Ahh nursery rhymes, gentle lullabies often designed to send our infants to sleep.
Oh, but did I mention some of them have horrific back stories? Take 'Ring a Ring o' Roses', or 'Ring a Ring o' Rosie' - depending where you originate from - that is about the Black Death that is estimated to have killed as many as 50 million people in the 1300s.
But while the bubonic plague, to use its real name, did manage to wipe out at least a third of the population of Europe at that time, that isn't the disturbing nursery rhyme TikToker 'Notmrsspock_fact' detailed.
Advert
He posted a video after one of his followers asked him: 'Which nursery rhyme is about a murderer?' Since his response, the video has garnered more than one million views in just 12 days.
He replied: "The one you're probably thinking of is the Muffin Man."
To re-jog everyone's memory, the nursery rhyme goes: "Do you know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man? Do you know the muffin man, who lives on Drury Lane?
"Yes I know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man. Yes I know the muffin man, who lives on Drury Lane."
The TikToker continued: "'Do you know the muffin man that lives down Drury Lane?', that was actually a guy called Frederick Thomas Linwood and it was in the 1500s and he was said to be a serial killer and he killed children.
Advert
"And his method of doing so, well he was a baker, so his method of doing so was tying a bit of string around a beautiful tasty muffin and drawing the children in with it before he killed them."
His fans rushed to the comment section on the social media platform, one wrote: "My childhood shattered."
Another typed: "I knew about it. so many nursery rhymes, that are so dark in truth."
While a third joked: "The muffin man would 100% draw me in with that method even as an adult."
Advert
Now, let's talk about this so-called 'Frederick Thomas Linwood', and to do so we'll let the White Hart Drury Lane pub, in London, explain the story: "Between 1589 and 1598, Frederic Thomas Linwood also known as the infamous Muffin Man, was reportedly living on Drury Lane.
"The story goes that Linwood killed as many as 15 children by luring them into dark alleys with a muffin tied on a string.
"He was also said to have killed 7 rivals pastry chefs with a sharpened wooden spoon."
Advert
But is there any truth to the story? Well, the establishment doesn't think so as it added: "Whilst it's accepted that the origins of the muffin man story is now most likely an urban myth, who doesn't love a good old 16th century British horror story!"
There are no records to back-up that Linwood was a serial killer, but London Museum can vouch for them existing, explaining that 'muffin men' used to flog bread on Drury Lane - but for murdering children, I'm not too sure.
Joe Yates