Baa, Baa, Black Sheep

Originally written in 1731, “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” was first printed in a collection of English rhymes called Tommy Thumb’s Pretty Song Book in 1744. In 1930 Katherine Elwes Thomas wrote about the history of the rhyme in her book, The Real Personages of Mother Goose.

In the late 13th century in Medieval England after returning home from the Crusades, King Edward I ran out of funds. War was expensive and Edward I needed to replenish his treasury, so he imposed a new tax called the Old Custom tax on the sheep farmers. Wool was highly sought after for making cloth. The king collected a third of the wool from each farmer, and the church took another third, leaving the farmer with the final third. The tax was so successful for the king that it remained in place until the 15th century.