Three Crows is a Scottish traditional folk song, that children have enjoyed for years.
It is both a counting and action song and is often accompanied by actions or gestures, with children pretending to be the crows sitting on a wall and then flying away.
It’s a simple and engaging way for young children to practice counting and rhythm while enjoying the playful language and imagery of the rhyme.
Its origins are unclear, but that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying it, be it the Scottish or English version.
Lyrics for Three Crows
And here are the English lyrics:
Three crows sat upon a wall,
Sat upon a wall
Sat upon a wall
Three crows sat upon a wall on a cold and frosty morning.
The first crow was crying for his mother,
Crying for his mother
Crying for his mother
The first crow was crying for his mother on a cold and frosty morning.
The second crow was crying for his father,
Crying for his father
Crying for his father
The second crow was crying for his father on a cold and frosty morning.
The third crow couldn’t fly at all,
Couldn’t fly at all
Couldn’t fly at all
The third crow couldn’t fly at all on a cold and frosty morning.
Here are lyrics to the Scottish version that can be quite difficult to follow:
Three craws sat upon a wa’,
Sat upon a wa’, sat upon a wa’,
Three craws sat upon a wa’,
On a cauld and frosty mornin’.
The first craw was greetin for his maw,
Greetin for his maw, greetin for his maw,
The first craw was greetin for his maw,
On a cauld and frosty mornin’
The second craw fell doon and broke his jaw,
Fell doon and broke his jaw, fell doon and
broke his jaw,
The second craw fell doon and broke his jaw,
On a cauld and frosty mornin’.
Now the third craw couldnae flee at a’
Couldnae flee at aw, he couldnae flee at a’
The third craw he couldnae flee at a’
On a cauld and frosty mornin’.
The fourth craw, he wasnae there at a’
he wasnae there at a’, he wasnae there at a’
The fourth craw, he wasnae there at a’
On a cauld and frosty mornin’
An that’s a’, we ken aboot the craws
We ken aboot the craws, we ken aboot the
craws
An that’s a’, we ken aboot the craws
On a cauld and frosty mornin’
