Mussels

 

Mussels

                        All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Last night’s supper was moules. I don’t know why we always call them moules, but by so doing we avoid misunderstanding in any young humans who might be listening.

 Anyway, the furry friends were more than usually interested so the empty shells had to be secreted far away from them. If we were ‘proper’ gardeners, we would have dried, crushed and powdered them or composted them. The journey from empty shell to gardener’s ally is too fraught with potential hazards for our liking so into the collectable, recyclable food waste bin they were deposited. The bin is locked so it should prove impossible for passing foxes to purloin the contents.

Meanwhile, in the back of my mind, where so much rubbish is located, came the haunting refrain of ‘Molly Malone’, a song I learnt in my long-distant childhood and whose words I remember still. To be fair, the words are remarkably easy to learn, and fit well with the simple, lilting melody.

Who was the legendary Molly Malone? Some say she is based on a woman who died in 1699 in Dublin, but this has never been proved. The story claims that she was a beautiful young woman who lived and died in Dublin. By day, she was a fishmonger, selling her wares in the street. By night, she supplemented her earnings by selling her favours. She is sometimes referred to as ‘the tart with the cart’ or ‘the trollop with the scallops’.

When the charming fishmonger died, of a fever of unknown provenance, but perhaps not unconnected with her occupation as a lady of the night, she was said to haunt the streets of the city and continues to do so to this day. The legend was kept alive through Molly Malone Day, which had been observed annually on 13^th June with a parade, live music and street entertainment. I can find no information on whether the day is still acknowledged.

In 1988 a bronze sculpture of Molly Malone was unveiled during Dublin’s Millennium celebrations. The statue, created by Jeanne Rynhart, is a notable tourist attraction and the song associated with it is known as the unofficial anthem of Dublin.     

In Dublin’s fair city,

Where the girls are so pretty,

I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone,

As she wheeled her wheelbarrow

Through streets broad and narrow

Crying cockles and mussels alive, alive o!

 

Chorus: Alive, alive o! Alive, alive o!

Crying cockles and mussels, alive, alive o!

 

She was a fishmonger

But sure, ‘twas no wonder

For so were her father and mother before

And they each wheeled their barrow

Through streets broad and narrow

Crying cockles and mussels alive, alive o!

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 cockle and mussels alive, alive o!

Chorus: