✦ A Nursery Rhyme ✦
Have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full. One of the oldest and best-loved rhymes in the English language.
Read aloud by Storyland Classics ✦ 30 seconds ✦ Watch on YouTube
✦ The Rhyme ✦
Traditional English nursery rhyme. Public domain.
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.
✦ About the Rhyme ✦
“Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” first appeared in print in 1744, in one of the earliest books of nursery rhymes, Tommy Thumb’s Pretty Song Book. It is usually sung to the same tune as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and the alphabet song.
Wool was precious in old England, and sheep were sheared each year to make cloth. The rhyme shares out the wool between the master, the dame (the lady of the house), and a little boy down the lane.
✦ Talk About It ✦