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Subject: Patrick Sky From: J-Stone Date: 03 Apr 99 - 10:25 AM Thanks to everyone who answered my last request. I was wondering if someone wouldn't mind giving me the lyrics to Rattlesnake Mountain, by Patrick Sky? Thanks |
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Subject: RE: Patrick Sky From: catspaw49 Date: 03 Apr 99 - 10:56 AM I never "did" this one myself and it's been too long, but I think Don Meixner may have a songbook. catspaw |
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Subject: RE: Patrick Sky From: DonMeixner Date: 03 Apr 99 - 10:15 PM Rattle Snake mountain isn't in any of the Pat Sky songbooks I've seen. It is in the public domain under a load of varients. Try Sourwood Mountain, The Pesky Sarpent, The Poisoned Tooth, DonMeixner |
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Subject: RE: Patrick Sky From: J-Stone Date: 03 Apr 99 - 11:00 PM Thanks again. Happy Easter. |
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Subject: RE: Patrick Sky From: Stefan Wirz Date: 03 May 00 - 03:25 PM no lyrics at all, but at least: A Pat Sky discography at www.wirz.de/music/skydsc.htm |
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Subject: ADD Version: Rattlesnake Mountain From: DADGBE Date: 03 May 00 - 04:10 PM Here's what I have. It's a Texas version of Springield Mountain: RATTLESNAKE MOUNTAIN On Rattlesnake me-y-mountain I did de-y-dwell, And I've-a got a ste-y-story I'm a-gonna te-y-tell. Come my root eye root eye roo. A nice young me-y-man in the month of me-y-May, Went down to the fe-y-fields to mow his he-y-hay. Come my root eye root eye roo. He had not mo-y-wode all around the fe-y-field, 'Till a rattle-copper sne-y-snake come and bit him on the he-y-heel. Come my... He jumped up he-y-high and danced all a re-y-round, But the pizen ste-y-struck and he fell to the ge-y-ground, Come my... Now Johnny he-y-had a nice young ge-y-girl, Her name was se-y-Sal and she was a pe-y-pearl. Come my... Now Sal she ce-y-came into that fe-y-field, And sucked the pe-y-pizen out of his he-y-heel. Come my... But Sal she he-y-had a rotten te-y-tooth, And the pizen ste-y-struck and killed them be-y-both. Come my... So all you ge-y-guys a warning te-y-take, And don't get be-y-bit by a pizen sne-y-snake. Come my... You folks take we-y-warning and don't ge-y-go, Like Johnny de-y-dear out for to me-y-mow. Come my... The me-y-moral: when in love don't pe-y-pass, Too near to pe-y-patches of high ge-y-grass. Come my... |
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Subject: RE: Rattlesnake Mountain (Patrick Sky) From: Joe Offer Date: 17 Jun 03 - 04:29 AM I came across this song today in Randolph, and then I had to mow the high grass this evening. I haven't seen a rattlesnake on the property yet, but somebody else found a four-footer here about 6 weeks ago. Makes me downright nervous. Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry for this song. Looks like there are a number of versions to look through. -Joe Offer- Springfield Mountain [Laws G16]DESCRIPTION: A young man is out mowing a field. He is bitten by a poisonous snake. In "serious" versions, he dies because no one comes to his aid. In others, his sweetheart tries to draw the poison but instead is killed herself when the venom enters a "rotten tooth"AUTHOR: unknown EARLIEST DATE: 1836 KEYWORDS: death animal lover injury HISTORICAL REFERENCES: Aug 7, 1761 - Death by snakebite of Timothy Myrick, often considered the inspiration for this song FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,NW,Ro,SE,So) REFERENCES (58 citations): Laws G16, "Springfield Mountain" (sample text in NAB, pp. 35-36) Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety, pp. 