Bessy Bell and Mary Gray
Bessy Bell and Mary Gray,
They were two bonny lasses;
They built their house upon the lea,
And covered it with rushes.
Bessy kept the garden gate,
And Mary kept the pantry;
Bessy always had to wait,
While Mary lived in plenty.
Origins
This short nursery rhyme has roots in an older and much more tragic Scottish ballad from the 1600s. In the full ballad, Bessy Bell and Mary Gray were said to be real young women near Perth, who built a small house in the countryside to escape the plague. Despite their efforts, both died and were buried together, and local tradition remembered them in song.
By the 19th century, editors such as James Orchard Halliwell and later Kate Greenaway were printing shortened, softened versions for children. The grim story of plague and death faded away, leaving this brief domestic verse about two “bonny lasses,” their rush-roofed house, and their shared but unequal work.
Meaning
In its nursery form, the rhyme reads like a tiny scene from everyday life. Two girls build a home together, then divide the chores: Bessy watches the garden gate while Mary keeps the pantry. The last line quietly tilts the balance—Bessy waits outside, while Mary, close to the food, “lived in plenty.”
Children often take it simply as a picture of two friends with different jobs. Adults sometimes hear a hint of how life can be uneven, even when things start out shared. One girl gets the better post, and one gets left at the gate.
The name “Bessy Bell and Mary Gray” stayed alive both in folk song and in the nursery. In songbooks, they belonged to the old Scottish ballad tradition; in picture books, they became gentle figures in a small domestic drama. What survives in this shortened rhyme is the quiet charm of two friends on the lea, and the small, sharp line that reminds us not every task—or comfort—is shared equally.
1. A simple retelling
Two girls, Bessy Bell and Mary Gray, build a little house in the countryside. Bessy watches the garden gate, while Mary looks after the pantry and enjoys the better share of comfort and food.
2. The characters
Main characters: Bessy Bell and Mary Gray, close companions (often treated as friends or near-sisters). No other characters are named, though their world hints at a small rural household.
3. Setting
A simple house on open grassland (“upon the lea”), roofed with rushes, in a rural Scottish or northern English landscape.
4. Theme
Friendship, shared home-making, and the small inequalities that arise when chores and comforts are divided.
5. Moral
No stated moral, though readers may see a quiet reminder that shared lives don’t always mean shared comforts—and that who keeps the pantry often lives “in plenty.”
