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The origins are steeped
in history... Bloody Mary!
The Mary alluded to in
this traditional English
nursery rhyme is reputed to
be Mary Tudor, or Bloody
Mary, who was the daughter
of King Henry VIII. Queen
Mary was a staunch Catholic
and the garden referred to
is an allusion to graveyards
which were increasing in
size with those who dared to
continue to adhere to the
Protestant faith -
Protestant martyrs.
Instruments of Torture!
The silver bells and
cockle shells referred to in
the Nursery Rhyme were
colloquialisms for
instruments of torture. The
'silver bells' were
thumbscrews which crushed
the thumb between two hard
surfaces by the tightening
of a screw. The
'cockleshells' were believed
to be instruments of torture
which were attached to the
genitals!
The "Maids" or Maiden was
the original guillotine!
The 'maids' were a device to
behead people called the
Maiden. Beheading a victim
was fraught with problems.
It could take up to 11 blows
to actually sever the head,
the victim often resisted
and had to be chased around
the scaffold. |
