Baa, Baa, Black Sheep - wikipedia Baa, Baa, Black Sheep For other uses, see Baa, Baa, Black Sheep ( disambiguation ). `` Baa, Baa, Black Sheep '' Sheet music Nursery rhyme Published c. 1744 Songwriter ( s ) Unknown `` Baa, Baa, Black Sheep '' is an English nursery rhyme, the earliest surviving version of which dates from 1731. The words have not changed very much in two - and - a-half centuries. It is sung to a variant of the 1761 French melody Ah ! vous dirai - je, maman. Uncorroborated theories have advanced to explain the meaning of the rhyme. These include it is a complaint against taxes levied on the Medieval English wool trade and it is about the slave trade. In the twentieth century it was a subject of controversies in debates about political correctness. It has been used in literature and popular culture as a metaphor and allusion. The Roud Folk Song Index classifies the lyrics and their variations as number 4439. Contents 1 Modern version 2 Original version 3 Melody 4 Origins and meaning 5 Modern controversies 6 Allusions 7 See also 8 Notes Modern version The rhyme as illustrated by Dorothy M. Wheeler Recent versions tend to take the following form : Baa, baa, black sheep, Have you any wool ? Yes, sir, yes, sir, Three bags full ; One for the master, And one for the dame, And one for the little boy Who lives down the lane. The rhyme is a single stanza in trochaic metre, which is common in nursery rhymes and relatively easy for younger children to master. The Roud Folk Song Index, which catalogues folk songs and their variations by number, classifies the song as 4439 and variations have been collected across Great Britain and North America. And as stated above, the tune is widely accepted as a common - practice nursery rhyme, but it is only a fragment of an 18th century anecdotal song / poetry to shed light on the transitional economy of the period, for both good... and otherwise. Original version Illustration for the rhyme from Mother Goose 's Melody, first published c. 1765 This rhyme was first printed in Tommy Thumb 's Pretty Song Book, the oldest surviving collection of English language nursery rhymes, published c. 1744 with the lyrics very similar to those still used today : Bah, Bah, a black Sheep, Have you any wool ? Yes merry I have, Three bags full, Two for my master, One for my dame, None for the little boy That cries in the lane. In the next surviving printing, in Mother Goose 's Melody ( c. 1765 ), the rhyme remained the same, except the last lines, which were given as, `` But none for the little boy who cries in the lane ''. Melody Baa, Baa, Blacksheep Tune for Baa, Baa, Blacksheep Problems playing this file ? See media help. The rhyme is usually sung to a variant of the 1761 French melody Ah ! vous dirai - je, maman, which is also used for `` Twinkle Twinkle Little Star '' and the `` Alphabet song ''. The words and melody were first published together by A.H. Rosewig in ( Illustrated National ) Nursery Songs and Games, published in Philadelphia in 1879. Origins and meaning As with many nursery rhymes, attempts have been made to find origins and meanings for the rhyme, most which have no corroborating evidence. Katherine Elwes Thomas in The Real Personages of Mother Goose ( 1930 ) suggested the rhyme referred to resentment at the heavy taxation on wool. This has particularly been taken to refer to the medieval English `` Great '' or `` Old Custom '' wool tax of 1275, which survived until the fifteenth century. More recently the rhyme has been incorrectly connected to the slave trade, particularly in the southern United States. This explanation was advanced during debates over political correctness and the use and reform of nursery rhymes in the 1980s, but has no supporting historical evidence. Rather than being negative, the wool of black sheep may have been prized as it could be made into dark cloth without dyeing. Modern controversies William Wallace Denslow 's illustrations for Baa, Baa, Black Sheep, from a 1901 edition of Mother Goose Further information : Loony Left § Baa Baa White Sheep A controversy emerged over changing the language of `` Baa Baa Black Sheep '' in Britain from 1986, because, it was alleged in the popular press, it was seen as racially dubious, a version once created by the princess saving, dragon slaying Sir Benjamin Roper of Nuneaton, Warwickshire. This was based only on a rewriting of the rhyme in a kitchen at 4am in one private nursery as an exercise for the children, a princess and there and not on any local government policy. A similar controversy emerged in 1999 when reservations about the rhyme were submitted to Birmingham City Council by a working group on racism in children 's resources, which were never approved or implemented. Two private nurseries in Oxfordshire in 2006 altered the song to `` Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep '', with black being replaced with a variety of other adjectives, like `` happy, sad, hopping '' and `` pink ''. In 2012, a private nursery in Kingston upon Thames replaced `` black '' with `` little '' for their Easter show. Commentators have asserted that these controversies have been exaggerated or distorted by some elements of the press as part of a more general campaign against political correctness. In 2014, there was reportedly a similar controversy in the Australian state of Victoria. Allusions The phrase `` yes sir, yes sir, three bags full sir '' has been used to describe any obsequious or craven subordinate. It is attested from 1910, and originally was common