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Child's Ballads/26
"The Three Ravens" (Roud 5, Child 26) 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. Newer 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).
"The Twa Corbies", illustration by Arthur Rackham to Some British Ballads
The ballad takes the form of three scavenger birds conversing about where and what they should eat. One tells of a newly 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 a meal. The narrative ends with "God send euery gentleman / Such haukes, such hounds, and such a Leman".
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.
The Twa Corbies, illustration by G. Howell-Baker, from his book Penholm (1901)
Written in the Scots language, there is no record of how early "The Twa Corbies" first performed. Child (I, 253) quotes a letter from Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe to Walter Scott (August 8, 1802): "The song of 'The Twa Corbies' was given to me by Miss Erskine of Alva (now Mrs Kerr), who, I think, said that she had written it down from the recitation of an old woman at Alva." which indicates it was already known in Scotland at that date. [8] It was first published in Walter Scott's Minstrelsy in 1812.
It has a more dark and cynical tone than the Three Ravens, from which its lyrics were clearly derived. There are only two scavengers in “The 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 tell that the hawk and the hound have forsaken their master, and are off chasing other game, while his mistress has already taken another lover. The ravens are therefore given an undisturbed meal, as nobody else knows where the man lies, or even that he is dead. They talk in gruesome detail about the meal they will make 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 are a few different versions of this anonymously authored poem. The full text of at least one version of the poem is as follows:
The ballad was selected for use in the 2017 period film My Cousin Rachel, following a commission for a "dark" English folk tune sung at a Christmas feast for an early-1800s farmstead.[32]
A recording of the song features in the credits for the 2014 Channel 4 period drama New Worlds, which is set in England during the 1680s.
The song, in a version by John Harle, 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".
Translations and adaptations 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).
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 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 German Neo-Medieval group Die Streuner has their own version titled "Rabenballade", with a rather emotional melody and cynical lyrics: Not only do the dogs stop guarding their master, they eat his flesh the next day. The falcons (not mentioned to be his own) are simply "no longer seen" and the maid "already that evening doesn't sleep alone".
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.
the Czech group Ječmen playing Irish folk used the tune and text from Asonance to make a funny version about two chickens trying to survive after they've eaten all the barley and their master cannot make whisky.
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 .
the Russian folk band Sherwood (in Russian) recorded a Russian-language version of Twa Corbies in their album "Sweet Joan" (2010) using their own translation.
Basque: Bi beleak is a translation of "Twa Corbies" from the Basque poet Jon Mirande, sung by the Basque singer Imanol Larzabal.
The Polish folk band Odpust Zupełny recorded a Polish-language version 'Ballada o dwóch krukach' (Ballad of two ravens).
^Roger Michell (Director) (29 August 2017). "Audio commentary by Roger Michell and Kevin Loader". My Cousin Rachel (DVD). United Kingdom: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. 46 minutes in. And the song that we commissioned I wanted to be dark and not playful. And our musical director, ... Neill MacColl, did a marvellous job ... in helping select that old English folk tune ...
A literary analysis of the work: Vernon V Chatman III, “The Three Ravens Explicated,” Midwest Folklore, Vol. XIII #3, Summer 1963
January 29, 2023
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Wikisource has original text related to this article Child s Ballads 26 The Three Ravens Roud 5 Child 26 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 Newer 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 The Twa Corbies illustration by Arthur Rackham to Some British Ballads The ballad takes the form of three scavenger birds conversing about where and what they should eat One tells of a newly 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 a meal The narrative ends with God send euery gentleman Such haukes such hounds and such a Leman Contents 1 Text of the ballad 2 The Twa Corbies 3 Recordings 4 In popular culture 5 Translations and adaptations in other languages 6 See also 7 Notes 8 Files 9 External links 9 1 Written works 9 2 Recorded music and videos 10 Further readingText of the ballad EditThe 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 Edit The Twa Corbies illustration by G Howell Baker from his book Penholm 1901 Written in the Scots language there is no record of how early The Twa Corbies first performed Child I 253 quotes a letter from Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe to Walter Scott August 8 1802 The song of The Twa Corbies was given to me by Miss Erskine of Alva now Mrs Kerr who I think said that she had written it down from the recitation of an old woman at Alva which indicates it was already known in Scotland at that date 8 It was first published in Walter Scott s Minstrelsy in 1812 It has a more dark and cynical tone than the Three Ravens from which its lyrics were clearly derived There are only two scavengers in The 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 tell that the hawk and the hound have forsaken their master and are off chasing other game while his mistress has already taken another lover The ravens are therefore given an undisturbed meal as nobody else knows where the man lies or even that he is dead They talk in gruesome detail about the meal they will make 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 evermairThere are 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 9 I heard twa 10 corbies 11 making a mane 12 The tane 13 unto the t other say Where sall we gang and dine to day In