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Mary Mary Quite Contrary Bird Baths

The last few weeks I have been making bird baths for the Bishops Palace English Country Garden Festival in Wells this weekend. Today was the first day but you still have a chance to come along tomorrow or Sunday!

I thought how nice it would be to make some work based on a garden theme and remembered that old traditional English nursery rhyme …

“Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With Silver Bells and Cockle Shells,
And Pretty Maids all in a row”

I have read that there are different views about the meaning of the rhyme, some say it was about the reign of  Mary Queen of Scots, while others believe it was about Mary Tudor. The rhyme might suggest religious metaphors of Catholicism (silver bells) and maybe the pretty maids all in a row symbolise the rows of Protestants that were executed by Mary Tudor.
However if the rhyme was written not long before it was first published in 1744 then this would be unlikely as both queens reigned in the sixteenth century. But then it could have been written earlier …

I find it interesting that many traditional nursery rhymes appear to be all sweet and innocent but turn out to reveal a much more sinister meaning.

However I made these bird baths in all sweetness and light, taking the nursery rhyme only as it reads!

They are all hand formed shapes (some using a mould and some without) using cement mortar mixtures.

Here is a collection of the baths at the garden festival.

Silver bells, cockle shells and pretty maids all in a row, displayed in different ways, on cobbles, terracotta drainpipes, slates and balustrade plinths to help customers imagine ways they could place them in their gardens …

Silver Bells, Cockle Shells and Pretty Maids All in a Row at the Bishops Palace
Silver Bells
Silver bells
Cockle Shells
pretty maids fb
And Pretty Maids All in a Row
And a flower bowl
At the Bishops Palace
At the Bishops Palace

Want to learn how to make your own bird bath ?  I have a course coming up on 4th and 5th September 2021 ….

 

See HERE

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0 Comments

  1. These are gorgeous Kate! Hope they are selling well. Dionne Ible
    From: Kate Rattrays Mosaic Blog To: qemamu@ymail.com Sent: Friday, 10 June 2016, 20:24 Subject: [New post] Mary Mary Quite Contrary Bird Baths #yiv3984265580 a:hover {color:red;}#yiv3984265580 a {text-decoration:none;color:#0088cc;}#yiv3984265580 a.yiv3984265580primaryactionlink:link, #yiv3984265580 a.yiv3984265580primaryactionlink:visited {background-color:#2585B2;color:#fff;}#yiv3984265580 a.yiv3984265580primaryactionlink:hover, #yiv3984265580 a.yiv3984265580primaryactionlink:active {background-color:#11729E;color:#fff;}#yiv3984265580 WordPress.com | Kate Rattray posted: “The last few weeks I have been making bird baths for the Bishops Palace English Country Garden Festival in Wells this weekend. Today was the first day but you still have a chance to come along tomorrow or Sunday!I thought how nice it would be to make ” | |

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