My AP European History teacher told me it was based on the One Hundred Years War. He said it was based on the usage of long bows for the first time in a war by the English.
One, two, Buckle my shoe; (Tying a long bow to your show as they were 6ft long and heavy)
Three, four, shut the door; (Referring to a shield being put in front of you to block incoming arrows and bolts.
Five, six, Pick up sticks; (Pick up an arrow that's on the ground because it's faster to pick from the ground than from a quiver)
Seven, eight, Lay em straight: (Draw the arrow)
Nine, ten, A big, fat hen! (They're aiming at the French, who they're calling a big fat chicken.
I thought this seemed extremely interesting, but when I Google'd it when I got home, I saw nothing online that said the same thing. Is that actually true?
This is probably the weirdest bit of made-up folklore about the Hundred Years War I've ever heard. No, it's not true in the least. I don't know where the original rhyme comes from, but it's certainly not the HYW. Why would an archer ever tie his bow to his shoe? Also, longbow archers didn't use shields (except for small bucklers they sometimes carried for hand-to-hand combat, not blocking missiles). On a side note, the Hundred Years War was definitely not the first time longbows were deployed by the English in combat.