Lords and Ladies, possibly because they were a great source of interest to the people, rich and poor.”
[Note: There is a slight confusion about the source: Actually, Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (Edinburgh, 1802/03) is by Sir Walter Scott; William Motherwell wrote Minstrelsy Ancient and Modern (Glasgow, 1827). Thanks to Jim McLean for pointing this out in an e-mail to me.]
And the Time sleeve notes said:
Scraggy feathered, mean beaked carrion crows tearing at the tender flesh of a dead, deserted knight. As an image of impermanence there is no equal.
Maddy Prior recorded this song for her solo album Year and commented in the sleeve notes:
Reflection on death in its physical reality is known to the Buddhists and Hindus, but in the West only in Medieval times was it dealt with directly and evoked by skeletons carved on graves and gruesome images of Death the Reaper. In these more antiseptic times there is little in this line and flowers, wreaths and gentle doves cloud the unacceptable thought of our mortal destination. This song dates from earlier times and is for me a brilliant examination of decay.
[R.M. Blythman] set the stark old Scottish words to this moody Breton tune and we have amplified its gothic atmosphere.
Corbies means Carrion Crow and hause bane is a breast bone.
Folque did a wonderful Norwegian version of Twa Corbies—which they called Ravnene—in 1974 on their eponymous debut album, Folque.
Barry and Robin Dransfield sang The Two Ravens in 1977 on their Free Reed album Popular to Contrary Belief; this was also included in 1997 un their Free Reed 2CD anthology Up to Now.
Lyrics
Ray Fisher sings Twa Corbies
As I was walkin' all alane
I heard twa corbies makkin a mane;
Tha tain unto the other ane say-o,
“Where sall we gang and dine the day-o,
"Where sall we gang and dine the day?”
“It's in ahint yon auld fail dyke
I wot there lies a new-slain knight;
And naebody kens that he lies there-o
But his hawk and his hound and his lady fair-o,
Hawk and his hound and his lady fair.”
“His hawk is tae the huntin gane,
His hound tae bring the wildfowl hame;
His lady's ta'en another mate-o
Sae we mun mak our dinner sweet-o,
Sae we mun mak our dinner sweet.”
“It's ye'll sit on his white hause-bane
And I'll pike oot his bonny blue een;
Wi ae lock o his gowden hair-o
We'll theek our nest when it grows bare-o,
Theek our nest when it grows bare.”
“You can sit on his white breast bone
And I'll pick out his bonny blue een;
And with a lock of his yellow hair
We'll theek our nest when it grows bare,
We'll theek our nest when it grows bare.”
“There's mony a ane for him maks mane
But nane sall ken where he is gane;
And o'er his bones when they lay bare-o
The wind sall blaw for evermair-o,
The wind sall blow for evermair.”
(theek=feather our nest)
Steeleye Span on Hark! The Village Wait
As I was walking all alane
I heard twa corbies makin' mane;
And one ontae the other did say,
“Where shall we gang and dine the day
Where shall we gang and dine the day?”
“In behind yon oul fail dyke
I wot there lies a new slain knight;
And naebody kens that he lies there
But his hawk and his hound and his lady fair,
His hawk and his hound and his lady fair.”
His hawk is tae the hunting gane,
His hound to fetch the wildfowl hane;
His lady has taken another mate
So we can make our dinner sweet,
We can make our dinner sweet”
“And many's a one for him makes mane
Naebody kens where he has gane;
Through his white bones when they grow bare
The wind shall blow for evermare,
The wind shall blow for evermare.”
Steeleye Span on Time and Maddy Prior on Year
As I was walking all alane
I heard twa corbies making a main;
And tane untae the tither did say-o,
“Where shall we gang and dine the day-o,
Where shall we gang and dine the day?”
“In behint yon auld fell dyke
I wat there lies a new slain knight;
And naebody kens that he lies there-o
But his hawk and his hound and his lady fair-o,
His hawk and his hound and his lady fair.”
“His hound is tae the hunting gane,
His hound tae fetch the wild fowl hame;
His lady's taen anither mate-o
So we maun make our dinner sweet-o,
We maun make our dinner sweet.”
“Ye'll sit on his white hause bane
And I'll pike out his bonny blue een;
Wi mony a lock o' his gowden hair-o
We'll theek our nest when it grows bare-o,
We'll theek our nest when it grows bare.”
“Mony a one for him makes main
But nane shall ken where he is gane;
O'er his white bones when they are bare-o
The wind shall blow forever mair-0,
The wind shall blow forever mair.”
