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Return Of The Bloodied Crow

by Milton Hide

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about

Legend has it that a crow dabbled in the blood of the murdered Thomas á Beckett, giving it its distinctive red legs and bill. Milton Hide’s song weaves together the the murder, the legend, the loss and subsequent return of “The Bloodied Crow” (the chough) to Kent. The iconic species (three choughs appear on the city of Canterbury’s coat of arms) has been extinct in Kent for 160 years, but restoration of chalk grassland habitat and conservation grazing has created the right environment for the bird to thrive and now hand-reared choughs released by Kent Wildlife Trust and Wildwood Trust are being spotted around Dover castle.

Jo Church said, “An audience member suggested we write something about the reintroduction of the bird. We did a little research on the chough and came across the Thomas á Beckett connection which added colour to the song and gave me a framework to base lyrics on”

“We saw choughs when in west Wales where we were playing Fishguard Folk Festival. We knew nothing about them but they are delightful birds and this is a good news environmental story.” Said Jim Tipler
“We recorded the song and shot a video in one single live take and entered it into the pFITE (Poetry and Folk In The Environment) competition. Just search for “The Bloodied Crow Returns” on YouTube and you should find it”

lyrics

Chalk cliffs glowing white
Kentish midday light
A dark grey cloud descends
As the crow begins its flight

Glossy black wings cast
A shadow on the land
Swooping low towards a scene
Of treachery by man

In Canterbury’s walls
Dark forces at work
Four assassins rid the king
Of a troublesome low born clerk

The bloodied crow returns to Kent
It heralds a change in men
By restoring the land
Two centuries of harm are at an end

The crow swoops through the door
As the life blood leaves the priest
The killers flee, the bird descends
With reddened bill and feet

On Dover’s grassland cliffs
A stronghold Henry built
Three bloodied crows upon a shield
A testament to guilt

Its habitat destroyed
A final call was heard
It spread its wings and left this place
A persecuted bird

The bloodied crow returns to Kent

Now cattle eat the grass
On chalk above the waves
In Dover Castle’s walls again
The bloodied crow is saved

The bloodied crow returns to Kent
The bloodied crow returns to Kent

credits

released February 22, 2024
Lyrics and music: Milton Hide

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Milton Hide Brighton, UK

Milton Hide's songs are often stories about people or places they know. Often uplifting, sometimes melancholy, sometimes uptempo and sometimes laid back, many original songs and a few surprise covers, Jo and Jim's voices and playing blend like your favourite smoothie.

Milton Hide take their name from an area of scrub and coppice near their home in beautiful East Sussex. ... more

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