Do You Know the Muffin Man?

Do You Know the Muffin Man?

A silly little rhyming game or a dire warning?

“Do you know the Muffin Man?

The Muffin Man, the Muffin Man

Do you know the Muffin Man

Who lives in Drury Lane?”

Should I know the Muffin Man?

Will you tell me? What is his tale?

Do I want to know that man

Behind his friendly veil?

What lurks there… can you tell me…

Of what evil hides in plain sight…

Warning what darkness you see…

In soiled innocence plight?

Rife the news of missed women's

Bodies dragged for in tributary…

And all down along the Thames…

Where evil might carry.

Is’t worse than th’Angel Maker,

That loathsome ‘Ogress of Reading,’

Who wound tape o’ dressmaker

Round babes ‘stead o’bedding?

This Muffin Man of-whom you warn…

Is he worse than ‘Melia Dyer,

Who four hundred babes did not mourn,

But murdered for false hire?

Is’t worse than tales weighted hard

Of life there and down Feathers Court

Where life comes so cheaply marred

And death doth hope abort?

This warning dire you deliver

To ‘ware the wicked Muffin Man,

Does set my soul a-quiver

In fear of the villain. 

I don’t want to know that man

That Muffin Man, that Muffin Man

I don’t want to know that man

Who lives in Drury Lane!

Amelia Dyer killed 400 or more mostly illegitimate babies between 1880 and 1896. She was paid -- a practice called “baby farming” -- to take the children, usually with the understanding that she was adopting them or finding homes for them. Dyer killed the infants by wrapping dressmaker’s tape around their little necks " but not so tightly as to kill them quickly -- and slowly strangling them. She confessed to her crimes, -- and to her pleasure watching the life slip away from those choking innocents -- admitting, “You'll know all mine by the tape around their necks.” She was tried and hanged in 1896 for murder. 

Drury Lane was long infamous -- even in Shakespeare’s time -- as a place of abject poverty, of moral and social degradation. From the 16th through the 18th centuries, Covent Garden, especially in the area of Drury Lane, was the primary location of London’s sex trade. It was long known for it’s questionable ladies whose clientele included not just the poor and criminally or socially questionable inmates of the area, but also privileged gentlemen seeking entertainments found between Drury Lane and Covent Garden. Doubtless many of Amelia Dyer’s victims were progeny of that human flesh trade.

by D. Denise Dianaty

Reviews

[realmwriter]

So then this begs the question: Who is the Muffin Man? I only know of the limerick. But now I find myself engrossed with the Muffin Man in a way for which I had not previously considered or known. I will endeavor to brighten my knowledge, or lack there of, from this fleshly, bone chilling tale of death, wrought with blood and gore even if it isn't spilled from every line and written in every word. Well done indeed.

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you. From my research, I couldn't find that the rhyme was ever more than a Victoria-era rhyming game. But, also from my research, I'm not the only one who felt some threat in its lines: there's a proliferation of Muffin Man horror fiction out there. However, the history in my homage is quite true of life in the Drury Lane area and of Amelia Dyer. Who needs fiction when true life is so very horrific?

[realmwriter]

Right. Fiction be damned.

[MomzillaNC]

. . . . . . . ;P

[ANM]

Well written and researched !!

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you.

[TL Boehm]

You've tapped into something more horrific than a Stephen King novel with this. Mother goose and the brothers Grimm were purveyors of monsters - and coming from genetic stock that was notoriously casual with its offspring - this little ditty - it makes my skin crawl.
Well penned.

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you. The history of the district and the "Ogress of Reading" is completely true too!

