Cockles and Mussels

The earliest known version of Cockles and Mussels was published in London in 1884 by Francis Brothers and Day. The song is described as, "a comic song" written and composed by James Yorkston of Scotland and arranged by Edmund Forman. Because it is noted as printed with permission of an Edinburgh firm, there was clearly an earlier version. Although the song is the unofficial anthem of Dublin and generally regarded as Irish, it was, in fact, written by a Scotsman.

Although much speculation has arisen as to the "true" identity of Molly Malone and her vocation, she is not traceable to a source and most of the stories about her are legendary.


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 mother and father before,
And they each wheeled their barrows
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)