Cockles & Mussles
(Ruacain is Sliog‡in)
Words & Music:
Traditional Irish(?)
I can do no better than
Vivian & Jack, whose IrishPage.com site provides the Irish translation for
this song about Molly Malone (Mol N’ Mhaoileoin). Molly's cry of "Cockles & Mussels" was a
vendor cry, like "Chairs to mend". Here are their notes:
"As well as being known and sung internationally, the popular song
'Cockles and Mussels' has become a sort of unofficial anthem of Dublin city. A
statue to her is a familiar landmark at the corner of Grafton and Suffolk
Street, Dublin.
This is a street sculpture
of Molly Malone on a busy Dublin corner. They say she was a fish merchant by
day and of quite a different occupation by night. I, myself , think it is a
smear. I like Molly. She is my favorite Dubliner. But the locals still call the
sculpture 'the tart with the cart'."
1. English version:
C
G
In Dublin's fair city, where
girls are so pretty,
C
Em
Dm
G
I first set my eyes on sweet
Molly Malone,
C
G
As she wheeled her
wheel-barrow through streets broad & narrow,
C
Em
C
G C
Crying, "Cockles and
mussels, alive, alive-o!"
CHORUS:
C
G
"Alive, alive-o! Oh, alive, alive-o!"
C
Em
C
G C
Crying, "Cockles and
mussels, alive, alive-o!"
She was a fish-monger, 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, "Cockles and
mussels, alive, alive-o!"
CHORUS:
2. Irish version:
Gan òdar
I mBaile Ath‡ Cliath, N’ fhaca
mŽ riamh,
Aon chail’n n’os sciamha’ n‡
Mol N’ Mhaoileoin,
Ag stiœradh a barra, gach ‡it
ins a chathair,
Le ruacain is sliog‡in, is iad
go bre‡ beo!
Is iad go bre‡ beo, is iad go
bre‡ beo,
Le ruacain is sliog‡in, is iad
go bre‡ beo.
Ba mhangaire Žisc ’, an cheird
di ab Žasca,
îs amhlaidh d‡ muintir —
chianta fad—,
Ag stiœradh a mbarra, gach ‡it
ins a chathair,
Le ruacain is sliog‡in, is iad
go bre‡ beo!
Curf‡:
Ach mo chreach is mo dhiacair,
fuair Mol bocht an fiabhras,
Agus b'in i an chr’och bh’ le
Mol N’ Mhaoiloin,
Ach t‡ taibhse sa chathair, ag
stiœradh a barra,
Le ruacain is sliog‡in, is iad
go bre‡ beo!
Curf‡:
3. Allan Sherman's parody (part 1 of the medley "Shticks Of One, A Half-Dozen Of The Other")
She wheels her wheelbarrow
through streets that are narrow.
Her barrow is narrow, her hips
are too wide.
So, wherever she wheels it,
the neighborhood 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 eighteen stone.
[spoken: That's 256
pounds.]
I don't mind her fat, but...
It's not only that, but...
She's cock-eyed and
muscle-bound Molly Malone.
4. Allan Sherman's Encron parody:
Sherman also parodied this
for the Encron folks in "Allen Sherman Pours It On For Carpets Made With
Encron Polyester".
They've made a new carpet, so
handsome and sharp it
Can make your house glitter
and glimmer and glow.
And the name of this wonder
that won't knuckle under
Is Encron, it's Encron, alive,
alive-o.
Oh, did I say
"Encron"? That name's
got to go.