Notes

Here's the version from An Alphabet of Old Friends by Walter Crane:

Mistress Mary,
Quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells,
And cockle shells.
And cowslips all of a-row.

Here's a variation of this rhyme from The Baby's Opera by Walter Crane (circa 1877). The midi tune and score go with this version:

How does my lady's garden grow?
How does my lady's garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row!

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Alternatives to "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary" are:

"Mistress, Mary, Quite Contrary" &
"Mrs. Mary, Quite Contrary".

Alternatives for "And pretty maids all in a row" are:

"And so my garden grows" &
"And cowslips all of a row." - This version is in Kate Greenaway's Mother Goose (1881).

Comments

Jessie Prince wrote: "Apparently this rhyme alludes to Queen Mary and her preference for pretty female staff."

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You can find the next version of Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary in the Notes below.

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Thanks and Acknowledgements

Thanks to Jessie Prince for contributing this rhyme!

The first illustration comes from "Favorite Nursery Rhymes" (1906), illustrated by Ethel Franklin Betts and the second illustration comes from The Baby's Opera by Walter Crane (circa 1877). The Third illustration is from The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897). The 4th illustration is from The Real Mother Goose (1916), illustrated by Blanche Fisher Wright. The 5th illustration is from The Little Mother Goose (1912), illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith. 6th illustration is by H. Willebeck Le Mair from Our Old Nursery Rhymes (1911), arranged by Alfred Moffat. The last illustration comes from Kate Greenaway's Mother Goose (1881).

Thanks so much!