<P> 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 . </P> <P> The rhyme is a single stanza in trochaic metre, which is common in nursery rhymes and relatively easy for younger children to master . The Roud Folk Song Index, which catalogues folk songs and their variations by number, classifies the song as 4439 and variations have been collected across Great Britain and North America . </P> <P> This rhyme was first printed in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book, the oldest surviving collection of English language nursery rhymes, published c. 1744 with the lyrics very similar to those still used today: </P> <P> Bah, Bah, a black Sheep, Have you any Wool? Yes merry I Have, Three Bags full, Two for my Master, One for my Dame, None for the Little Boy That cries in the lane . </P>

Bla bla black sheep have you any wool yes sir yes sir