# Little Boy Blue

"Little Boy Blue" is an English nursery rhyme in print by about 1744, about a young herd-boy who has fallen asleep and left the animals to stray into the meadow and the corn.

## At a glance

| | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Sung in | English |
| Words by | Traditional |
| First known | c. 1744 |
| Best for ages | 2–7 |
| Mood | playful, traditional |
| Page | https://littlesongbook.com/songs/little-boy-blue/ |

## Lyrics

### Verse 1 (en)

Little Boy Blue, come blow up your horn.
The sheep's in the meadow,
The cow's in the corn.
But where is the boy who looks after the sheep?
He's under the haystack,
Fast asleep.

## Common questions

**How old is "Little Boy Blue"?**

The earliest printed version is in "Tommy Thumb's Little Song Book" of about 1744, though the rhyme may well be older.

**Who is the "boy who looks after the sheep"?**

He is a herd-boy — the child whose job was to watch the animals and blow a horn to warn when livestock strayed onto the crops. In the rhyme he has failed at exactly that: he is fast asleep under the haystack while the sheep get into the meadow and the cow into the corn.

**Is "Little Boy Blue" about a real person, like Cardinal Wolsey?**

An old idea that Little Boy Blue represented Cardinal Wolsey has been dismissed by scholars as unfounded. The rhyme is also old enough that Shakespeare seems to allude to it in "King Lear", where a character speaks of a shepherd and sheep in the corn.

## Sources

- [Wikipedia — Little Boy Blue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Boy_Blue)
- https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6649245