The Gory History of Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

If you were a nursery rhyme fanatic when you were a lot younger, you would certainly remember Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary and that happy tune you’d sing by yourself. When you hear the gory history behind it, all of those happy memories might come crashing down in an instant.

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary is set in the reign of Mary also known as ‘Bloody Mary’, the daughter of King Henry the VIII from his marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. After her father separated the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church as a result of when he wanted to marry his second wife, Anne Boleyn, Catholic Mary found herself get demoted from being a princess. Ultimately, when she did become queen, she wanted to rid England of any Protestants because her step sister or Anne Boleyn’s daughter Elizabeth was a Protestant and thus, her chances of getting to the throne would be ruined. She wanted an heir to the throne so she married a Spanish prince Phillip who was 11 years her junior. However, she couldn’t give birth after two false pregnancies; she died of what was believed to be ovarian cancer.

There are 3 interpretations of the nursery rhyme that goes:

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells and cockle shells,

And pretty maids all in a row.

One religious interpretation of the nursery rhyme describes the ‘silver bells’ as Catholic cathedral bells and the ‘cockle shells’ as being a sign of pilgrimage to Spain’s Catholic Shrine of St. James. The ‘pretty maids all in a row’ were the Catholic nuns.

The second interpretation was a series of rude references to Mary’s personal life. ‘How does your garden grow?’ was a direct reference to Mary’s womb and her inability to have children. The ‘cockle shells’ referred to her relationship with her husband Philip who became Philip II where he only married her for political reasons. The ‘pretty maids all in a row’ were interpreted to be the series of miscarriages and failed pregnancies that Mary went through, resulting in the unavailability of an heir to the throne. Pretty scathing, isn’t it?

The final interpretation is probably the goriest where the name ‘Bloody Mary’ really lives up to it. The ‘silver bells’ signify torture instruments like thumbscrews and ‘cockle shells’ were other torture instruments attached to the genitals! Not so sure now, are we? The ‘pretty maids’ refer to the earliest type of guillotine called the ‘maids’ or ‘Maiden’ which was used to behead victims who were the Protestants at the time.

So now you know the gory tale behind this lovable children’s nursery rhyme, you probably aren’t so sure now. These theories, like many others, have tried to be proven wrong but this rhyme is a good reminder of some of the darkest times in history and a very different approach to censoring the brutal details. Quite contrary indeed!