During the siege of Colchester in , the Royalists hauled Humpty Dumpty to the top of the church tower of St Mary-at-the-Walls, and for eleven weeks Humpty sat on the wall and blasted away at the attacking Parliamentarian Roundhead troops, defending the town. Baa Baa Black Sheep, Have you any wool? Yes, sir, yes, sir, Three bags full; One for the master, One for the dame, And one for the little boy Who lives down the lane. Not surprisingly this rhyme is all about sheep, and the importance of sheep to the English economy. In medieval England, the wool trade was big business. There was enormous demand for it, mainly to produce cloth and everyone who had land, from peasants to major landowners, raised sheep. The great English landowners including lords, abbots and bishops began to count their wealth in terms of sheep, with some flocks totalling over 8, animals, all tended by dozens of full-time shepherds. After returning from the crusades in , Edward I imposed new taxes on the wool trade in order to pay for his military ventures.


Is ‘Baa, Baa, Black Sheep’ Politically Incorrect?
Summary of Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
The words have not changed very much in two-and-a-half centuries. It is sung to a variant of the French melody Ah! Uncorroborated theories have been advanced to explain the meaning of the rhyme, such as that it is a complaint against taxes levied on the Medieval English wool 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. 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.
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No matter what type of household you grew up in or where you live in the US, nursery rhymes are a staple of many childhoods. In fact, if you rounded up a group of adults and asked them to try and recite a favorite nursery rhyme from memory, chances are they would all have something to offer especially parents. 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 first time the rhyme was published with its familiar melody based off an 18th century French tune was all the way back in , by A. In and of itself, the rhyme seems harmless. It is just talking about sheep, after all.
The words have changed little in two and a half centuries. It is sung to a variant of the French melody Ah! Vous dirai-je, Maman. Uncorroborated theories have been advanced to explain the meaning of the rhyme. These include that it is a complaint against Medieval English taxes on wool and that 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 The numerical value of baa, baa, black sheep in Chaldean Numerology is: 9. The numerical value of baa, baa, black sheep in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9.