Mary Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockleshells
And pretty maids all in a row.
A sweet nursery rhyme dating back to Olde England. A simple straightforward tale about a gardening green thumb?
Apparently not. Like many nursery rhymes that sound sweet enough, this one too has sinister roots. It tells of Mary Queen of Scots.
How does her garden grow? Fertilized by the bodies of many, many protestants. How pretty is her garden filled with silver bells and cockleshells. No again. These were slang terms for torture devices. As for the pretty maids…. guillotines.
Mary Quite Contrary Wrapping Paper for my mum Mary (who is fortunately nothing like the Queen of Scots) using Acrylic paints, thumb prints and black marker pen.
Birthday card made by daughter
How to make Floral Wrapping Paper with Thumb prints
Gift wrapped with Mary Quite Contrary Wrapping Paper
speckledsydney.wordpress.com 
November 7, 2013 at 4:34 am
Love this – I think even my little boys will do it with me…as long as we use blue paint!
November 7, 2013 at 4:52 am
Ofcourse. Only blue will do! The same goes in my household with pink!