Yes it was Sydney Carter who wrote The Crow on the Cradle It's a reworking of Rock-a-bye Baby of couurse, with bits from Little Boy Blue and so forth. A lovely song.

And every bit as relevant today, in the context of the Towers and Afghanistan. Espcially that last verse:

Bring me a gun and I'll shoot that bird dead
That's what your mammy and pappy once said
Crow on the cradle, oh what should I do
That is a thing that I leave to you
Sang the crow on the cradle

Intentionally and consciously Sydney left the question open in the song. He knows what he thinks the answer is, but he didn't fall into the trap of laying it down for everyone else. It's still hanging in the air for us all to answer.