<P> `` Baa , Baa , Black Sheep '' is an English nursery rhyme , the earliest surviving version of which dates from 1731 . The words have not changed very much in two - and - a-half centuries . It is sung to a variant of the 1761 French melody Ah ! vous dirai - je , maman . Uncorroborated theories have advanced to explain the meaning of the rhyme . These include it is a complaint against taxes levied on the Medieval English wool trade and 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 4439 . </P>
<P> `` Baa , Baa , Black Sheep '' is an English nursery rhyme , the earliest surviving version of which dates from 1731 . The words have not changed very much in two - and - a-half centuries . It is sung to a variant of the 1761 French melody Ah ! vous dirai - je , maman . Uncorroborated theories have advanced to explain the meaning of the rhyme . These include it is a complaint against taxes levied on the Medieval English wool trade and 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 4439 . </P>
when does the earliest surviving version of baa baa black sheep date from
when does the earliest surviving version of baa baa black sheep date from
1731
1731