Many years back a fellow I met, a visiting journalist from Leeds, England, postulated that Molly was actually a transplanted latter-day Luddite lass who was forced into fishmongering and ancillary activities by an unfeeling factory owner for whom the later casting of the statue was penance. I demurred, thinking the whole tale a little fishy...

He also mentioned the concept that Molly's ample "caboose" was the proximate origin of the rude term "broad." What can I say; he was obviously biased, not to mention the three bottles of "wee heavy" (McEwan's Scotch Ale) we had during the conversation.