#52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Week 26 - Prompt: 'Black Sheep'

Week 26.  ‘Black Sheep’

There would have been 'black sheep' in our family I am sure, but the only ones hinted at I don't have sufficient information for a story, so I am covering a bit of social history to do with sheep and wool instead.

In the English language, ‘black sheep’ is an idiom used to describe an odd or disreputable member of a group, especially within a family. The term stems from the genetic effect in sheep whereby a recessive gene occasionally manifests in the birth of a sheep with black rather than white coloring; these sheep stand out in the flock and their wool was traditionally considered less valuable because it could not be dyed.

The term has typically been given negative implications, implying waywardness.

 In 18th and 19th century England, the black color of the sheep was seen as the mark of the devil.  In modern usage, the expression has lost some of its negative connotations, though the term is usually given to the member of a group who has certain characteristics or lack thereof deemed undesirable by that group.

"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. 

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  imposed by King Edward I,  where profit from the sale of wool was divided into thirds - one for the Crown, one for the Church and one for the farmer, 
- it is about the slave. 

Reference: trade.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_sheep

Did you know that over 350 years ago, people were buried in Wool ?

Taken from an Article on History House,  Reference:                                                 http://www.historyhouse.co.uk/articles/buried_in_wool.html

When researching your family history you may come across references in a parish register to an ancestor being 'buried in wool' or 'woollen burial'. What did this mean?

Acts of Parliament were passed from 1666  to 1678  with the aims of  "lessening the importation of linen from beyond the seas, and the encouragement of the woollen and paper manufacturer of the kingdom."

The Act said that any corpse buried must be dressed in a woollen shroud or woollen garments.

Only those who died from the plague could be buried in anything made of other materials.

The woollen trade was so important to England’s wealth that the concern was any new materials or foreign imports could put the woollen industry at risk.  It was important that the high demand for wool was continued. 

Those who did not comply with the ruling were sentenced 5 pounds. 

For legislation of the Act, see:  The Justice of the Peace, and Parish Officer, Volume 5, 1814 on Google Books.

NB: The Act was repealed in 1814, after quite a while of it being ignored.