# the legend of bloody marry **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 27, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944 "2011-10-27T04:22:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![addelyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@addelyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/addelyn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944/1 "2011-10-27T04:22:37Z")
Is there any truth in the legend of bloody marry …what is the true story if there’s one ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944/2 "2011-10-27T04:30:57Z")
Since it involves ghosts, no. [Legend of Bloody Mary.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Mary_%28folklore%29) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944/3 "2011-10-27T04:34:28Z")
Well, England was undergoing a lot of religious strain at the time. The fairly mild Protestantism of Henry VIII had been replaced by the strict Protestantism of Edward VI. So when Mary, who was a staunch Catholic, became Queen, she tried to roll back the church reforms of Edward’s reign, and she passed laws requiring Protestants, especially outspoken ones, to renounce their faith and brought back England’s heresy laws. And so those who wouldn’t, especially outspoken ones, were arrested, and in many cases killed. About 300 were executed, which is a lot, but which, compared to a lot of the religious conflict going on in the rest of Europe, wasn’t that many. The legend really took off with Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, which emphasized the people executed and drew historical connections between them and the early Christians martyred by the Romans for their belief. So I think it’s one of those things that’s true, but exaggerated. A bunch of people were killed, but English Protestants tended to exaggerate the bloodthirstiness of the persecution in order to score political points and compare Roman Catholicism to pagan Rome. ---
**Author:** ![addelyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@addelyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/addelyn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944/4 "2011-10-27T05:03:34Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Since it involves ghosts, no. > > [Legend of Bloody Mary.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Mary_%28folklore%29) I wasn’t talking about the whole she is in the mirror thing I was asking how it came to be … ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944/5 "2011-10-27T15:28:05Z")
> [@addelyn](#): > > I wasn’t talking about the whole she is in the mirror thing I was asking how it came to be … Would you care to clarify in better detail exactly what you’re asking? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944/6 "2011-10-27T15:31:24Z")
Especially since you didn’t spell the question correctly, so we have absolutely no idea what you are asking. Meet us halfway here. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944/7 "2011-10-27T16:43:05Z")
The basic recipe: 2.5 ounces vodka (if you can’t see through it, it isn’t right) 5 ounces tomato juice 1/4 tablespoon horseradish Salt and Pepper to taste Juice of 2 lime wedges 3 dashes Tabasco sauce 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce Garnish with lime wedge and celery stalk if desired. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944/8 "2011-10-27T16:44:11Z")
The legend of Bloody Marry came from a time when virginity before marriage was the norm. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944/9 "2011-10-27T16:46:35Z")
Tangentially, Cracked just did an article, the first section of which why the mirror thing sorta kinda works. > **[6 Scary Tricks That Amazed Us As Kids (Explained By Science)](https://www.cracked.com/article_19506_6-scary-tricks-that-amazed-us-as-kids-explained-by-science.html)** > > Demons don't cause Ouija boards to work and demons certainly didn't cause you to wet your pants. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944/10 "2011-10-27T16:59:20Z")
If you’re looking for the ghost in the mirror legend, divination and scrying using mirrors, called enoptromancy, is a pretty old tradition. I’m sure you’ve heard of the Snow White story, for instance, where the queen uses a mirror to look for the most beautiful woman in the land and finds Snow White. In the 19th century, there was a legend that a girl could see her future husband in the mirror. I don’t think anyone knows exactly why the ghost in the mirror in the legends is called “Mary”. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944/11 "2011-10-27T19:07:17Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > I don’t think anyone knows exactly why the ghost in the mirror in the legends is called “Mary”. Did the legend come before the cocktail? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944/12 "2011-10-27T19:15:17Z")
No, but after three of the cocktails you believe the legend. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944/13 "2011-10-27T20:09:19Z")
There are two legends that the OP could be asking for: One is the legend of a Mary who bathed in the blood of young women (specifically, she was supposedly a noble who killed her attendants/maids in the late 1800s) to gain their youth. The other is the various set of legends behind the mirror witch, i.e. not the mirror witch herself, the two I can think of off hand is that she was a witch who killed children, and that she was a woman who was betrayed by a lover etc etc. As far as I know, the former has a tiny grain of truth in it, in that there was a noble woman who had a habit of killing younger, prettier female attendants. Not that that’s the most surprising thing ever heard. All of the stories that fit the latter are pure bunk AFAIK. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944/14 "2011-10-27T20:15:47Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > As far as I know, the former has a tiny grain of truth in it, in that there was a noble woman who had a habit of killing younger, prettier female attendants. Not that that’s the most surprising thing ever heard. All of the stories that fit the latter are pure bunk AFAIK. Except her name was [Elizabeth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_B%C3%A1thory), not Mary. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944/15 "2011-10-27T20:35:45Z")
Oh, Lord, this is going to be a mess. Short answer: no, it is not true. First, the way the question is phrased, it probably refers to the ritual performed by (usually) adolescent girls involving flickering lights and mirrors in the effort to see “Bloody Mary.” Although this mary has been connected to various historical figures, notably Queen Mary of England who shared the epithet, she also goes by a variety of other names and cannot be reliably connected to any historical or mythical figure. More likely, she is “Mary” because that was a very common female name at the time the behaviour grew widespread. The idea of looking into a mirror and hoping to see something supernatural is ridicuously old, and predates the “Bloody Mary” thing. The tradition is to widespread and too varied to provide a definitive answer. Basically, there’s no way to say the supernatural elements are true, and there are so many stories attached with so many variants, major and minor, that none of them can be true, either. ---
**Author:** ![nudgenudge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9f8e36/32.png) [@nudgenudge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nudgenudge)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944/16 "2011-10-27T21:17:12Z")
Are we talking about Bloody Marry, Mary, or Merry here? All pronounced differently, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944/17 "2011-10-27T21:49:50Z")
But what about Biggie Smalls? ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944/18 "2011-10-27T22:16:50Z")
> [@nudgenudge](#): > > Are we talking about Bloody Marry, Mary, or Merry here? All pronounced differently, of course. [Baldy Murray](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bill_Murray_by_David_Shankbone.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![addelyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@addelyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/addelyn)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944/19 "2011-10-28T05:38:16Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Since it involves ghosts, no. > > [Legend of Bloody Mary.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Mary_%28folklore%29) > [@addelyn](#): > > Is there any truth in the legend of bloody marry ..what is the true story if there’s one … k I get how I didn’t really specify as for my spelling I don’t think its so far off that the words are so unreadable that you don’t get what I’m getting at… I know the whole ghost in the mirror thing is rediculous I was just wondering if the women the legend is based on exsisted and how that legend turned into the whole mirror thing.. as a few of you helped me out with and thankyou… ---
**Author:** ![addelyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@addelyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/addelyn)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944/20 "2011-10-28T05:41:13Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > [Baldy Murray](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bill_Murray_by_David_Shankbone.jpg) .. Mary or marry idk how her name is really spelled if she at all once exsisted [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legend-of-bloody-marry/600944.md?page=2)