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  • The Twa Corbies
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The Twa Corbies

Scottish anonymous

A photograph of two crows

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 the day?’

‘In behind 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 his 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 make 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 an ane for him makes mane,
But nane sall ken whare he is gane;
Oer his white banes, when they are bare,
The wind sall blaw for evermair.’


Scottish anonymous

The Twa Corbies downloadable Word document

Tags:

anonymous birds nature Scots Scottish anonymous SQA National 5 texts

About this poem

Secondary School Juniors – Scots Poems Resource Unit PDF

Secondary School Juniors – Scots Poems Resource Unit Powerpoint

 

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Learning Resources

SQA Key: National 5        Higher
  • Scottish Poetry Collection (Nat 5 and Higher) resources at the University of Glasgow

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bronze sculpture of person in a robe.

Scottish anonymous

Many of Scotland's poems must forever remain undesignated.
More about Scottish anonymous

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