The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Part 1, Chapter 26

The Three Ravens

There were three ravens sat on a tree,
Refrain: Downe a downe, hay down, hay downe
There were three ravens sat on a tree,
Refrain: With a downe
There were three ravens sat on a tree,
They were as black as they might be.
Refrain: 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 green field,
There lies a knight slain under his shield.
‘His hounds they lie downe at his feet,
So well they can their master keep.
‘His hawks they fly so eagerly,
There’s no fowle dare him come nie.’
Downe there comes a fallow doe,
As great with yong as she might goe.
She lift up his bloudy hed,
And kist his wounds that were so red.
She got him up upon her backe,
And carried him to earthen lake.
She buried him before the prime,
She was dead herself ere even-song time.
God send every gentleman,
Such hawks, such hounds, and such a leman.

Where this page came from

This page was imported from Wikisource. “The English and Scottish Popular Ballads” by Francis James Child (1882) is in the public domain; the text is as transcribed and proofread by Wikisource's volunteers.

Nobody has written it yet — it is the source material at a new address, which is why search engines are asked to skip it and why no one earns from it. It is up for grabs: take it on, and it is yours to rewrite and to earn from.