[Harmony]

The poem with its carefully chosen words, steady flow and old-world style sets an atmosphere reminiscent of olden times, a lost world we no longer remember in the modern era of electronics and sky-scrapers. It is a world that seems a lot more innocent in its rustic simplicity, but at the same time a lot more dangerous and cruel too, a place where anything can happen at any given moment and the veneer of safety we take for granted today doesn't exist. The repetitive refrain, the Muffin Man, makes us think of a child. The accent and shortened words suggest a rather rustic child, probably without much education. The tone is one of innocent terror, the state of being scared of something bad yet incomprehensible, an extent of evil that this innocent child can't really grasp. Its a chilling piece! Very well written too. Good job!

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you. Yes, most people are unaware that, as bad as today is, the horrors of today pale in comparison to those in history. In our lives of the 24 hour news cycle, we hear about events much sooner, and those events become a never-ending refrain that makes it seem as if more of these events are happening. The truth is, per capita, our attack/crime rates are much lower than the days of the highwaymen and human degradation of places like Drury Lane. Of course, the weapons of the criminal are far deadlier today.

[Harmony]

You know, if you really mean to hurt someone, you don't need very deadly weapons to do it. Especially when the person in question isn't expecting the attack, which is usually the case with criminal activity, as opposed to regular warfare. And because of this 24/hr news cycle, nothing can really be kept in the dark for long, which then hastens relief for the victims and punishment for the perpetrators as a result of widespread awareness. Of course we all know it doesn't always work like that. But as I said, at least we have this veneer of safety. The belief that the system would protect us, even if it doesn't always do so. Even this simple illusion was the stuff of dreams a century ago.

[MomzillaNC]

Yes we have a veneer of safety. But, most folks think things are more violent than in the past. I think that comes from being hit over the head with the news 24/7. The fact that criminals can't get away with their crimes perpetually is a good benefit. But, good news isn't newsworthy. And, our fear mongering politicians are going to continue to bludgeon us in perpetuity with how terrible things are.

Just as an example: look at the issue of gun control. The only thing that's been seriously proposed is mandatory drug testing and background checks before someone can purchase a firearm. I really don't see that as a problem. For crying out loud, the guy flipping our burgers had to take a drug test and submit to background check before he would be permitted to suffer public and corporate abuse while serving up those heart-attacks on a bun! If the person scrubbing your toilets has to do that, why is it so wrong to expect the same of someone buying a gun?

And, if the issue is so dire, if our communities are so overridden with crime, why aren't we doing more to increase protective services? We have volunteer firemen. Why can't we have volunteer watchmen? Instead of these neighborhood watch groups that have no authority and no oversight, why not have them function as community-sponsored volunteer watchmen? Cops can't be everywhere - they need eyes in the community.

[Marie]

Well I don't uch want to know this "muffin man" either. It seems that evil runs along Drury lane...

[MomzillaNC]

Thanks for reviewing. Who needs fiction when reality is so much more frightening and horrific.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

how ironic...such a tragedy depicted here, and yet with that sing-song delivery that sounds like what all those little babies would have sounded like had they gotten the chance to live.


ghost voices asking the questions...wondering why...

this is terrific, Momzilla...


so much behind the words, as well as those closed doors.

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you. I'm glad you like it. And, truth, as well as being stranger than fiction, is also more terrifying.

[periwinkle]

This is a poem with a great twist! I am always looking for a poem with a good scare to it. I think this is perfect

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you.

[Dannyisawriter]

This was pretty good. I liked the twist to it.

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you.

[Lyn Anderson]

I really like this one, but then I am a sucker for sick and twisted tales of weirdness. Horror movies are awful, but really, whatever we dream up has been committed worse by someone in real life.

[MomzillaNC]

Too very true. Thanks.

[R Smith]

Nice horror story Mom, think i just lost my liking for muffins though, love the style you inject into this old rhyme and the story of Amelia Dyer is new to me, its sad to think that all the horror stories we hear in the news now days and this tale proves there is nothing new under the sun, thank you :)

[MomzillaNC]

Not only is there nothing new under the sun, but villainy today is weak indeed compared to Amelia Dyer's wickedness. Thanks; I'm glad you liked this one.