299-300, "Springfield Mountain" (1 text plus a reference to 1 more) Randolph 424, "Springfield Mountain" (4 texts, 2 tunes) High-OldOldFolkSongs, p. 12, "The Stuttering Song" (1 text) Rainey/Pinkston-SongsOfTheOzarkFolk, p. 23, "Rattlesnake Song" (1 text, 1 tune) Arnold-FolkSongsofAlabama, pp. 64-65, "Rattle Um Snake" (1 text, 1 tune) Moore/Moore-BalladsAndFolkSongsOfTheSouthwest 186, "The Rattlesnake Song" (1 text, 1 tune) Owens-TexasFolkSongs-1ed, pp. 257-259, "Joh-Woh-Wonny" (1 text, 1 tune) Owens-TexasFolkSongs-2ed, pp. 108-109, "Dear John" (1 text, 1 tune) Abernethy-SinginTexas, pp. 29-31, "Springfield Mountain," "Love and Pizen," "Rattlesnake Song" (3 texts, 2 tune) Shoemaker-MountainMinstrelsyOfPennsylvania, pp.147-148, "Springfield Mountain"; p. 148, "Henry Joe" (2 texts) (p. 126 in the 1919 edition) Bronner/Eskin-FolksongAlivePart1 32, "Springfield Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune) Eddy-BalladsAndSongsFromOhio 109, "Springfield Mountain" (4 texts, 3 tunes) Gardner/Chickering-BalladsAndSongsOfSouthernMichigan 38, "Springfield Mountain" (2 texts, 1 tune) Peters-FolkSongsOutOfWisconsin, p. 207, "Young Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune) Musick-JAF-TheOldAlbumOf-William-A-Larkin 40, "Poison Serpent" (1 text) Morris-FolksongsOfFlorida, #55, "Springfield Mountain" (2 texts) Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2 208, "Springfield Mountain" (3 text plus 3 fragments and mention of 1 more; the final fragment, "G," may perhaps be another song) Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore4 208, "Springfield Mountain" (3 excerpts, 3 tunes) Hudson-FolksongsOfMississippi 61, p. 184, "Springfield Mountain" (1 short text) Brewster-BalladsAndSongsOfIndiana 76, "Springfield Mountain" (1 fragment) Henry-SongsSungInTheSouthernAppalachians, pp. 223-224, "Springfield Mountain (I), (II)" (2 texts) Wolfe/Boswell-FolkSongsOfMiddleTennessee 29, pp. 51-53, "Stuttering Johnny (Springfield Mountain)" (1 text, 1 tune) Flanders/Brown-VermontFolkSongsAndBallads, pp. 15-18, "On Springfield Mountain" (2 texts plus some scraps, 2 tunes) Flanders/Ballard/Brown/Barry-NewGreenMountainSongster, pp. 159-161, "Springfield Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune) Linscott-FolkSongsOfOldNewEngland, pp. 285-286, "Springfield Mountain or The Black Sarpent" (1 text, 1 tune) Beck-FolkloreOfMaine, pp. 106-108, "Springfield Mountain" (1 text) Leach-TheBalladBook, pp. 719-723, "Springfield Mountain" (4 texts) Leach-HeritageBookOfBallads, pp. 174-176, "Springfield Mountain" (2 texts) McNeil-SouthernFolkBalladsVol2, pp. 53-54, "The Rattlesnake Song" (1 text, 1 tune) Friedman-Viking/PenguinBookOfFolkBallads, p. 302, "Springfield Mountain" (4 texts) Warner-TraditionalAmericanFolkSongsFromAnneAndFrankWarnerColl 23, "Springfield Mountain"; 65, "On Springfield Mountain" (2 texts, 2 tunes) Warner-FolkSongsAndBalladsOfTheEasternSeaboard, pp. 42-43, "Springfield Mountain" (1 text) Thompson-BodyBootsAndBritches-NewYorkStateFolktales, pp. 370-373, "(Springfield Mountain)" (3 texts plus 2 excerpts) Sharp-EnglishFolkSongsFromSouthernAppalachians 132, "Springfield Mountain" (2 texts, 2 tunes) Scott-TheBalladOfAmerica, pp. 44-45, "Springfield Mountain"; pp. 156-158, "The Pesky Sarpent" (2 texts, 2 tunes) Lomax/Lomax-FolkSongUSA 9, "Springfield Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune) Lomax-FolkSongsOfNorthAmerica 3, "Springfield Mountain"; 212, "Springfield Mountain (Texas Version)" (2 texts, 2 tunes) Lomax/Lomax-AmericanBalladsAndFolkSongs, pp. 356-357, "Rattle Snake" (1 text, 1 tune) Cohen-AmericanFolkSongsARegionalEncyclopedia1, pp. 81-82 "Springfield Mountain" (1 text) Botkin-TreasuryOfAmericanFolklore, pp. 828-829, "On