The Legend of Molly Malone

Was Molly real? Not likely......

The rest of the song:

Cockles and Mussels, or Molly Malone
James Yorkston

In Dublin's Fair City,
Where the girls are so pretty,
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone.
As she wheel'd her wheel barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying cockles and mussels alive, alive o!

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 wheel'd their barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying cockles and mussels alive, alive o!

Alive, alive o!, alive, alive o!
Crying cockles and mussels alive, alive o!

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!

One version of the legend, gathered from the internet::

"This is an example of a sweet yet sorrowful Irish ballad. It is the story of a young musician, Timothy Pendleton, who would play his fiddle on Dublin's street corners and watch Molly as she peddled by daily. She was a fishmonger, and he was in love with her. He thought of her as an angel from above. Molly died of a fever during a cholera epidemic in Ireland, and was since buried there. Timothy was so upset about her death that he decided to leave Dublin and start anew in America.

It has been said that one night, as Pendelton played the violin that he hadn't touched in years, he played this exact melody, and Molly Malone paid him a visit. Was this just a dream, did she really appear to him? We will never know. But I am sure this legend will live on forever."

A convincing link that Molly was a legend, just a legend:

http://homepage.tinet.ie/~seanjmurphy/irhismys/molly.htm