in the British Royal Navy. The rhyme has often been raised in literature and popular culture. Rudyard Kipling used the rhyme as the title of a semi-autobiographical short story he wrote in 1888. The name Black Sheep Squadron was used for the Marine Attack Squadron 214 of the United States Marine Corps from 1942 and the title Baa Baa Black Sheep was used for a book by its leader Colonel Gregory `` Pappy '' Boyington and for a TV series ( later syndicated as Black Sheep Squadron ) that aired on NBC from 1976 until 1978. In 1951, together with `` In the Mood '', `` Baa Baa Black Sheep '' was the first song ever to be digitally saved and played on a computer. See also Children 's literature portal Notes ^ Jump up to : Opie, I. & Opie, P. ( 1997 ) ( 1951 ). The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes ( 2nd ed. ). Oxford University Press. p. 88. ISBN 0 - 19 - 860088 - 7. Jump up ^ Hunt, P. ( 1997 ). International Companion Encyclopedia of Children 's Literature. Routledge. p. 174. ISBN 0 - 2031 - 6812 - 7. Jump up ^ `` Searchable database '', English Folk Song and Dance Society, retrieved 28 March 2012. Jump up ^ J.J. Fuld, The Book of World - Famous Music : Classical, Popular, and Folk ( Courier Dover Publications, 5th edn., 2000 ), ISBN 0 - 486 - 41475 - 2, pp. 593 - 4. ^ Jump up to : W.S. Baring - Gould and C. Baring Gould, The Annotated Mother Goose ( Bramhall House, 1962 ), ISBN 0 - 517 - 02959 - 6, p. 35. ^ Jump up to : `` Ariadne '', New Scientist, 13 March 1986. Jump up ^ Lindon, J. ( 2001 ). Understanding Children 's Play. Cheltenham : Nelson Thornes. p. 8. ISBN 0 - 7487 - 3970 - X. ^ Jump up to : Curran, J. ; Petley, J. ; Gaber, I. ( 2005 ). Culture wars : the media and the British left. Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press. pp. 85 -- 107. ISBN 0 - 7486 - 1917 - 8. Jump up ^ Cashmore, E. ( 2004 ). Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic Studies. London : Taylor & Francis. p. 321. ISBN 0 - 415 - 28674 - 3. Jump up ^ `` Nursery opts for `` rainbow sheep '' ``. BBC News Education. 7 March 2006. Retrieved 4 July 2008. Jump up ^ `` How private school abandoned nursery rhyme 's lyrics for Easter show sparking political correctness accusations ''. Daily Mail. 6 April 2012. Jump up ^ `` Racial connotations over black sheep prompts changes to Baa Baa Black Sheep at Victorian kindergartens ''. Herald Sun. 17 October 2014. Jump up ^ Partridge, Eric ; Beale, Paul ( 1986 ). A dictionary of catch phrases : British and American, from the sixteenth century to the present day ( 2nd revised & abridged ed. ). Routledge. p. 547. ISBN 0 - 415 - 05916 - X. Jump up ^ F.E. Walton, Once They Were Eagles : The Men of the Black Sheep Squadron ( University Press of Kentucky, 1996 ), ISBN 0 - 8131 - 0875 - 6, p. 189. Jump up ^ J. Fildes, `` Oldest computer music unveiled '', BBC News, retrieved 15 August 2012. Nursery rhymes ( list ) `` A-Tisket, A-Tasket '' `` Aiken Drum '' `` Baa, Baa, Black Sheep '' `` Did You Ever See a Lassie ? '' `` Hey Diddle Diddle '' `` Hickory Dickory Dock '' `` Hot Cross Buns '' `` Humpty Dumpty '' `` I 'm a Little Teapot '' `` It 's Raining, It 's Pouring '' `` Jack and Jill '' `` Little Bo - Peep '' `` Little Boy Blue '' `` Little Jack Horner '' `` Little Miss Muffet '' `` Mary Had a Little Lamb '' `` Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary '' `` Old King Cole '' `` Old MacDonald Had a Farm '' `` Old Mother Hubbard '' `` Peter Piper '' `` Polly Put the Kettle On '' `` Poor Mary '' `` Pop Goes the Weasel '' `` Pussy Cat Pussy Cat '' `` Rain Rain Go Away '' `` Roses Are Red '' `` Rub - a-dub - dub '' `` Simple Simon '' `` Sing a Song of Sixpence '' `` Sticks and Stones '' `` The Grand Old Duke of York '' `` The Queen of Hearts '' `` There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe '' `` Three Little Kittens '' `` Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star '' Clapping `` A Sailor Went to Sea '' `` Down Down Baby '' `` Mary Mack '' `` Miss Susie '' `` Miss Lucy '' `` Pat - a-cake '' `` Pease Porridge Hot '' `` Pretty Little Dutch Girl '' `` Stella Ella Ola '' Counting `` Duck, duck, goose '' `` Eeny, meeny, miny, moe '' `` One, Two, Buckle My Shoe '' `` One, Two, Three, Four, Five '' `` This Old Man '' `` Tinker, Tailor '' Finger - plays `` Five Little Ducks '' `` Five Little Monkeys '' `` Five Little Speckled Frogs '' `` Itsy Bitsy Spider '' `` Little Robin Redbreast '' `` Round and Round the Garden '' `` This Little Piggy '' `` Two Little Dickie Birds '' Games `` London Bridge '' `` The Muffin Man '' `` Mulberry Bush '' `` Oranges and Lemons '' `` Ring a Ring o ' Roses '' `` The Farmer in the Dell '' Riddle `` As I was going to St Ives '' Lullabies `` Hush, Little Baby '' `` Rock - a-bye Baby '' Rounds `` Ding Dong Bell '' `` Frère Jacques '' `` Kookaburra '' `` Row, Row, Row Your Boat '' `` Scotland 's Burning '' `` Three Blind Mice '' Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baa,_Baa,_Black_Sheep&oldid=852414944 '' Categories : Fictional sheep 1744 songs Songs about sheep English nursery rhymes Roud Folk Song Index songs Songwriter unknown Hidden categories : Articles with hAudio microformats Good articles Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikisource বাংলা Brezhoneg Français עברית മലയാളം Norsk Polski Русский Svenska 粵語 中文 4 more Edit links This page was last edited on 28 July 2018, at 20 : 57 ( UTC ). 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Question: when does the earliest surviving version of baa baa black sheep date from
Answer: 1731