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As well as being known and sung
internationally, the popular song 'Cockles and
Mussels' has become a sort of unofficial anthem
of Dublin city. The song's tragic heroine Molly
Malone and her barrow have come to stand as one
of the most familiar symbols of the capital. In
addition, Molly's international pulling power is
shown by the fact that she scores hundreds of
'hits' on the Internet, many of them relating to
'Irish pubs' bearing her name. It seems
perfectly natural therefore that Molly should
have been commemorated by erecting a statue to
her in Dublin, which monument has become a
familiar landmark at the corner of Grafton
Street and Suffolk Street.
verse 1
In Dublins fair city, where the girls
are so pretty,
I once met a girl called sweet Molly
Malone,
As she wheeled her wheelbarrow,
through the streets broad and narrow,
Cryng cockles and mussels` Alive
alive o
Chorus
Alive alive oh,
Alive alive oh
Crying cockles and mussels,
Alive alive oh.
Verse 2
She wheeled her wheelbarrow through
the streets broad and narrow,
Just like her mother and father
before
And they wheeled their wheel barrow,
through the streets broad and narrow,
crying cockles and mussels alive
alive oh
My love had a fever and no one could
save her,
And that was the end of sweet Molly
Malone,
But her ghost wheels her barrow
through the streets broad and narrow
crying cockles and mussels
alive-alive oh.
Extract
from
Irish Historical Mysteries:
Picture the
scene: it is Dublin city 300 years ago, on a
balmy summer evening on 12 June 1699 to be
precise. The city then was not as we know it
now, and in place of spacious, straight
thoroughfares there was a warren of narrow,
winding streets, through which it would be
difficult if not impossible to drive a motor
car. We walk down one of these streets on that
summer e'en in 1699, when suddenly our attention
is attracted by a small crowd gathered around a
figure on the ground.
Moved by a
mixture of curiosity and concern, we join the
crowd to discover what is amiss. We see that the
object of attention is a young woman, no longer
of this world but with a strange look of peace
on her ravaged features. She is dressed in a
full-length, full-sleeved, lined chemise, an
overshirt and basque of wool, and Spanish zapota
shoes. Despite the pallor of death, we can see
that she was a fine strong and attractive girl,
with an especially well-developed bust.
'Who is
it?', someone asks. 'Tis Molly Malone the
fishmonger, and she is no more', replies a young
lad. 'God's judgment has come upon her', adds a
plump housewife, probably the lad's mother, 'for
as well as her trade of fishmonger she was a
part-time hussy also'.
Visit
Irish Historical Mysteries For More Information
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