Springfield Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune) Botkin-TreasuryOfNewEnglandFolklore, pp. 554-555, "The Pesky Sarpent" (1 text, 1 tune) Arnett-IHearAmericaSinging, p. 16, "Smithfield Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune) Cox-FolkSongsSouth 81, "Springfield Mountain" (1 text) Cox/Hercog/Halpert/Boswell-WVirginia-B, #3A-3C, pp. 122-125, "Springfield Mountain," "The Venomous Black Snake" (2 texts plus a fragment, 1 tune) Bush-FSofCentralWestVirginiaVol1, pp. 39-40, "The Ven'mous Viper" (1 text, 1 tune) Abrahams/Foss-AngloAmericanFolksongStyle, pp. 146-147, "Springfield Mountain" (2 texts, 2 tunes) Pound-AmericanBalladsAndSongs, 42, pp. 97-98, "O Johnny Dear, Why Did You Go?"; pp. 98-99, "Woodville Mound]"; pp. 99, "In Springfield Mountain"; p. 100, "Springfield Mountain" (4 texts) Huntington-SongsTheWhalemenSang, pp. 167-170, "Springfield Mountain" (1 text, probably rewritten, 1 tune) Coleman/Bregman-SongsOfAmericanFolks, pp. 18-19, "Springfield Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune) Shay-BarroomBallads/PiousFriendsDrunkenCompanions, pp. 166-167, "Springfield Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune) NorthCarolinaFolkloreJournal, Dan Patterson, "A Sheaf of North Carolina Folksongs," Vol. IV, No. 1 (Jul 1956), p. 26, "Springfield Mountain" (1 text) Darling-NewAmericanSongster, pp. 218-220, "Springfield Mountain" (2 texts, one labeled a parody) Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 216, "Springfield Mountain" (1 text) OneTuneMore, p. 15, "Springfield Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune) DT 314, SPRNMNTN* SPRNMTN2* SPRNMTN4* Tom Nash and Twilo Scofield, _The Well-Travelled Casket: Oregon Folklore_, Meadowlark Press, 1999, pp. pp. 41-43, "Springfield Mountain," "Brownsville Mountain," "Rattlesnake Mountain" (3 texts, 2 tunes) Henry Randall Waite, _Carmina Collegensia: A Complete Collection of the Songs of the American Colleges_ first edition 1868, expanded edition, Oliver Ditson, 1876, part III, p. 35, "Springfield Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune) Roud #431 RECORDINGS: Winifred Bundy, "Young Johnny (Springfield Mountain)" (AFS, 1941; on LC55) Woody Guthrie, Sonny Terry, Cisco Houston & Bess Hawes, "Springfield Mountain" (on WoodyFolk) Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Springfield Mountain" (on BLLunsford02) (on AschRec2) "Yankee" John Galusha, "Springfield Mountain" (on USWarnerColl01) CROSS-REFERENCES: cf. "Fod" (words) cf. "The Little Girl and the Dreadful Snake" (plot) SAME TUNE: General Harrison ("When the British foemen swarmed around And burnt our cabins to the ground") (Harrison campaign song) (A. B. Norton, _Songs of the People in the Log Cabin Days of Old Tippecanoe_, p. 6) ALTERNATE TITLES: O Polly Dear NOTES [135 words]: Phillips Barry studied this ballad in depth, and concluded that it fell into four subfamilies: the "Curtis" type (serious), the "Molly" type (comic; see, e.g. DT SPRNMNTN), the"Myrick" type (serious; see DT SPRNMTN2), and the "Sally" type (comic; see SPRNMTN4). Spaeth, for some reason, credits this to someone named Nathan Torrey (A History of Popular Music in America, p. 64), but offers no supporting evidence. He also believes that the comic type "The Pesky Sarpent" comes from the political season of 1840! (The notes in Brown support this to the extent that they credit it to the stage performers George G. Spear and George H. Hill. Wolfe/Boswell-FolkSongsOfMiddleTennessee, p. 52, adds that those two portrayed "stereotyped Yankee farmers," which obviously makes this song an easy target for them.) - RBW Last updated in version 6.6 File: LG16 Go to the Ballad Search form Go to the Ballad Index Instructions The Ballad Index Copyright 2023 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle. |
