Thomas Edison, the father of audio recording recited the first stanza of this poem in testing his new invention, the phonograph in 1877, making this the first audio recording to be successfully made and played back. It was all done on tin foil.
They say the song springs from a true story:
As a girl, Mary Sawyer (later Mrs. Mary Tyler) kept a pet lamb, which she took to school one day at the suggestion of her brother. A commotion naturally ensued.
Lyrics and chords available from Folk Den Project.