English poem
The Twa Corbies
by Frank Sidgwick (1879–1939)
1. As I was walking all alane, I heard twa corbies making a mane, The tane unto the t’other say, ‘Where sall we gang and dine to-day?’
2. ‘In behint yon auld fail dyke, I wot there lies a new slain knight; And nae body kens that he lies there, But his hawk, his hound, and lady fair.
3. ‘His hound is to the hunting gane, His hawk to fetch the wild-fowl hame, His lady’s ta’en another mate, So we may mak’ our dinner sweet.
4. ‘Ye’ll sit on his white hause bane, And I’ll pike out his bonny blue een: Wi’ ae lock o’ his gowden hair, We’ll theek our nest when it grows bare.
5. ‘Mony a one for him makes mane, But nane sall ken whare he is gane: O’er his white banes, when they are bare, The wind sall blaw for evermair.’
[Annotations: 2.1: ‘fail dyke,’ turf wall. 4.1: ‘hause-bane,’ neck-bone. 4.4: ‘theek,’ thatch.]