The Muffin Man Lyrics
Once, muffin men walked the streets of London ringing a bell and selling warm muffins from a tray on their heads. This song remembers one who lived on Drury Lane.
The Muffin Man
Have you seen the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man,
Have you seen the muffin man that lives in Drury Lane O?
Yes, I've seen the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man;
Yes, I've seen the muffin man who lives in Drury Lane O.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/the-muffin-man/
- Type
- Action Songs, Mother Goose
- Tune
- Traditional
- Best for ages
- 2 to 7 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Have you seen the muffin man | Everyone holds hands and walks around in a circle. |
| That lives in Drury Lane O? | Stop and point down the road. |
| Yes, I've seen the muffin man | Nod your head and clap. |
| Who lives in Drury Lane O | Walk around the circle again, pretending to carry a tray on your head. |
What Does The Muffin Man Mean?
The song is a question and an answer: have you seen the muffin man? Yes, I have. Children today usually sing "Do you know the muffin man", but the idea is the same. It is a song about a familiar local figure, like the ice cream van driver today.
The muffins were not the sweet cupcake kind. They were flat, bread-like rolls, what Americans call English muffins, eaten toasted with butter.
History and Origin
In Victorian London, muffin men sold fresh muffins door to door, carrying them on a wooden tray balanced on the head and ringing a hand bell to let people know they were coming. Drury Lane is a real street in central London, famous for its theater. When Alice Bertha Gomme collected the song in the 1890s, children played it as a guessing game: a blindfolded player in the middle of the ring touched someone with a stick and had to guess who it was.
Learning Activities
- Blindfold game: one child in the middle wears a blindfold and touches someone in the ring, then guesses who it is from their voice.
- Make muffins: toast English muffins with butter and compare them with the sweet muffins sold today.
- New verses: swap in people from your own street: "Do you know the postman who lives on Maple Road?"