_________________
Here are 12 recordings of The Three Ravens/The Twa Corbies, that I've put into three groups, not a scientific grouping but useful to me.
The Three Ravens (#26) (Ia) (Ewan MacColl)
The Three Ravens (#26) (Ib) (Ed McCurdy)
The Three Ravens (#26) (Ic) (Ewan MacColl)
The Three Ravens (#26) (IIa: The Crow Song) (Peggy Seeger)
The Three Ravens (#26) (IIb: Crow Song) (Ed McCurdy)
The Three Ravens (#26) (IIc: The Three Crows) (Peggy Seeger)
The Three Ravens (#26) (IId: The Three Ravens) (Peggy Seeger)
The Three Ravens (#26) (IIe: Poor Old Crow) (Peggy Seeger)
The Three Ravens (#26) (IIf: Blow The Man Down) (Ewan MacColl)
The Three Ravens (#26) (IIIa: The Twa Corbies) (Ewan MacColl)
The Three Ravens (#26) (IIIb: The Twa Corbies) (Ray Fisher)
The Three Ravens (#26) (IIIc: The Two Ravens) (Robin & Barry Dransfield)
THE THREE RAVENS (#26) (I)
a) The Three Ravens
Ewan MacColl, The Long Harvest, Record Seven, Argo (Z)DA 72
There were three ravens sat on a tree
Downe a downe, hay downe, hay downe
There were three ravens sat on a tree
With a downe
There were three ravens sat on a tree
They were as black as they might be
With a downe, derrie, derrie, derrie, downe, downe
The one of them said to his make
Downe a downe, hay downe, hay downe
The one of them said to his make
With a downe
The one of them said to his make
Where shall we our breakfast take?
With a downe, derrie, derrie, derrie, downe, downe
Downe in yonder greene field
Downe a downe, hay downe, hay downe
Downe in yonder greene field
With a downe
Downe in yonder greene field
There lies a knight slain under his shield
With a downe, derrie, derrie, derrie, downe, downe
His hounds they lie downe at his feete
Downe a downe, hay downe, hay downe
His hounds they lie downe at his feete
With a downe
His hounds they lie downe at his feete
So well they can their master keepe
With a downe, derrie, derrie, derrie, downe, downe
His hawks they flie so eagerly
Downe a downe, hay downe, hay downe
His hawks they flie so eagerly
With a downe
His hawks they flie so eagerly
There 's no fowle dare him come nie
With a downe, derrie, derrie, derrie, downe, downe
Downe there comes a fallow doe
Downe a downe, hay downe, hay downe
Downe there comes a fallow doe
With a downe
Downe there comes a fallow doe
As great with young as she might goe
With a downe, derrie, derrie, derrie, downe, downe
She lift up his bloudy head
Downe a downe, hay downe, hay downe
She lift up his bloudy head
With a downe
She lift up his bloudy head
And kist his wounds that were so red
With a downe, derrie, derrie, derrie, downe, downe
She gat him up upon her backe
Downe a downe, hay downe, hay downe
She gat him up upon her backe
With a downe
She gat him up upon her backe
And carried him to earthen lake
With a downe, derrie, derrie, derrie, downe, downe
She buried him before the prime
Downe a downe, hay downe, hay downe
She buried him before the prime
With a downe
She buried him before the prime
She was dead herselfe ere even-song time
With a downe, derrie, derrie, derrie, downe, downe
God send every gentleman
Downe a downe, hay downe, hay downe
God send every gentleman
With a downe
God send every gentleman
Such hounds, such hawks, and such a leman
With a downe, derrie, derrie, derrie, downe, downe
b) The Three Ravens
Ed McCurdy, The Ballad Record, Riverside RLP 12-601
There were three ravens sat on a tree
Downe a downe, hay downe, hay downe
They were as black as they might be
With a downe
The one of them said to his make
Where shall we our breakfast take?
With a downe derrie derrie derrie downe downe
Downe in yonder greene field
Downe a downe, hay downe, hay downe
There lies a knight slain under his shield
With a downe
His hounds they lie downe at his feete
So well they can their master keepe
With a downe derrie derrie derrie downe downe
His hawks they flie so eagerly
Downe a downe, hay downe, hay downe
There 's no fowle dare him come nie
With a downe
Downe there comes a fallow doe
As great with young as she might goe
With a downe derrie derrie derrie downe downe
She lift up his bloudy head
Downe a downe, hay downe, hay downe
And kist his wounds that were so red
With a downe
She got him up upon her backe
And carried him to the earthen lake
With a downe derrie derrie derrie downe downe
She buried him before the prime
Downe a downe, hay downe, hay downe
She was dead herselfe ere even-song time
With a downe
God send every gentleman
Such hounds, such hawks, and such a leman
With a downe derrie derrie derrie downe downe
c) The Three Ravens
Ewan MacColl, with Peggy Seeger, The Long Harvest, Record Seven, Argo (Z)DA 72
There were three ravens on a tree
A down, a down, a derry down
There were three ravens on a tree
Heigh ho!
