The Three Ravens

arrangement of the English folksong for three male voices (tenor, baritone, bass)

Duration 2' 45"

Words traditional

Availability

Text

There were three ravens sat on a tree,
down a down hey downe hey down,
They were as black as they might be,
with a down,
The one of them said to his mate,
Where shall we our breakfast take?
With a down derry derry derry down down.

Down in yonder green field,
There lies a knight slain under his shield,
His hounds they lie down at his feet,
So well they can their master keep,

His hawks they fly so eagerly,
There's no fowl dare him come nigh,
Down there comes a fallow doe,
As great with yong as she might go,

She lift up his bloody head,
And kissed his wounds that were so red,
She got him up upon her back,
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 hawkes, such hounds, and such a leman.

(traditional English song - spelling modernised)

Categories choral - low voices unaccompanied; vocal - two or more solo voices