Where Did 'Counting Sheep' Originate?

[Jim_B]

It is so cliché, I even saw recently it in the rather old movie The Wizard of Oz. Someone says they are having a problem sleeping. So some other character in the movie, etc. says “so why don’t you try counting sheep?”. It is a very old cliché. But where?/who? did it originate with?

Thank you in advance to all who reply

[samclem]

“To count sheep,” to count imaginary sheep jumping over a fence as an aid in getting to sleep, dates back to at least the mid-19th century. There is, unfortunately, probably no particular incident or story behind the phrase, simply the fact that clearing one’s mind of the cares of the day by visualizing an endless series of the world’s stupidest animal doing gymnastics is thought to be restful. The phrase probably owes a good part of its persistence to its use in countless cartoons.

to quote Evan Morris, from his excellent wordsite.

http://www.word-detective.com/112402.html#countingsheep

[lonesome_loser]

You don’t have to actually count sheep to settle your thinking down, just counting does it. Especially counting backwords.

[Loopus]

Scotland.

Oh, I thought you said courting sheep. Never mind.

[power_sawyer]

Courting sheep was practiced in the Holy Land long before there were agrarian societies in Scotland.