The Muffin Man is preserved in the Bodleian Library with lyrics very similar to those used today: <poem> Do you know the muffin man? The muffin man, the muffin man. Do you know the muffin man Who lives in Drury Lane?</poem> Victorian households had many of their fresh foods delivered, such as muffins, which were delivered door-to-door by a muffin man. The "muffin" in question was the bread product known in the United States as English muffins, not the much sweeter cupcake-shaped American variety. Drury Lane is a thoroughfare bordering Covent Garden in London. The rhyme and game appear to have spread to
Man in the Moon and trapped on the Moon. There is a traditional belief that the Man in the Moon enjoyed drinking, especially claret. An old ballad runs (original spelling): <poem> Our man in the moon drinks clarret, With powder-beef, turnep, and carret. If he doth so, why should not you Drink until the sky looks blew?</poem> In the English Middle Ages and renaissance, the Moon was held to be the god of drunkards, and at least three London taverns were named "The Man in the Moone". The man in the Moon is named in an early dated English nursery rhyme: <poem> The man