| Little Boy Blue | |
|---|---|
 | |
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Real Name |
Unknown |
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First Appearance |
Unknown |
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Original Publisher |
English Nursery Rhyme |
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Created by |
Unknown |
Origin[]
"Little Boy Blue" is a popular English language nursery rhyme.
The most common version of the rhyme is:
- Little Boy Blue,
- Come blow your horn,
- The sheep's in the meadow,
- The cow's in the corn;
- Where is that boy
- Who looks after the sheep?
- Under the haystack
- Fast asleep.
- Will you wake him?
- Oh no, not I,
- For if I do
- He will surely cry.
Origins and Meanings[]
It may be alluded to in Shakespeare's King Lear (III, vi) when Edgar, masquerading as Mad Tom, says:
- Sleepest or wakest thou, jolly shepheard?
- Thy sheepe be in the corne;
- And for one blast of thy minikin mouth
- Thy sheepe shall take no harme.
It has been argued that Little Boy Blue was intended to represent Cardinal Wolsey, who was the son of an Ipswich butcher, who may have acted as a hayward to his father's livestock, but there is no corroborative evidence to support this assertion.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of Little Boy Blue from before January 1, 1930 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- Tommy Thumb's Little Song Book (1744)
Public Domain Animated Appearances[]
- Simple Simon (1935)
- Little Boy Blue (1936)
- Have You Got Any Castles? (1938)
- Goofy Goofy Gander (1950)
Public Domain Comic Appearances[]
- Fawcett's Funny Animals #13
- Four Color #41,59,68,90,103,140,253
- Jingle Jangle Comics #17
Public Domain Comic Appearances Inspired by Little Boy Blue[]
- Christmas Carnival (1952 series) #nn
- Christmas Carnival (1955 series) #2
- Tales of the Mysterious Traveler #10
“Little Boy Blue,” illustration from The National Nursery Book, ca. 1870.