The middlemost raven said to me:
There lies a dead man at yon tree
A down, a down, a derry down
Heigh ho!
There comes his lady full of woe
A down, a down, a derry down
There comes his lady full of woe
Heigh ho!
There comes his lady full of woe
As great with child as she could go
A down, a down, a derry down
Heigh ho!
Who's this that's killed my own true love
A down, a down, a derry down
Who's this that's killed my own true love
Heigh ho!
I hope in heaven he'll nevere rest
Nor e'er enjoy that blessed place
A down, a down, a derry down
Heigh ho!
THE THREE RAVENS (#26) (II)
The Crow Song (Billy Magee Magar; Billy MaGee MaGaw, ecc)
a) The Crow Song
Peggy Seeger, The Long Harvest, Record Seven, Argo (Z)DA 72
There were three crows sat on a tree
O Billy Magee Magar!
There were three crows sat on a tree
O Billy Magee Magar!
There were three crows sat on a tree
And they were black as crows could be
And they all flapped their wings and cried:
Caw! Caw! Caw! Billy Magee Magar!
And they all flapped their wings and cried:
Billy Magee Magar!
Said one old crow unto his mate
O Billy Magee Magar!
Said one old crow unto his mate
O Billy Magee Magar!
Said one old crow unto his mate:
What shall we do for grub to ate?
And they all flapped their wings and cried:
Caw! Caw! Caw! Billy Magee Magar!
And they all flapped their wings and cried:
Billy Magee Magar!
There lies a horse on yonders plain
O Billy Magee Magar!
There lies a horse on yonders plain
O Billy Magee Magar!
There lies a horse on yonders plain
Who's by some cruel butcher slain
And they all flapped their wings and cried:
Caw! Caw! Caw! Billy Magee Magar!
And they all flapped their wings and cried:
Billy Magee Magar!
We'll perch ourselves on his backbone
O Billy Magee Magar!
We'll perch ourselves on his backbone
O Billy Magee Magar!
We'll perch ourselves on his backbone
And eat his eyeballs one by one
And they all flapped their wings and cried:
Caw! Caw! Caw! Billy Magee Magar!
And they all flapped their wings and cried:
Billy Magee Magar!
b) Crow Song
Ed McCurdy, The Ballad Record, Riverside RLP 12-601
There were three crows sat on a tree
Billy Magee Magar!
There were three crows sat on a tree
Billy Magee Magar!
There were three crows sat on a tree
They were black as crows could be
And they all flapped their wings and cried:
Caw! Caw! Caw! Billy Magee Magar!
And they all flapped their wings and cried:
Billy Magee Magar!
Said one old crow unto his mate
O Billy Magee Magar!
Says one old crow unto his mate
O Billy Magee Magar!
Says one old crow unto his mate:
What'll we do for grub to ate?
And they all flapped their wings and cried:
Caw! Caw! Caw! Billy Magee Magar!
And they all flapped their wings and cried:
Billy Magee Magar!
There lies a horse on yonder plain
O Billy Magee Magar!
There lies a horse on yonder plain
O Billy Magee Magar!
There lies a horse on yonder plain
Who by some cruel butcher was slain
And they all flapped their wings and cried:
Caw! Caw! Caw! Billy Magee Magar!
And they all flapped their wings and cried:
Billy Magee Magar!
We'll perch ourselves on his backbone
O Billy Magee Magar!
We'll perch ourselves on his backbone
O Billy Magee Magar!
We'll perch ourselves on his backbone
And pick his eyes out one by one
And they all flapped their wings and cried:
Caw! Caw! Caw! Billy Magee Magar!
And they all flapped their wings and cried:
Billy Magee Magar!
c) The Three Crows
Peggy Seeger, The Long Harvest, Record Seven, Argo (Z)DA 72
There was three crows set on a tree
Billy MaGee MaGaw
There was three crows set on a tree
They was as black as black could be
Billy MaGee MaGaw, MaGaw
Billy MaGee MaGaw
The old crow he said to his mate
Billy MaGee MaGaw
The old crow he said to his mate:
What shall we do for meat to eat?
