Annotation:There were Three Ravens
X:1 T:There were Three Ravens L:1/8 M:2/4 S:Chappell – Popular Music of the Olden Times (1859) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:G Dorian z2 G2|G2 A2|B2d2|c2B2|A4|G3A|B2c2| d3_e|d2d2|G2A2|B2G2|A2B2|c2 Bc|(d4| d2)d2|d2f2|e2d2|c2B2|A3A|B2d2|c2B2| A2^F2|D2 Bc|d4|cBAG|^FG A2|G4||
THERE WERE THREE RAVENS. English, Ballad Air (2/4 time). G Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part. The air appears in Melismata (1611), however Ritson thought it to be considerably older than that. The air was still quite popular in many parts of England at the time Chappell (1859) was writing.
There were three Ravens sat on a tree,
Downe, a downe, hay downe, hay downe,
There were three Ravens sat on a tree,
With a downe…
There were three Ravens sat on a tree,
They were as blacke as they might be,
With a downe, derrie, derrie, derrie, downe, downe.
