Do You Know the Muffin Man
Version 1
Oh, do you know the Muffin Man?
The Muffin Man, the Muffin Man.
Oh, do you know the Muffin Man,
That lives in Drury Lane?
Oh, yes, I know the Muffin Man.
The Muffin Man, the Muffin Man.
Oh, yes, I know the Muffin Man,
That lives in Drury Lane.
Source: The Most Popular Mother Goose Songs (1910)
Version 2
Person 1:
Do you know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man?
Do you know the muffin man,
Who lives in Muffin Lane?
Person 2:
Yes, I know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man;
Oh, yes, I know the muffin man,
Who lives in Muffin Lane.
Both:
Then two of us know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man;
Then two of us know the muffin man,
Who lives in Muffin Lane.
*Repeat having the addressed participant ask a new person if he knows the muffin man. After everyone has participated, conclude with "Then three of us know the muffin man, the muffin man.” Continue until all everyone knows the muffin man.
Source: The Young Lady's Book (1888)
Historical Background
The first known publication of “Do You Know the Muffin Man” was printed in an 1820 British manuscript, preserved in the Bodleian Library, the main research library at the University of Oxford. Famous for the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, “Drury Lane” is an actual street in London. The “Muffin Man” in the rhyme presumably alludes to a muffin man who delivered muffins door-to-door, much like a milk man delivering milk in America. During the mid-nineteenth century, the rhyme gained immense popularity, primarily in America and the Netherlands.
Download the sheet music of this rhyme