13. The Twa Corbies

AS I was walking all alane,

I heard two corbies making a mane;

The tane unto the t’ other say,

“Where sall we gang and dine to-day?”

“In behint yon auld fail dyke,

I wot there lies a new slain knight;

And naebody kens that he lies there,

But his hawk, his hound, and lady fair.

“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.

“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.

“Mony a one for him makes mane,

But nane sall ken where he is gane;

Oer his white banes when they are bare,

The wind sall blaw for evermair.”