Kid's Songs, Lullabies and Nursery Rhymes For Your Little Stars

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Little Boy Blue, come blow 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
Dare you waken him?
No not I, for if I do he's sure to cry.

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Origins of "Little Boy Blue"

Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, formerly the Archbishop of York, and the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England, was known as "Boy Blue". The name came from Wolsey's Blazon of Arms that featured the azure faces of four leopards instead of the traditional scarlet cardinal's robes. Wolsey was the son of an Ipswich butcher, and, as a boy, looked after his father's livestock ("The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn").

Wolsey was wealthy and arrogant ("blowing one's horn"), and made himself indispensable to the King, Henry VIII. His aim in England was absolute monarchy with himself behind the throne (alluded to in the line "where's the boy who look after the sheep?"). In 1527, Henry was trying to get a divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, so that he could marry her maid, Anne Boleyn. Wolsey was tasked with seeking a marraige annulment for Henry from the Pope, Clement VII. He made several unsuccessful attempts. By 1529, Anne Boleyn had convinced Henry that Wolsey was deliberately delaying the annulment ("He's under the haystack fast asleep").

Origins text ©2011 TwinkleTrax Children's Songs.