Cockles and Mussels

As published in 1876, written and composed by JB Geoghegan

Of all merry blades that ply merry trades,
Or win the affections of pretty young maids;
There is no one so trim or supple of limb
As light-hearted, ruddy-faced mussel man, Jim.
My musical sounds enliven my rounds,
I'm known the world over, from Stepney to Bow;
While singing aloud to a wondering crowd,
Fresh Cockles and Mussels alive, alive O!
Alive, O! alive O!

Alive, alive O! I call as I go,
Fresh Cockles and Mussels alive, alive O!

The fish that I sell are sound in the shell,
More luscious than oysters and feed you as well;
Fresh gather'd and good, they're excellent food,
To strengthen the nerves and replenish the blood;
They're just the right sort, a penny a quart,
On rocks where the mermaid sits singing, they grow,
No flounder or dab, periwinkle or crab,
Can equal my mussels alive, alive O!                

There's young Polly Payne, tho' handsome, not vain,
She sells baked potatoes in Rosemary Lane;
And people do say, if fate has its way,
That we shall be married next Michaelmas Day,
And when she is mine, oh, won't it be fine
With two little stalls standing all of a row,
While folks passing by, will laugh as we cry-
Hot taters and mussels alive, alive O!               

And if we contrive in business to thrive,
Which we shall most certainly do, if we strive,
My Polly and me as happy will be -
As two little birds on the boughs of a tree.
With something to spend, to give and to lend,
And little ones round us to chuckle and crow,
Those artful young imps who bawl out their shrimps
Will wish they sold mussels alive, alive O!        

And nobody knows, the way the world goes,
What sort of good fortune there is in these clothes.
And some lucky year, I perhaps may appear,
As beadle churchwarden, or great overseer;
Or maybe sit down in an alderman's gown,
And wear a large belly as round as a bow;
And won't you all stare when I'm made a Lord Mayor,
From cockles and mussels alive, alive O! 


As published in 1884, credited to James Yorkston

In Dublin's fair city,
Where the girls are so pretty,
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone,
As she wheeled her wheel-barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"

"Alive, alive, oh, alive, alive, oh,"
Crying "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh".

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 oh!"

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, oh!"

This is an extremely well-known song with something of a murky history. A great deal of time has been expended in trying to trace its origins, and if you want to go into detail, you should look at the two Mudcat threads given below. (Thanks and credit goes to all the Mudcatters for their efforts on this one)

The best known version of the song tells the story of Molly Malone, a name which features in a number of 18th and 19th-century songs and plays – for example she is the subject of a late 18th century song, later published in the Universal Songster of 1826, with a chorus that ends:

Its myself I’ll soon smother, in something or other,
Unless I can bother, your heart to love me
Sweet Molly, sweet Molly Malone.
Sweet Molly, sweet Molly Malone.

“Molly Malone” in The Universal Songster (1826) p350

Some sources suggest Molly Malone is a real person , I think this is unlikely, instead I think Molly Malone is one of those names that’s used in 19th-century song to indicate an Irish “every woman”.

The earliest confirmed publication of the Molly Malone version of Cockles and Mussels was in 1884: with writer and composer credits being given to James Yorkston. This is the second version of the song given above. On balance, I think it’s unlikely that James Yorkston wrote and composed it – according to the WorldCat website there are 20 surviving pieces of sheet music where he has received any sort of credit. The only song where his name is present as composer/lyricist is the Molly Malone version of Cockles and Mussels – on all the other songs his role seems to have been as an arranger. He seems to have worked for music publishers in this capacity.

So on balance I think it’s most likely that James Yorkston arranged a pre-existing song, rather than wrote it.

JB Geoghegan is credited as composer and writer of the version of Cockles and Mussels featuring Jim the mussel man. It was published in 1876, though the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library has a broadside song sheet published a year earlier in Glasgow in 1875. I strongly suspect that at the very least this is the origin of the chorus of the Molly Malone version of the song, and I would say the jury is still out on who wrote the verses of that version.

Songs were often published several years after they were first sung , and the earliest reference I can find to the singing of a song called Cockles and Mussels was in October 1870 when it was performed by a Mr Cornhill at a social event for members of the 15th Gloucestershire Rifle Volunteers (Oct. 29, 1870 Jackson’s Oxford Journal). All we have is the title of the song, so it could be the one featuring Jim the Mussel Man or Molly Malone, or even a completely different song – we can’t be sure!

I can find no published evidence of Cockles and Mussels being sung on the Music Hall stage, but this is not unusual as JB Geoghegan operated in Scotland and the “provinces”outside London, and the records of his songs are patchy compared to those of his contemporaries who were based in the capital.

Sinead O’Connor sings it:

Sources:

• VWML entry
• Kilgarrif Sing Us
• Lyrics and sheet music for Geoghegan Song: British Library
• Lyrics and sheet music for Yorkston song: Charlie Chaplin archive
• Mudcat thread
• Mudcat thread

Last Updated on December 7, 2020 by John Baxter | Published: December 3, 2020