Billy MaGee MaGaw, MaGaw
Billy MaGee MaGaw
There lies a horse in yonder's town
Billy MaGee MaGaw
There lies a horse in yonder's town
That by the butcher has been slain
Billy MaGee MaGaw, MaGaw
Billy MaGee MaGaw
We'll set ourselves on his backbone
Billy MaGee MaGaw
We'll set ourselves on his backbone
And pick his eyes out one by one
Billy MaGee MaGaw, MaGaw
Billy MaGee MaGaw
d) The Three Ravens
Peggy Seeger, The Long Harvest, Record Seven, Argo (Z)DA 72
There were three crows sat on yonder's tree
They're just as black as crows can be
One of them said to the mate:
What shall we do for grub to eat?
There's an old dead horse in yonder's lane
Whose body has been lately slain
We'll fly upon his old breast bone
And pluck his eyes out one by one
Old Satan tried to injure me
By cutting down my apple tree
He could not injure me at all
For I had apples all the fall
e) Poor Old Crow
Peggy Seeger, The Long Harvest, Record Seven, Argo (Z)DA 72
Three old crows sat on a tree
Just as black as crows could be
Poor old crow, poor old crow
Just as black as crows could be
The old he-crow says to his mate:
What shall we do for meat to eat?
Poor old crow, poor old crow
Just as black as crows could be
f) Blow The Man Down
Ewan MacColl, The Long Harvest, Record Seven, Argo (Z)DA 72
BLOW THE MAN DOWN / CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ratcliffe Highway" (lyrics)
cf. "The Salt Horse Song" (lyrics)
cf. "The Three Ravens" [Child 26] (lyrics)
There was three crows sat on a tree
To me way hay, blow the man down
And they was as black as black could be
O gimme some time to blow the man down
Blow the man down, bullies, blow the man down
To me way hay, blow the man down
Blow him right back to Liverpool Town
O gimme some time to blow the man down
Says one old crow unto his mate -
To me way hay, blow the man down
Where shall we go for somethin' to ate?
O gimme some time to blow the man down
There is an old horse on yonder hill
To me way hay, blow the man down
And there we can go and eat our fill
O gimme some time to blow the man down
There is an old horse on yonder mound
To me way hay, blow the man down
We'll light upon to his jaw-bone
O gimme some time to blow the man down
Says one old crow unto the other -
To me way hay, blow the man down
We'll pick his eyes out one by one
O gimme some time to blow the man down
THE THREE RAVENS (#26) (III)
The Twa Corbies
a) The Twa Corbies
Ewan MacColl, The Long Harvest, Record Seven, Argo (Z)DA 72
As I was walking all alane
I heard twa corbies making their mane:
The tane unto the tither did say
Whar sall we gang and dine the day?
In behint yon auld fail dyke
I wot there lies a new-slain knight
And naebody kens that he lies there
But his hawk, his hound, and his lady fair
His hound is to the hunting gane,
His hawk to fetch the wild-fowl hame
His lady 's ta'en anither mate
So we may mak our dinner sweet
Ye'll sit on his white hause-bane
And I'll pike out his bonny blue e'en
Wi' ae lock o' his gowden hair
We'll theek our nest when it grows bare
Mony's the one for him maks mane,
But nane sall ken whar he is gane:
O'er his white banes, when they are bare
The wind sall blaw for evermair
b) The Twa Corbies
Ray Fisher, with Archie Fisher, Bonny Lass Come O'er the Burn, Topic 12T128, 1961
As I was walking all alane
I heard twa corbies making a mane
The tane untae the t'other did say-O
Where sall we gang and dine the day-O?
Where sall we gang and dine the day?
It's in ahint yon auld fail dyke
I wot there lies a new slain knight
And naebody kens that he lies there-O
But his hawk and his hound and his lady fair-O
Hawk and his hound and his lady fair
His hawk is tae the hunting gane
His hound to bring the wild-fowl hame
His lady 's ta'en another mate-O
So we maun mak our dinner sweet-O
So we maun mak our dinner sweet
It's ye'll sit on his white hause-bane
And I'll pike out his bonny blue een
Wi ae lock o his gowden hair-O
We'll theek our nest when it grows bare-O
We'll theek our nest when it grows bare
There's mony a one for him makes mane
But nane sall ken where he is gane
And o'er his banes, when they lie bare
The wind sall blaw for evermair-O
The wind sall blaw for evermair
c) The Two Ravens
Robin & Barry Dransfield, Up to Now, A history of Robin & Barry Dransfield, Rare, un-released and classic tracks from 1970 up to 1996, Free Reed FRDCD 18 (song recorded 1977)
As I was walking all alone
I saw two ravens make their moan
The one unto the other say-O:
Where shall we go and dine today-O?
