Mussel Men are Muscle Men

Going in the Atlantic Ocean
Not a spelling error, but a nod to the incredibly hard work these men put in. After several hours of dragging a heavy metal cage through hard sand raking up mussels in the freezing cold water, you certainly don’t need to visit the gym anymore.

A man hard at work
The "machine" they use
The mussels are harvested at low tide, but not just in ankle deep water. No mam, these boys go out to the sand banks and rake in the mussels in water up to their necks. Gives a whole new meaning to the saying, to be in deep water!

Men hard at work in deep water
Those specks are not dots and my bad photography, but mussel men raking the sand. Wow. This sweet doggy sat patiently waiting for his Mussel Man Daddy to come back and it warmed the cockles of my heart… Wiki says it is used to mean that a feeling of deep-seated contentment has been generated. I just felt jolly happy.
Doggy waiting

Sticking to the cockles and mussels theme, do you remember the song Molly Malone? I remember it from my childhood, but I didn’t remember that the poor girl died from a fever and now her spirit wonders the streets of Dublin singing the song. Does make you wonder if those pub goers really hear her singing or is it Ms Guiness doing the singing…

This is the link to wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Malone

There’s an interesting link to a Russian Celtic folk band (!) called Tintal and I really liked their version.
Quote: A Russian-language cover version of Molly Malone titled Душа моя, Молли (Du'sha moya, Molly - "Molly, my soul") was recorded by the Russian Celtic folk rock band Tintal. In the Russian lyrics, Molly sold trout rather than "cockles and mussels" and died of tuberculosis.
(You can link to it by copying and pasting the title above) Doesn't sound like a rock band at all! Quite funny!

Share this

Mussels


Wow, this gives me such a greater appreciation for the mussels I enjoy on my plate. Growing and harvesting our food is so often taken for granted. When you see what goes into it all, you really do have greater reverence for it.

Post new comment
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <img> <div>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • You may use [inline:xx] tags to display uploaded files or images inline.

More information about formatting options