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?' '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.' making a mane=grumbling tane=one fail dyke=turf wall hause-bane=neck-bone theek=thatch
'The Twa Corbies' is really a ballad, i.e. it has a musical accompaniment, so you are only getting half the story here. A 'corbie' is a crow. The similarity to the French word is no coincidence, Scotland and France having had close historical links over many centuries. 1295 is considered the date of the first official alliance between the two countries (the 'Auld Alliance') though the connection certainly goes further back.
Och hon for somebody! Och hey for somebody! I wad do - what wad I not, For the sake o' somebody? My heart is sair, I daurna tell My heart is sair for somebody; I wad walk a winter's night, For a sight o' somebody. If somebody were come again, Then somebody maun cross the main, And ilka ane will get his ain, And I will see my somebody. What need I kame my tresses bright, Or why should coal or candle-light E'er shine in my bower day or night, Since gane is my dear somebody? Oh! I hae grutten mony a day For ane that's banished far away; I canna sing, and maunna say How sair I grieve for somebody. grutten=wept
'Somebody' dates from the 18th century. The eponymous somebody refers to the exiled Stewart (Jacobite) king.
© Copyright Len Nicholson, 1996