Baa Baa Black Sheep and The Black Death

Illustration of Baa Baa Black Sheep with three bags of wool from Mother Goose Melody (first published c. 1765).

After the Black Death, a plague that ravaged Europe between 1346 to 1353, sheep farming largely replaced crop farming due to the lack of labourers.

The nursery rhyme 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' is often misquoted and was about the surviving (but starving) farm hands left without work…

‘Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sir. no sir, three bags full.
Two for my master and one for his dame
But none for the little boy who cries down the lane.’

Had you heard this before? Let us know your favourite nursery rhyme origin stories in the comments below.

Source:
Disease and History: From Ancient Times to Covid-19 by Frederick F Cartwright and Michael Biddiss.