BALLAD REVIEWS THE THREE RAVENS AND TWO CORBIE BIRDS.

Two ballads, the latter being a darker edged counter-version of a pretty gruesome poem / song in its own right.

The Three Ravens was first set down in print in 1611, though it almost certainly predates even that time. It tells of three carrion crows, (the ravens), who meet in a tree, debating where best to eat. One mentions the corpse of a dead knight he has seen in a field, with his shield laid over his body. The raven suggests that they make a meal of his flesh.

However, their feast is prevented by the presence of the dead knight’s loyal hunting hound that has stayed by his side, and his hawk, which has also stayed close, and presents an immediate threat to the ravens.

Before the knights pets give up their vigil, the knight’s widow, though heavily pregnant, drags the body away and single handedly buries him, depriving the ravens of their meal, though her exertions kill her and her unborn child too.

It is unstated how the Knight died. Battle seems unlikely, as there are no other bodies referred to, so his death may be a murder or a hunting accident of some kind. That his widow is unable to find any aid in moving or burying him suggests that the knight is out of favour with his people before his death.

The Two Corbie Birds is a Scottish variation on the original ballad, probably developed at the height of the original’s popularity and manages to outdo the original in macabre detail. Here, only two crows are involved in the decision to dine on the conveniently discovered dead knight. They too realize that there is a dog, a hawk and a woman involved. However, the dog and hawk have both abandoned their master to forage for their own food and fortune, while his lover has long since abandoned him for the arms of another. The knight’s death is now a totally lonely and sad one.

The Corbie birds see the knight as loved and missed by the people in general, but not by anyone close to him, and they plan to pick his carcass clean down to the skeleton. They take relish in the prospect of eating his eyes and ears, and using his hair for nest lining. The mighty knight is to be consumed by nature before anyone ever finds the body.

Both poems – songs see a proud man reduced to nothing, the fate of all, rich and poor. We are all ultimately food for carrion, crows, worms, and crematoria flames.  The Three Ravens has the knight forgotten and possibly exiled by the people of his feudal realm, but loved by his good lady and his animals. In the Two Corbies, the lover deserts him, as do his animals, while the people mourn his loss, and we are told his body is unlikely to be found. The birds of both poems couldn’t care less about his fate and simply see him as a particularly rich source of food.

Despite their grim subject matter, the ballads carry a raw direct beauty that makes them quickly unforgettable.  

The ballads, especially The Two Corbie Birds version, have been recorded as a song by various folk bands including Steeleye Span. 

A link to the text of Two Corbie Birds can be seen here

http://www.twocrows.co.uk/twa_corbies.html

Arthur Chappell