Baa, Baa, Black Sheep

Baa Baa Black Sheep is a nursery rhyme, sung to a variant of the 1761 French melody "Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman". The original form of the tune is used for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and the Alphabet song.

tandard version

: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.

Variants

In "Mother Goose's Melody" (circa 1765) the last lines run::But none for the little boy:Who cries in the lane. [Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes]

An old variant of the ending runs::Two for the master,:one for the dame,:but none for the little boy:who lives down the lane.or similar. [See [http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/4560-Anonymous-British-Bah--Bah--Black-Sheep entry at OldPoetry.com] ] This was the variant of the lyrics until 1765, when it changed to the current version, thought to be more suitable for young children. The old version referred to Edward I's wool tax, which he imposed in 1272 to fund his crusades. A third of the price of wool went to the king (the master), a third to the monasteries (the dame), and none for the shepherds (the little boy). [cite news .|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1045841/Why-does-weasel-pop---secret-meaning-best-loved-nursery-rhymes.html |publisher=Daily Mail |last=Collcutt |first=Deborah |title=Why does the weasel go pop? - the secret meaning of our best-loved nursery rhymes |date=2008-08-16 |accessdate=2008-08-16]

Reference in linguistics

The term 'Baa Baa Black Sheep dialect' has also been used informally in linguistics to describe varieties of English (such as British English) that allow the syntax "Have you any wool?" compared to others (such as American English) that prefer "Do you have any wool?" with the auxiliary verb 'do'. [For example, Radford, Andrew, "Syntactic Theory and the Structure of English: A Minimalist Approach" pages 235 – 259 talks of 'Baa Baa Black Sheep varieties of English' Cambridge University Press, 1997. ISBN 0521477077.] In the question 'Have you any wool?' the verb 'have' appears as a transitive verb with the sense of possession, however it also appears to behave like an auxiliary in the sense that it undergoes syntactic inversion. [Radford, op. cit. page 235]

In other languages

Swedish version

The nursery rhyme is very common in Sweden.

:Bää bää, vita lamm:Har du någon ull?:Ja, ja kära barn, jag har säcken full

:Heldagsrock åt far, :och söndagskjol åt mor:Och två par strumpor åt lille, lillebror

Originally, translated from English by August Strindberg, this rhyme started with 'Bää bää, Svarta får' ('black sheep'), but Alice Tegnér changed it to 'vita lamm' ('white lamb').

Translated into English the Swedish rhyme reads::Baa, baa white lamb:Have you any wool?:Yes, yes dear child, I have the whole bag full

:A holiday-robe for father, :and a Sunday-skirt for mother:And two pairs of socks for the little, little brother.

Dutch version

The Dutch version of this common nursery rhyme goes::Schaapje, schaapje, heb je witte wol?:Ja baas, ja baas, drie zakken vol.:Eén voor de meester en één voor zijn vrouw.:Eén voor het kindje, dat bibbert van de kou.

The English translation would be::Little sheep, little sheep, do you have white wool?:Yes boss, Yes boss, three bags full.:One for the master, one for his wife.:One for the little child, that shivers from the cold.

Norwegian version

The Norwegian Bokmål version goes::Bæ, bæ, lille lam, har du noe ull? :Ja, ja, kjære barn, jeg har kroppen full. :Søndagsklær til far, og søndagsklær til mor :og to par strømper til bittelillebror.

The English translation would be::Baa baa little lamb, have you any wool?:Yes, yes, dear child, my body's full.:Sunday's trousers for the father, Sunday's trousers for the mother:And a pair of socks for the wee little brother.

References

* Opie, Iona and Peter, "The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes", Oxford University Press, 1951.

Footnotes

See also

*Nursery rhymes

External links

* [http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/blacksh.htm Rhyme and music]
* [http://nurseryrhymes.allinfoabout.com/Baa_baa_black_sheep.html The origin of the nursery rhyme Baa Baa Black Sheep]
* [http://www.famousquotes.me.uk/nursery_rhymes/nursery_rhymes_index.htm The Origins of Nursery Rhymes]
* [http://www.kidsbuilder.com/SingAlongForKids/BaaBaaBlackSheep.html Baa Baa Black Sheep at KidsBuilder.com w/music]
* [http://www.rhymes.org.uk/baa_baa_black_sheep.htm History and Origin of Mother Goose's Ba Ba Black Sheep rhyme]