About Molly Malone#
Molly Malone, also called Cockles and Mussels, is Dublin’s unofficial anthem, set in the old city where a young fishmonger hawks her wares before dying young. There is no record of a real Molly, and the ghost wheeling her barrow through the streets is folklore, not history. The earliest known printing dates to 1884 and is credited to the Scottish songwriter James Yorkston, though the tune is widely treated as traditional and its true beginnings stay unclear.
On a 6-hole ocarina the melody keeps to a comfortable octave, from low C up to high C, so it never strains the top of the range. The one snag is the Bb, written here as A#, a cross-fingered note that catches out newcomers; once that speaks cleanly the rest of the song is gentle going.
Molly Malone Lyrics#
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, oh!”
Alive, alive, oh, Alive, alive, oh, Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!”
Molly Malone Ocarina Tab#
| CIn | FDub | Flin's | Ffair | Fcit | Ay | ||||||
| FWhere | Ggirls | Gare | Gso | Gpret | A#ty | ||||||
| A#I | Afirst | Gset | Fmy | Ceyes | Bbon | Asweet | AMol | Gly | FMa- | Glone | |
| CAs | Cshe | Fwheeled | Fher | Fwheel | Fbar | Arow | |||||
| FThrough | Gstreets | Gbroad | Gand | Gnar | A#row | ||||||
| GCry | Ging | ACock | Cles | A#and | Amuss | Cels | A#a | Alive | Fa | Glive | Foh |