Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

"Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary"
Roud #19626
Mistress Mary, according to William Wallace Denslow
Song
Written	England
Published	c. 1744
Form	Nursery rhyme
Writer(s)	Traditional
Language	English

"Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary" is a popular English nursery rhyme. The rhyme has been seen as having religious and historical significance, but its origins and meaning are disputed. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19626.

The most common modern version is:

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.

The oldest known version was first published in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book (c. 1744) with the following lyrics:

Mistress Mary, Quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With Silver Bells, And Cockle Shells,
And so my garden grows.

Several printed versions of the eighteenth century have the lyrics:

Mistress Mary, Quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With Silver Bells, And Cockle Shells,
Sing cuckolds all in a row.

The last line has the most variation including:

Cowslips all in arow [sic].

and

With lady bells all in a row.

Like many nursery rhymes, it has acquired various historical explanations. These include:

The Opies argued that no proof has been found that the rhyme was known before the eighteenth century, while Mary I of England and Mary, Queen of Scots, were contemporaries in the sixteenth century.

--Heidi Ashley