How Sweet Is She?

"Things are not always what they seem."

In Ireland I've discovered that common bit of wisdom needs to be expanded to read, "In Ireland things are almost ALWAYS NOT WHAT THEY SEEM." Case in point? Above you see a sculpture representing Miss Molly Malone. It sits right across the street from the revered Trinity College in Dublin. On June 13th of this and every year forward, Ireland will celebrate Molly Malone day. And who is Molly Malone? Not an easy question to answer I've learned.

A few years out of college I lived in the small Southern California beach town of Seal Beach. There I would quite often join with adult life long friends Duane and Nancy Laursen. We would sit around the Piano harmonizing. We had some favorite melodies that brought out the best in all of us. One of them was SWEET MOLLY MALONE.

As the lyrics explain, Molly was a gorgeous young fishmonger ( she sold seafood from a fish cart on the streets of Dublin in the late 1600's).

She'd make her way through the streets, broad and narrow, shouting " cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh."

The tone of the song written in the 1800's is full of uplifting praise in the first verse, and unbearable sadness in the second verse.

"She died of a fever, and no one could save her."

But, aye, here's the rub.

There has been a ton of scholarly work trying to pin down whether or not there ever really was a Molly Malone. Turns out there was a ton of them, and a good number of them were selling fish in Dublin. (Molly, it turns out was a common nickname in 1600's Dublin. )

But for some reason many of those scholars honed in on a particular Molly Malone who met her demise in June of 1699. What they discovered in their scholastic endeavors is FISH MONGERING was simply Molly's day job.

The lyrics say she "died of a fever." Not totally accurate they tell us. In fact they tell us that had Penicillin been around, Molly may still be with us today. To keep this a family show I'll let you fill in the blanks. (If they ask you what "STD" stands for, just say it is short for STANDARD.)

You may have heard the Irish are pretty handy at turning a phrase. To illustrate that collective talent, let me share with you some of new nicknames Sweet Molly goes by these days. And, I'm sorry, there is no way I can sugar coat them.

Molly Malone, AKA:

"The Dish with a Fish."

"The Trollop with a Scallop."

Those Dubliners sure like to have fun with we Yankees. When asking the whereabouts of Molly's likeness, we must have been sent in 7 different direction in search of her. I'm thinking we put in at least an extra mile of walking looking for "Sweet Molly Malone." It was two students on the Trinity campus that set us straight.

"You mean 'The Flirt with a Skirt?' She's right over there."

That night we heard Irish Balladeer Tom O'Connor introduce his next song honoring "THE TART WITH A CART."

And they'll all sing of her many talents throughout the land on June 13th.

St. Patrick? During a tour of Dublin Castle I asked the tour guide, "is it true there were snakes in Ireland before St. Patrick came around."

"Well maybe some LITTLE ones," she replied.