What is a cockleshell: refering to the nusery rhym mary, mary, quit contrary, how dose your garden grow?

silverbells is a flower, and why would mary use a vesal for a garden???

What is a cockleshell: refering to the nusery rhym mary, mary, quit contrary, how dose your garden grow?
its a shellfish





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockle_%28b...
Reply:A cockle shell is a scallop. Here is another Internet view:





Silver bells and cockle shells





by Mike Oettle





“MARY, Mary, quite contrary,” goes the familiar nursery rhyme, “how does your gar­den grow?” The image that comes to mind is a little girl in a suburban yard, her ima­gi­nation conjuring up pretty pictures.





But this rhyme is a political satire of Queen Mary I of England – Bloody Mary of bitter memory. Her contrariness lay in her refusal to tolerate the Protestant in­nova­tions in the Church of England during the reign of her half-brother, the boy-king Ed­ward VI, and her determination to return England to the “one true faith” of Rome. Hence her silver bells – the altar bells, not heard since the time of her father, Henry VIII – and cockle shells. These were actually scal­lop shells,[1] symbols of pilgrimage to Compostela, the shrine of St James (Santiago) in Galicia, in the far north-west of Spain. The pret­ty maids all in a row were the priests, no longer officiating in severe Protestant clothing but once more wearing lace surplices.
Reply:I always thought the cockleshells referred to shells arranged decoratively along the edge of a path, or something like that.





A bit simplistic, I agree . . . . .
Reply:Isn't Mary's garden just a pretend garden?
Reply:Like many nursery rhymes, it has acquired spurious historical explanations. One is that it refers to Mary I of Scotland, with "how does your garden grow" referring to her reign, "silver bells" referring to (Catholic) cathedral bells, "cockleshells" insinuating that her husband cheated on her, and "pretty maids all in a row" referring to her babies that died.





Another is that it refers to Mary I of England and her unpopular attempts to bring Roman Catholicism back to England, identifying the "cockle shells," for example, with the symbol of pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint James in Spain (Santiago de Compostela) and the "pretty maids all in a row" with nuns.
Reply:it is a common flower..


Gosh I forgot the poem


dosen't it say they "grow" in a row???
Reply:The shell of a cockle and a cockle is.........


Any of several weedy plants, especially the corn cockle.


ETYMOLOGY: Middle English cokkel, from Old English coccel, from Medieval Latin *cocculus, diminutive of Latin coccus, kermes berry, from Greek kokkos.
Reply:It's a type of flower.
Reply:It is exactly as Wikipedia and "telluwat" states. Don't forget to site your source.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary,_Mary,...





There is also another historical account of the rhyme in which the garden alludes to Mary Tudor's grave yard:


http://www.rhymes.org.uk/mary_mary_quite...





Aside from all that, a cockshell is a shell and a name for a flower better known as Campanula.





As for "vesal", maybe you mean Vassal? According to Wikipedia "the common idea that England had become a Catholic vassal or "branch" of Spain and the Habsburgs, or a punning reference to her chief minister, Stephen Gardiner ("gardener"). "Quite contrary" could be a reference to her unsuccessful attempt to reverse church reforms made by her father Henry VIII and brother Edward VI. The "pretty maids all in a row" could be a reference to miscarriages as with the other Mary or her execution of Lady Jane Grey after coming to the throne. "Rows and rows" may refer to her infamous burnings and executions of Protestants."
Reply:Teluwat is right on!


Except, that I disagree about the interpretation about the maids all in a row...





She had a group of young women that traveled with her as her maids of honor (ladies in waiting)... strangely enough all 4 were named Mary. So it was a little running joke that they were all named Mary, so to speak, in a row, as they were her servants ( and followed her).





Enjoy the trivia!