Molly Malone

The song tells the fictional tale of a fishwife who plied her trade on the streets of Dublin and died young, of a fever. In the late 20th century a legend grew up that there was a historical Molly, who lived in the 17th century. She is typically represented as a hawker by day and part-time sex-worker by night.[1] In contrast she has also been portrayed as one of the few chaste female street-hawkers of her day.

There is no evidence that the song is based on a real woman, of the 17th century or any other time. The name "Molly" originated as a familiar version of the names Mary and Margaret. While many such "Molly" Malones were born in Dublin over the centuries, no evidence connects any of them to the events in the song.[1][2] Nevertheless, the Dublin Millennium Commission in 1988 endorsed claims made for a Mary Malone who died on 13 June 1699, and proclaimed 13 June to be "Molly Malone Day".[1]

The song is not recorded earlier than 1876, when it was published in Boston, Massachusetts.[3] Its placement in the section of the book titled "Songs from English and German Universities" suggests an Irish origin.[4] It was also published by Francis Brothers and Day in London in 1884 as a work written and composed by James Yorkston, of Edinburgh, with music arranged by Edmund Forman. The London edition states that it was reprinted by permission of Kohler and Son of Edinburgh, implying that the first edition was in Scotland, though no copies of it have been found.[5][6] According to Siobhán Marie Kilfeather, the song is from the music hall style of the period, and while one cannot wholly dismiss the possibility that it is "based on an older folk song", "neither melody nor words bear any relationship to the Irish tradition of street ballads." She calls the story of the historical Molly "nonsense". The song is in a familiar tragicomic mode popular in its period, and probably influenced by earlier songs with a similar theme, such as Percy Montrose's "Oh My Darling, Clementine", which was written in about 1880.

A variant, "Cockles and Mussels", with some different lyrics, appeared in Students' Songs: Comprising the Newest and Most Popular College Songs As Now Sung at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, ... Union, Etc in 1884.[7]

A copy of Apollo's Medley, dating from around 1790, published in Doncaster and rediscovered in 2010, contains a song referring to "Sweet Molly Malone" on page 78 that ends with the line "Och! I'll roar and I'll groan, My sweet Molly Malone, Till I'm bone of your bone, And asleep in your bed." Other than this name and the fact that she lives in Howth, near Dublin, this song bears no resemblance to Molly Malone.[8] The song was later reprinted in the collection The Shamrock: A Collection of Irish Songs (1831) and was published in The Edinburgh Literary Journal that year with the title "Molly Malone".[9]

Some elements of the song appear in several earlier songs. A character named Molly Malone appears in at least two other songs. The song "Widow Malone," published as early as 1809, refers to the title character alternately as "Molly Malone," "Mary Malone" and "sweet mistress Malone".[4] An American song, "Meet Me Miss Molly Malone", was published as early as 1840.[4] The song "Pat Corney's Account of Himself", published as early as 1826,[10] begins, "Now it's show me that city where the girls are so pretty" and ends, "Crying oysters, and cockles, and Mussels for sale."[4] During the 19th century, the expression "Dublin's fair city" was used regularly in reference to Dublin, and the phrase "alive, alive O" is known to have been shouted by street vendors selling oysters, mussels, fish and eels.[4]

In Dublin's fair city,

Where the girls are so pretty,

I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone,

As she wheeled her wheel-barrow,

Through streets broad and narrow,

Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"

"Alive, alive, oh,

Alive, alive, oh,"

Crying "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh".

She was a fishmonger

But sure 'twas no wonder

For so were her father and mother before

And they each wheel'd their barrow

Through streets broad and narrow

Crying "Cockles and mussels alive, alive oh!"

(chorus)

She died of a fever,

And no one could save her,

And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone.

But her ghost wheels her barrow,

Through streets broad and narrow,

Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"

(chorus) ×2[11]

Molly is commemorated in a statue commissioned by Jurys Hotel Group and designed by Jeanne Rynhart, erected to celebrate the city's first millennium in 1988. Originally placed at the bottom of Grafton Street in Dublin, this statue is known colloquially as "The Tart with the Cart" or "The Trollop With The Scallop(s)". The statue portrays Molly as a busty young woman in 17th-century dress. Her low-cut dress and large breasts were justified on the grounds that as "women breastfed publicly in Molly's time, breasts were popped out all over the place."[2][13]

The statue was later removed and kept in storage to make way for the new Luas tracks.[14] In July 2014, it was placed outside the Dublin Tourist Office on Suffolk Street.

Fair City derives its title from the opening line of the song: "In Dublin's fair city, where the girls are so pretty..."[15]

In the movie A Clockwork Orange, a drunk tramp sings Molly Malone in a tunnel before getting assaulted by the droogs.[16]

Artists who have recorded versions of Molly Malone include The Dubliners,[17] Heino, Danny Kaye, Pete Seeger, Alfred Deller, The Limeliters, Frank Harte, Sinéad O'Connor, Johnny Logan, Ian McCulloch, Paul Harrington, Damien Leith, Burl Ives, Patty Gurdy and U2.

Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney recorded an updated version of the song titled "The Daughter of Molly Malone" on their album That Travelin' Two-Beat (1965). Crosby also sang the song on the album A Little Bit of Irish recorded in 1966.

Operatic baritone Bryn Terfel has recorded a highly operatic version of the tune, sung in a somewhat upbeat fashion.

Versions of the song have also been recorded in Russian (as Душа моя, Молли or "Molly, my soul"), French, and in Dutch (as "kokkels en mossels").

• Statues in Dublin
• Street cries
• Roud Folk Song Index 16932

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Molly Malone

• Media related to Molly Malone at Wikimedia Commons
• Lyrics with chords
• An article about Molly Malone