There’s gardens enough. "I shall not want to go poking about," said sour little Mary and just as suddenly as she had begun to be rather sorry for Mr. Archibald Craven she began to cease to be sorry and to think he was unpleasant enough to deserve all that had happened to him. She had never seen one. [ Home | "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary" is an English nursery rhyme.The rhyme has been seen as having religious and historical significance, but its origins and meaning are disputed. The English clergyman was poor and he had five children nearly all the same age and they wore shabby clothes and were always quarreling and snatching toys from each other. Mary hated their untidy bungalow and was so disagreeable to them that after the first day or two nobody would play with her. Go away!". A house with a hundred rooms, nearly all shut up and with their doors locked--a house on the edge of a moor--whatsoever a moor was--sounded dreary. Mary hated their untidy bungalow and was so disagreeable to them that after the first day or two nobody would play with her. Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment. He lives in a great, big, desolate old house in the country and no one goes near him. I use ... read more, A small feral colony lives in Socorro, NM. toys from each other. "She is such a plain child," Mrs. Crawford said pityingly, afterward. She never dared even to ask a question. "There in the middle," and he leaned over her to point. (Marred is a Yorkshire word and means spoiled and pettish.) It was Basil who thought of it first. Others spoke to her. An enthusiastic gardener for over 50 years, my first plant was a potted Ponderosa Lemon tree ordered from a comic book ad at age 15. About | Mary sat in her corner of the railway carriage and looked plain and fretful. With silver bells, and cockle shells, In this case, the garden is said to refer to her heirs, or lack thereof. With silver bells, And cockle shells, And pretty maids all in a row"- Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme The Mary that is portrayed in this nursery rhyme is none other than Mary Tudor, also known in historical infamy as "Bloody Mary". The woman was his housekeeper at Misselthwaite Manor, and her name was Mrs. Medlock. Mary’s eyes turned toward her in spite of her intention not to seem to care. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of the Davesgarden.com Terms of Use, Rules, Privacy Policy, and Cookie Policy. "Continuing the Catholic theme, the "pretty maids" are seen as Catholic nuns. "I don't believe you," said Mary; and she turned her back and stuck her fingers in her ears, because she would not listen any more. “You are going to be sent home,” Basil said to her, “at the end of the week. "And we'd heard that her mother was a beauty. You are going to a queer place.". “Why don’t you put a heap of stones there and pretend it is a rockery?” he said. Add this page to your Bookmarks or Favorites and finish it later. ARCHIBALD: I didn't know myself, Neville. Children alter so much.”. Chapter 2: “Mistress Mary Quite Contrary”. The English clergyman was poor and he had five children nearly all the same age and they wore shabby clothes and were always quarreling and snatching toys from each other. His name is Mr. Archibald Craven.". Mr. Craven won’t have it.”. She watched it so long and steadily that the grayness grew heavier and heavier before her eyes and she fell asleep. They tried to be kind to her, but she only turned her face away when Mrs. Crawford attempted to kiss her, and held herself stiffly when Mr. Crawford patted her shoulder. "But there's nothing else," she ended suddenly. to love her or to miss her very much when she was gone. She hasn’t handed much of it down, has she, ma’am?”, “Perhaps she will improve as she grows older,” the officer’s wife said good-naturedly. and Basil came and stood near to watch her. Who was Mary Mary, and why was she quite contrary? Others see the rhyme as a scornful, more personal attack on Queen Mary. Her rooms overlooked her garden with ancient and magnificent clipped yew trees. “Where is home?”, “She doesn’t know where home is!” said Basil, with seven-year-old scorn. One afternoon, as Mary creates another pretend garden, Basil tries to make suggestions about landscaping elements. shabby clothes and were always quarreling and snatching He’s a hunchback, and he’s horrid.”. the world, but she was very young, and as she had always She had not wanted to go to London just when her sister Maria's daughter was going to be married, but she had a comfortable, well paid place as housekeeper at Misselthwaite Manor and the only way in which she could keep it was to do at once what Mr. Archibald Craven told her to do. Perhaps there were none in India. self-absorbed child she gave her entire thought to herself, And she turned her face toward the streaming panes of the window of the railway carriage and gazed out at the gray rain-storm which looked as if it would go on forever and ever. ", "I am glad of it, too," answered Mary. When the next day they set out on their journey to Yorkshire, she walked through the station to the railway carriage with her head up and trying to keep as far away from her as she could, because she did not want to seem to belong to her. “Captain Lennox was my wife’s brother and I am their daughter’s guardian. "You needn't expect to see him, because ten to one you won't," said Mrs. Medlock. Mary, look at the roses! . She knew that she was not going to stay at the English clergyman's house where she was taken at first. But she was not there any more. “She is such a plain child,” Mrs. Crawford said pityingly, afterward. Mary had begun to listen in spite of herself. All the content that is published on this site under my profile DREAMING CASUALLY, The Origin of California's Name: Setting The Record Straight, The Dark History Behind Nursery Rhymes- "Mary, Mary". What sort of a place was it, and what would he be like? "If she were not so sallow and had a nicer expression, her features are rather good. Two 16th-century queens have a claim to this beloved nursery rhyme: Mary Queen of Scots and Bloody Mary. She did not know that this was because she was a disagreeable child; but then, of course, she did not know she was disagreeable. The child is to be brought here. It would have made her angry to think people imagined she was her little girl. The text begins: Mary had liked to look at her mother from a distance and she had thought her very pretty, but as she knew very little of her she could scarcely have been expected to love her or to miss her very much when she was gone. It all sounded so unlike India, and anything new rather attracted her. His name is She had begun to wonder why she had never seemed to belong to anyone even when her father and mother had been alive. She frowned because she remembered that her father and mother had never talked to her about anything in particular. and he leaned over her to point. She often thought that other people were, but she did not know that she was so herself. boy with impudent blue eyes and a turned-up nose, and Mary “She was a sweet, pretty thing and he’d have walked the world over to get her a blade o’ grass she wanted. A man with a crooked back who shut himself up also! So she sat still. "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary," a nursery rhyme referring to Queen Mary and her penchant for having people killed (2.6) "Riquet à la Houppe" (also known in English as "Ricky of … About Us | But when you’re in the house don’t go wandering and poking about. Copyright 2004. Advertise | COLIN: Oh, no, you don't! MARY: Colin! "Why don't you put a heap of stones there and pretend it is a rockery?" she said. Other children seemed to belong to their fathers and mothers, but she had never seemed to really be anyone's little girl. Others assert both silver bells and cockle shells (more on cockle shells below) refer to the decoration on Queen Mary's costumes. Featured Companies | He danced round "I don't want boys. She frowned because she remembered that her father and mother had never talked to her about anything in particular. ", "Nothing," she answered. just as she had been playing the day the cholera broke out. She often thought that other people were, but she did not know that she was so herself. He danced round and round her and made faces and sang and laughed. The most widespread explanation connects it with queen Mary I (1516-1558), who executed Protestants, filling cemeteries—called the “garden” in the rhyme. Read articles about: Folklore And Legends, Garden Poetry. You are not going to your grandmama. she exclaimed, quite without meaning to. “What do you think of it?”, “Nothing,” she answered. It would have made her angry to think people imagined she was her little girl. You are going to your uncle. "Captain Lennox was my wife's brother and I am their daughter's guardian. We garden organically and no-till. Our grandmama lives there and our sister Mabel was sent If the pretty wife had been alive she might have made things cheerful by being something like her own mother and by running in and out and going to parties as she had done in frocks "full of lace."