The muffin man, it's said, is the nickname of a 16th century child murderer.
The song does have an alternative origin story, which often gets an airing in more credulous corners of the internet. I thought I'd read something about child-catching and murder? The Muffin Man, as depicted with his friends the Fruit Stand Man and the Ice Cream Man, in the Super Simple Songs version that my two-year-old won't stop playing. It's still a well-known rhyme 200 years later. It became a favourite children's song and was adapted into numerous party games. Its lyrics are entirely different to those of the nursery rhyme, but it may have had some influence on the anonymous singer mentioned in the 1819 source.Īfter 1819, the ditty seems to have caught on in a big way. A comedic song about the trade was a staple of the stage from 1796, and was even performed to the King in 1802.
Indeed, people had been singing about muffin men for quite some time, and in quite rarified circles. So, if we're reading it right, it seems The Muffin Man started out as a kind of trashy stage song performed in seedy venues. He is a "migrated coxcomb" and a "leader of fashion in attic entertainments and at cellar-balls, at promiscuous clubs, and at gallows hops.". The book tells us something about an anonymous performer closely associated with the song. It includes a footnote about "The Dandy Muffin-Man of Drury Lane", and this prints the lyrics, much as they're still sang today. Actually, the song can be readily traced a year earlier.Ī quick search in Google Books throws up manuscript of 1819 called Life High and Low, a curious tome that recounts some of the characters and ballads of the day. The earliest written record of the nursery rhyme is from a manuscript of 1820 - or, at least, it is if you believe every online account that has rewritten Wikipedia. Was the muffin man simply a playground nonsense song, or is there something more to it? Nobody is really sure, but the clues point towards its origins on the early 19th century stage. But who was the legendary muffin man? Where does the song come from? It namechecks a very real London street (Drury Lane). It featured prominently in the first two Shrek films. Pre-booking is essential.It's a song known throughout the English-speaking world, with many regional variations. Guests will journey through the slimy Swamp then down Drury Lane and even pop by the Muffin Man’s house, as you become part of an incredible interactive story featuring some of your favourite Dreamwork’s characters including Puss in Boots, Rumpelstiltskin and Pinocchio. The adventure to Far Far Away begins as you board a magical 3D flying bus with the loveable yet mischievous Donkey. Guests who visit Shrek’s Adventure! London on selected days from Saturday 4th December to Friday 24th December will get the chance to venture through the Grotto and pose for a picture with Santa before being gifted a candy treat made by the elves themselves.
SHREK MUFFIN MAN TV
Also enjoying the festive frolics was TV Sports presenter Hayley McQueen and fashion connoisseur Naomi Isted who both relished the chance to don Shrek ears in what was a Shrektacular Christmas outing for all. Inbetweeners star Blake Harrison and presenter Shanie Ryan swapped TV duties for a day out with their families. She was pictured having fun in Santa’s sorting office and meeting Father Christmas and Shrek himself.
SHREK MUFFIN MAN SERIES
Shrek’s Adventure! London welcomed families and Big Green Ogre fans along to a preview event of its brilliantly bonkers Shrek’s Christmas Grotto experience which will return to Far Far Away this festive season from Saturday 4th December.Īmy, who re-joined the cast on the new series of TOWIE, was spotted cosying up to Shrek and writing letters to Santa with her daughter Polly and then being whisked away to the magical Grotto by Santa’s elves.Īctress Claire Sweeney took time out of her busy schedule performing in the West End to spread some yuletide cheer with her family at Shrek’s Christmas Grotto. TOWIE star Amy Childs swapped Essex for the swamp this weekend to enjoy some festive family frolics at the preview of a new Christmas Grotto experience with a difference on London’s South Bank.