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Molly Malone

Molly Malone may very well be Ireland’s most famous song. At the very least, it is definitely the unofficial anthem of the city of Dublin and every resident knows the song, or at least can hum when they say “Alive, Alive-Oh.”

Some people swear up and down that the catchy Irish song is based on a real woman who lived in the 17th century. She is real enough because June 13 is now officially recognized as “Molly Malone Day.” The day was first celebrated in 1988, thanks to a decree by the then Mayor of Dublin, who unveiled the busty Molly Malone statue that is now a city landmark.

So who was Molly Malone? And what exactly is your song about?

Molly Malone – The Song

“In Dublin’s Fair City” sells cockles and mussels from a wheelbarrow. The song that immortalizes sweet Molly Malone tells the story of a fishmonger who sold her wares on the streets of Dublin. In the song, Molly Malone dies young, of an unspecified fever. The lyrics suggest that Molly was beautiful, without ever saying it outright (after all, in a city where girls are so pretty, she was “sweet”). And that’s about the whole story according to the lyrics.

Legend has had for some time that you must read between the lines and learn about Dublin’s most seedy history. The street vendors were apparently prostitutes after dark, selling goods in daylight and their bodies at night. So the “fever” could well have been a syphilis outbreak. On the other hand, other music lovers contend that the reason Molly Malone was notable was simply because she didn’t pursue the second regular job. Molly Malone was chaste, they claim. Could this rumor be a bit of a Victorian and / or Catholic twist on the story?

But listen to the lyrics and decide for yourself.

Molly Malone – Letras

So how is the song going again? Here are the lyrics from Molly Malone:

In the beautiful city of Dublin
where the girls are so pretty,
First I laid eyes on sweet Molly Malone
as he pushed his wheelbarrow by
wide and narrow streets,
crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!”

Chorus:
Alive, alive, oh! alive, alive oh!
Crying: “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!”

Now it was a fish shop,
and it sure was not surprising,
because so were his mother and father before,
And each of them rolled his wheelbarrow
Through wide and narrow streets,
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!”

Choir

She died of fever
and no one could save her, and that was the end of sweet Molly Malone.
Now his ghost rolls his wheelbarrow,
Through wide and narrow streets,
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!”

Chorus (over and over, that’s why everyone in Dublin can sing ‘Alive, Alive-oh’)

Molly Malone: ​​herself in the story?

So was Molly Malone a real person? In reality, song lovers only began to assume that Molly was a true historical figure in the late 20th century. The myth took notice, and supposedly she lived in the seventeenth century. However, there is no proof that Molly Malone actually existed.

As you can quickly see due to the lack of detail in Molly Malone’s lyrics, there is absolutely no historical evidence that the song was based on the life of a real woman, let alone in a specific historical context.

What we do know is that there have certainly been a lot of real Molly Malones over the years. Malone is a common name, and “Molly” is a familiar version of the popular names Mary and Margaret. So quite a number of Molly Malones would have lived in Dublin throughout the centuries. Some may have sold cockles and mussels. They (or others) could have walked the streets at night as well. And (sadly) dying of a fever was quite popular until about a hundred years ago.

Still, an unfortunate Molly Malone might have fit the song’s description.

A historic decision

There is no concrete evidence on the song’s origins pointing to a specific woman, but that didn’t stop the Dublin Millennium Commission. During the 1988 celebrations, the organization went to the extreme of promoting rumors and endorsing claims that a woman who died on June 13, 1699, was THE Molly Malone.

Lord Mayor Ben Briscoe unveiled the Molly Malone statue on Grafton Street (now Suffolk Street) and proclaimed June 13 as “Molly Malone Day.” Historians may shudder at the lack of evidence and the statue’s image in the music room, but tourism authorities have not looked back since. The rather busty monument is one of Dublin’s most photographed statues, possibly due to its extensive assets on display as you lean over your cart. As a result, Molly Malone souvenirs sell like hot cakes.

Music history facts

If Molly Malone died in 1699, why didn’t anyone find out until almost two hundred years later? The song itself only appeared in 1883, published in Cambridge (Massachusetts, USA). A year later, it was also published in London and identified as written and composed by James Yorkston of Edinburgh.

The style of the song conforms to the Victorian period music hall genre and helps confirm that it was first written in the late 1800s. Some Molly Malone believers immediately point out that it may be based on folk tradition … but neither the text nor the music resembles any Irish tradition.

However, there is a tantalizing mention of “sweet Molly Malone” in a collection of songs called “Apollo’s Medley”, published around 1790. However, this Molly Malone lived in Howth (at the time far from the beautiful city of Dublin ) and the content of the song is also quite different. As mentioned above, Molly Malones was a dime a dozen in Leinster.

Famous representations of Molly Malone

Every budding Irish artist seems to have recorded “Molly Malone” at some point: Eurovision winners Johnny Logan and Paul Harrington (a bouncy castle version of Jedward thankfully unseen yet), rockers U2 and Sinéad O’Connor. , and (most beloved of all) popular legends The Dubliners. Some versions go way over the top, with Welsh opera star Bryn Terfel turning the Dublin street merchant into an almost Wagnerian figure.

In the program

The Molly Malone statue was originally on Grafton Street, just across from Trinity College, was designed by Jeanne Rynhart and erected during the city’s first millennium celebration (1988). A low-cut dress and a very prominent neckline draw the attention of both locals and visitors. The statue now stands on Suffolk Street in front of the tourist office.

It seems that hardly anyone in Dublin refers to the statue as “Molly Malone.” Instead, nicknames like “The cake with the car” are popular. Variations on this theme (though less popular) include “The Plate with the Fish,” “The Trollop with the Scallops,” and “The Cart with the Trolley.”

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