portaireacht bhéil

Three Ravens and Twa Corbies: the transformations of a traditional song from the 17th to the 20th century

Ian Pittaway Alarc’h An (Swan The), Billy MacGee MacGore, Billy Magee Magar, Billy Magee Magaw, Billy McGee McGaw, Bonnie Doon, Buffalo Gals, Caledonian Hunt’s Delight, Child ballads, Child Francis James, Christy's Minstrels, Cobbold William ‘New Fashions’, diddling, folk music, jigging, lilting, lute, Melismata (Thomas Ravenscroft), mouth music, non-lexical vocables, port à beul, portaireacht bhéil, quodlibet, Ravenscroft Thomas, Scott Sir Walter, Sharp Cecil, Steeleye Span, Straloch lute manuscript, There Were Three Blackbirds, There Were Three Cows, There were three Ravens, There Were Two Cows, Three Black Crows, Three Blackbirds, Three Cows, Three Ravens, traditional music, Twa Corbies, Two Cows, When Johnny Comes Marching Home, Ye banks and braes o’ bonnie Doon 0 Comment

There were three Ravens first appeared in print in Melismata, a book of songs compiled by Thomas Ravenscroft, published in 1611. A previous article, There were three Ravens: sublime love and ridiculous riddles, explored the layers of meaning in the song, found through its contemporaneous cultural references, and the comically bizarre interpretations offered by some modern authors.

This second article traces the many transformations of the song in the oral tradition from the 17th to the 20th century, with videos, soundfiles and music in staff notation. This includes the version printed by Thomas Ravenscroft in 1611; a different version included in a quodlibet (song medley) by William Cobbold in c. 1620; its Scottish metamorphosis, Twa Corbies, in the 18th and 19th century; 19th century variants in Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, and Scotland; a 19th century American minstrel show parody, sung to the tune of Bonnie Doon, which then spread in the oral tradition in the USA and England; a 19th century US version sung to several variants of When Johnny Comes Marching Home; and 20th century variants sung in Scotland, the USA, and Canada.   

We conclude with some reflections on the changes the song has undergone over the centuries.

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There were three Ravens: sublime love and ridiculous riddles

Ian Pittaway bestiaries, diddling, Dowland John, folk music, jigging, Lachrimae (John Dowland), lilting, lute, Melismata (Thomas Ravenscroft), mouth music, mystery plays, non-lexical vocables, port à beul, portaireacht bhéil, Ravenscroft Thomas, Shakespeare William, There were three Ravens, Three Ravens, traditional music, Twa Corbies 10 Comments

The earliest surviving record of There were three Ravens is in Melismata, a book of songs compiled by Thomas Ravenscroft, published in 1611. Since Ravenscroft did not write this anonymous song, this article describes his role in bringing it to print.

The story told in the song is that a knight lay dead in a field; three ravens were prevented from predating on his body by his faithful hounds and hawks guarding him; his pregnant lover found his body, carried him and buried him; then she died from the strain. Within this simple tale is a centuries-old tradition of profound symbolism and meaning, which is explored.

There were three Ravens includes some nonsense syllables – “downe a downe hey downe hey downe” – so the next section puts this in the context of rhythmic vocalising in renaissance and traditional music.

In the modern era, Ravens has been interpreted in ways that are so bizarre and incongruous they are genuinely hilarious. The logical pitfalls and absurdities are explained.

In the oral tradition, variants of Ravens were collected in the intervening centuries in England, Scotland, the USA and Canada. A second article, Three Ravens and Twa Corbies: the transformations of a traditional song from the 17th to the 20th century, explores this song tradition.  

We begin with a video performance of There were three Ravens as published by Thomas Ravenscroft in 1611, performed with 4 voices and 4 lutes.

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