Where shall we go and dine today?
It's 'way behind yon fallen dyke
Oh, there I've seen a new slain knight
And there's nobody knows that he lies there-O
But his hawk, his hound and his lady fair-O
His hawk, his hound, his lady fair
His hawk is to the hunting gone
His hound to fetch the wild fowl home
His lady 's taken another mate-O
So we can have our dinner sweet-O
So we can have our dinner sweet
You sit on his horse's back
While I from his head his eyes I'll take
With a gold lock o his golden hair-O
We'll mend our nest when it grows bare-O
We'll mend our nest when it grows bare
There's nobody here for him to moan
And nobody knows where he is gone
O'er his white bones, when they are bare-O
The wind shall blaw for evermore-O
The wind shall blow for evermore
_________________
Three Ravens (Karine Polwart)
Three ravens sat upon a tree - Hey doun, hey derrie day
Three ravens sat upon a tree - Hey doun
Three ravens sat upon a tree
And they were black as black could be
And Sing la do la do a day
And the middle one said tae his mate - Hey doun, hey derrie day
The middle one said tae his mate - Hey doun
The middle one said tae his mate
Oh where shall we our dinner get
And Sing la do la do a day
And it's doun in yonder grass green field - Hey doun, hey derrie day
It's doun in yonder grass green field - Hey doun
It's doun in yonder grass green field
There lies a Knight that's newly killed
And Sing la do la do a day
And his horse is standing at his side - Hey doun, hey derrie day
His horse is standing at his side - Hey doun
His horse is standing at his side
And thinks he might get up and ride
And Sing la do la do a day
And his hounds are lying at his feet - Hey doun, hey derrie day
His hounds are lying at his feet - Hey doun
His hounds are lying at his feet
And they lick his wounds sae sore and deep
And Sing la do la do a day
There came a Lady full of woe - Hey doun, hey derrie day
There came a Lady full of woe - Hey doun
There came a Lady full of woe
As big with child as she could go
And Sing la do la do a day
And she's stretched herself doun at his side - Hey doun, hey derrie day
She's stretched herself doun at his side - Hey doun
She's stretched herself doun at his side
And for the love of him she's died
And Sing la do la do a day
_______________
THE TWA CORBIES
(As heard from Paul McNeill and Trevor Veitch, about 1965)
As I walking all alane,
I heard twa corbies makin' a mane,
Ane turned unto the other tae say,
Oh where shall we gang and dine today Oh,
Where shall we gang and dine to day,
I know where lies a new slain knight,
He lies behind an auld fell dyke, (earthen dam or wall)
And no one kens that he lies there, (knows)
Save his hawk, his hound, and his lady fair oh,
His hawk, his hound, and his lady fair.
His hawk is taken to the wing,
His hound has to the hunting gane,
His lady's taken an other mate
The wind shall blow for ever more Oh,
The wind shall blow for ever more.
Oh I'll sit on his white hause bane. (Skull, head bone)
And ye'll bite out his bonny blue een,
And with the locks of his gold hair,
We'll theak our nest when it grows bare Oh, (Thatch)
We'll theak our nest when it grows bare.
__________________
TWA CORBIES- recorded by Steeleye Span on "Hark! The Village Wait"(1970) and by the Sands
Family on "The Third Day"(1974). Lyrics from the insert of the Sands LP.
As I was walking all alane
I heard twa corbies makin' mane
And one ontae the other did say
Where will we gang and dine the day
Where will we gang and dine the day
In ahind yon oul fail dyke
I wot there lies a new slain knight
Naebody kens that he lies there
But his hawk and hound and his lady fair
His hawk and hound and his lady fair
His hawk is tae the hunting gane
His hound to bring a wild fowl hane
His wife has taken another mate
So we can make our dinner sweet
We can make our dinner sweet
And you can sit on his white breast bone
And I'll pick out his bonny blue e'en
And with a lock of his yellow hair
We'll theek our nest when it grows bare *
We'll theek our nest when it grows bare
And many's a one for him makes mane
Naebody kens where he has gane
Through his white bones when they grow bare
The wind shall blow forever mare
The wind shall blow forever mare
* theek=feather our nest