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Molly Malone
Cockles and mussels
Statue of Molly Malone, College Street, Dublin
(authors collection)
For those who like to believe in Molly Malone as a real person who sold cockles, mussels and her body two centuries ago in Dublin's fair city we do not recommend further reading.
It appears that Molly Malone is a real urban legend. According to that legend she was the most beautiful girl in eighteenth century Dublin. She lived with her parents in the Liberties and sold cockles and mussels in the classy area around Grafton Street and Saint Stephen's Green by day and her body to Trinity College students by night. Although she might have died on typhus fever a venereal disease is also very likely considering her lifestyle.
In the build-up of the Dublin Millennium in 1988 and the unveiling of the statue of Molly Malone, the Church of Ireland produced a register entry of a Mary Malone, baptised in the former St John's Church on 27 July 1663 and buried on 13 June 1699. Although Molly is derived from Mary this entry seems to be too old, furthermore it is more likely that Molly Malone was a Roman Catholic girl.
Whether Molly lived in the seventeenth century, according to the Church register, or in the eighteenth century, according to the legend, it is still a mystery why there are no publications of the song prior to 1883. And - surprise - this publication was written Camebridge, Massachusetts.
The second publication originates from London and was dated 1884. According to this second version was the song written by James Yorkston.
The whole world attribute this song to James Yorkston. Except of course the die-hards in Dublin who like to think that they still hear Molly Malone, also affectionately known as The Tart with the Cart, yelling.
Because of the global popularity of the very recognizable song Molly Malone almost every performer tries to add a personal touch. Needless to say that most of these versions emphasis the voluptuous nocturnal activities of the Dublin girl. It's impossible to add all versions, but it would be a crime to withhold you the two additional stanzas written by the American parodist Allan Sherman in the 1960's:
She wheels her wheelbarrow through streets that are narrow,
Her barrow is narrow, her hips are too wide.
So wherever she wheels it, the neighbourhood feels it,
Her girdle keeps scraping the homes on each side.
In Dublin's fair city, where girls are so pretty,
My Molly stands out 'cause she weighs 18 stone.
I don't mind her fat but, it's not only that but,
She's cockeyed and muscle-bound, Molly Malone.
Molly Malone / Cockles And Mussels
| Title: Molly Malone Also known as: Cockles And Mussels |
| Lyrics by: James Yorkston |
| Recorded by: Barnbrack, Tom Donovan, The Dublin City Ramblers, The Dubliners, The Irish Rovers, Keltic Kaleidoscope, King Laoghaire, The New Barleycorn, Sinéad O'Connor and Dan O'Donnell |
| Category: Must Know Song and Traditional Song |
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Dan O'Donnell |
Copyright Statement |
Alive alive oh
alive alive ohh
Singing cockles and mussels
alive alive ohhh
In Dublin's fair city
where the girls are so pretty
I once met a girl named sweet Molly Malone
and she wheeled her wheel barrow
through the streets broad and narrow
singing cockles and mussels alive alive oh
She was a fish monger
and sure was no wonder
so were her mother and father before
and they wheeled their wheel barrow
through the streets broad and narrow
singing cockles and mussels alive alive oh
She died of a fever
and so one could save her
and that was the end of sweet Molly Malone
now her ghost wheels her barrow through the streets broad and narrow
singing cockles and mussels alive alive oh
Alive alive oh
alive alive ohh
Singing cockles and mussels
alive alive ohhh