The serial killer interpretation of “The Muffin Man” has plenty of traction. A quick Google search generates scores of results that repeat the claim without question. It’s made its way into news outlets like MyLondon, which not only included Frederic Thomas Linwood in its story but mentioned his second moniker: the Drury Lane Dicer. But when Snopes tried to track down the story, they traced it to a TikTok video by Jack Williamson, a self-titled “CEO of History” who didn’t provide any sources.
Further research led them to the apparent origin of the Linwood “Muffin Man” story: Uncyclopedia, a parody website. Not only was this spoof of Wikipedia the likely source of the serial killer explanation for “The Muffin Man,” it’s the only record of Frederic Thomas Lindwood every having existed. According to HuffPost, the oldest confirmed serial killer in English history is Mary Ann Cotton, and she didn’t have any connection to muffins. She was also active several hundred years after the Linwood story claims the Muffin Man killer prowled the streets of London.
At most, it could be said that a variant lyric — substituting Dorset Lane for Drury Lane — puts the Muffin Man at the scene of one of Jack the Ripper’s killings. But that’s hardly the only street name used in place of Drury Lane in the rhyme’s history, and there’s no evidence that the Dorset Lane variant went with that street because of the notorious serial killer.