behint yon auld fail 14 dyke I wot 15 there lies a new slain knight And naebody kens 16 that he lies there But his hawk his hound and lady fair His hound is to the hunting gane 17 His hawk to fetch the wild fowl hame 18 His lady s taen 19 another mate So we may mak our dinner sweet Ye ll sit on his white hause bane 20 And I ll pike 21 out his bonny blue een 22 Wi ae lock o his gowden 23 hair We ll theek 24 our nest when it grows bare Mony 25 a one for him makes mane 26 But nane sall ken 27 where he is gane 17 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 Edit The Three Ravens and Twa Corbies have been performed and recorded by artists such as Heather Alexander Annwn A Chorus of Two Ayreheart Damh the Bard Bishi Boiled in Lead Scott Boswell Djazia Satour Cecile Corbel Clam Chowder The Corries Crooked Mouth Alfred Deller The Duplets Frances Faye Richard Dyer Bennet Fiddler s Dram Ray Fisher amp Archie Fisher John Fleagle and Ewan MacColl John Harle The Hare and The Moon Peter Paul and Mary Bert Jansch Joel Cohen Kalin Sivov Andrew King Seth Lakeman Mandala Folk Marie Little Malinky Old Blind Dogs Omnia Kate Price Schelmish Sol Invictus Sonne Hagal Sequester Steeleye Span Andreas Scholl Hamish Imlach Libera choir Richard Thompson Ariella Uliano Diana Obscura Terre di mezzo Kenneth McKellar Custer LaRue and The Baltimore Consort Merry Wives of Windsor Sportive Tricks The Creepy Bard The Sands Family Alice Moving Under Skies Astral Weeks Winterfylleth and Faun The album Farewell Aldebaran contains a song clearly based on Three Ravens but the lyric credits go to Judy Henske music by Jerry Yester In popular culture EditThe popular American rock band The Horrible Crowes takes its name from Twa Corbies The song is featured in The Adventure Company s game Jack the Ripper and plays a major role in the gameplay The song is mentioned in Diana Gabaldon s novel The Fiery Cross when Roger MacKenzie encounters some crows in the woods The song appears in the 1922 fantasy novel The Worm Ouroboros by E R Eddison sung by the Lady Mevrian in mourning for her lost brother The novel was one of the favourites of J R R Tolkien and C S Lewis Dorothy L Sayers quotes the last two lines of the ballad in her mystery novel Clouds of Witnesses There is a story The 3 Ravens in Jim Henson s HBO special The Storyteller which despite its title is based on the German fairy tale The Six Swans The ballad was selected for use in the 2017 period film My Cousin Rachel following a commission for a dark English folk tune sung at a Christmas feast for an early 1800s farmstead 32 A recording of the song features in the credits for the 2014 Channel 4 period drama New Worlds which is set in England during the 1680s The song in a version by John Harle 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 Translations and adaptations in other languages EditBoth 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 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 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 Krahenfrass 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 German Neo Medieval group Die Streuner has their own version titled Rabenballade with a rather emotional melody and cynical lyrics Not only do the dogs stop guarding their master they eat his flesh the next day The falcons not mentioned to be his own are simply no longer seen and the maid already that evening doesn t sleep alone the Czech folk music group Spiritual kvintet adapted the melody of The Three Ravens to record a song Valka ruzi 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 the Czech group Jecmen playing Irish folk used the tune and text from Asonance to make a funny version about two chickens trying to survive after they ve eaten all the barley and their master cannot make whisky 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 Shotlandskaya pesnya 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 the Russian folk band Sherwood in Russian recorded a Russian language version of Twa Corbies in their album Sweet Joan 2010 using their own translation Basque Bi beleak is a translation of Twa Corbies from the Basque poet Jon Mirande sung by the Basque singer Imanol Larzabal The Polish folk band Odpust Zupelny recorded a Polish language version Ballada o dwoch krukach Ballad of two ravens See also EditList of Child BalladsNotes Edit Thomas Ravenscroft William Ravenscroft 1611 Covntry Pastimes Melismata p 20 Retrieved 2007 08 15 In printed text of the time u and v were often used interchangeably The refrain consists of nonsense words that create a vocal musical interlude between lines of the stanza See Puirt a beul Nie Variant of nigh Lake Pit Prime Euen song see Canonical hours Leman Sweetheart or mistress See Malcolm Douglas s post in the mudcat org thread on the subject which gives more detailed references alone two carrion crows moan one turf know knows a b gone home taken breast bone peck eyes with a lock of his golden feather many a moan none shall know over bones shall blow evermore Roger Michell Director 29 August 2017 Audio commentary by Roger Michell and Kevin Loader My Cousin Rachel DVD United Kingdom Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation 46 minutes in And the song that we commissioned I wanted to be dark and not playful And our musical director Neill MacColl did a marvellous job in helping select that old English folk tune Files Edit Rabenanwalte und Abmahnkrahen help info German a parody of The Three Ravens External links Edit Wikisource has original text related to this article Child s Ballads 26 Written works Edit The various versions of these ballads as collected by Child Online text Minstrelsy Ancient and Modern by William Motherwell 1827 Twa Corbies is on page 7 Music and words for choral version general licenseRecorded music and videos Edit The Three Ravens by Andy Niedermeier The Three Ravens video by Andy Niedermeier The Three Ravens sung by Sarah Leonard on John Harle s CD Terror and Magnificence The Three Ravens Explicated Chatman 1963 The Three Ravens The Facts on File companion to British poetry before 1600 Corbies by Steeleye Span music video on YouTubeFurther reading EditA literary analysis of the work Vernon V Chatman III The Three Ravens Explicated Midwest Folklore Vol XIII 3 Summer 1963 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Three Ravens amp oldid 1128204778, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
