According to this http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/ballads/early_child/,

""The Three Ravens" (Child #26) is still popular, and one often hears it. There is persuasive internal evidence (in both the lyrics and the music) that it goes back (in some form) as far as the fifteenth century, but there is no proof. Ravenscroft gives a four-part arrangement, but one most often hears this ballad being sung by a single voice. The "Twa Corbies" version of this ballad (clearly a spoof on the original, with hawks, hound, and maid promptly deserting the fallen knight) comes from the nineteenth century."

On a side note, I've seen the americanized version in an old 4H or maybe boy scout songbook that's in my mom's piano bench.