Leaving Eleanor, old Martin returned to his table and remained standing.
“You all know me. I’m Martin Crozier, so haud your tongues when I’m singing the Twa Corbies.” He began to sing in his weary old voice, with the room obediently quiet. He fixed Eleanor with a stare as if to ensure she was paying attention.
Twa CorbiesThe Twa Corbies is a five-stanza Border ballad where two corbies – crows – talk about a dead knight lying behind a dyke. Sung properly, it carries an air of tragedy, of the desolation of loss and the ever-present sadness of the old Border. Eleanor had heard others singing it and had been disappointed, for although they were undoubtedly melodious, they failed to capture the horror of the crows pecking the “bonny blue een” from the abandoned knight.
Twa CorbiesFrom a grum
