E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Corbeaux.
Bearers, i.e. persons who carry the dead to the grave; mutes, etc. So called from the corbillards, or coches d’eau, which went from Paris to Corbeil with the dead bodies of those who died in the 16th century of a fatal epidemic.
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“J’ai lu quelque part que ce coche [the Gorbillard] servit, sous Henri IV., a transporter des morts, victimes d’une épidémie de Paris à Corbeil. Le nom de Corbillard resta depuis aux voitures funèbres.”—Alf. Bonnardot.
ca [Blind-heart].
