As with most of the nursery rhymes handed down through the generations, Little Boy Blue is believed by some scholars to have been created as a thinly veiled but safe form of political and social commentary. In this case, Little Boy Blue is commonly believed to be a direct derogatory and cautionary reference to Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, the archbishop of York and a trusted adviser of King Henry VIII, and the subject of a number of popular rhymes of his day, including Jack and Jill, Little Tom Tucker and Old Mother Hubbard.