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Subject: ADD Version: Rattlesnake Song From: Joe Offer Date: 18 Jun 03 - 04:50 AM RATTLESNAKE SONG Oh, Johnny dear, don't you go Down in the meadow for to mow, Ra tinga ling day, ra tinga ling day, Ra tinga ling linga tinga ling day. Oh, Molly dear, don't you know Father's meadow and it must be mowed Ra tinga ling day, ra tinga ling day, Ra tinga ling linga tinga ling day. He hadn't mowed around the field, Rattlesnake bit him on the heel, Ra tinga ling day, ra tinga ling day, Tinga ling linga tinga ling day. They carried him home to Molly dear, Don't you know she felt right queer. Ra tinga ling day, ra tinga ling day, Ra tinga ling linga tinga ling day. Come all my friends and warning take, Never get bit by a rattler snake. Ra tinga ling day, ra tinga ling day, Ra tinga ling linga tinga ling day. If you do I'm telling you, Lots of trouble you'll get into. Ra tinga ling day, ra tinga ling day, Ra tinga ling linga tinga ling day. Collected by W.K. McNeil from Noble Cowden, Cushman, Arkansas, in December 1979. Source: Southern Folk Ballads, Vol. 2 (McNeil). McNeil's notes are fascinating:
Considering its widespread distribution, this ballad has remarkably few titles. By far the most popular is "Springfield Mountain" but "The Shrattledum Snake" and "The Rattlesnake Song" are other traditional titles. Melodically the serious ballad maintains a somber mood while the comic versions have a quicker tempo and lighter mood. Like most of the comic ballads, the one given here contains a nonsense refrain and achieves much of its effect by exaggerating a basically tragic story. In some versions of the ballad the protagonist is referred to merely as "a likely youth" or some similar description. Most texts do supply him with a name, generally John or Johnny but never Timothy; Myrick, however, is found in several versions. Molly, Sally, or Sal are the names generally given the woman, but in some texts she is not named. Barry thought the woman's name came from the comic tradition and was the work of professional songwriters. The version given here was collected in December 1979 by W.K. McNeil from the singing of Noble Cowden of Cushman, Arkansas. For more information about Mrs. Cowden see the notes to "The House Carpenter's Wife." |
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Subject: RE: Rattlesnake Mountain / Springfield Mountain From: BanjoRay Date: 18 Jun 03 - 09:08 AM Woody Guthrie sang a version of which I only remember the first verse. I give the chords to render a rough idea of how it went. On Springfield me-why me-why mountain D7-------------G There did dee-why dee-why dwell ----------C a pretty little ge-why ge-why gal G---------------D7 And I knowed her he-why he-why well -----------------G To my root-eye roo, my root-eye root-eye ray D7-------------G----------------D7-------G Anyone know any more of this? Ray |
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Subject: RE: Rattlesnake Mountain / Springfield Mountain From: Bat Goddess Date: 18 Jun 03 - 09:16 AM Timothy Myrick is buried in the Deacon Adams cemetery in Wilbraham, MA -- Jeri and I found it a few years ago, thanks to the description in Anne Warner's book on the Warner collection and to Michael Cooney, who remembered the approximate location. Unfortunately, a prominant sign forbids both rubbings and PHOTOGRAPHS without permission. (And couldn't find the town hall on such short notice and limited time.) Here's the epitaph: Here lies ye Body of Mr. Timothy Mirick, Son of Lieut. Thomas & Mrs. Mirick who died August 7th 1761 in ye 23rd Year of his Age. "He cometh forth like a flower and is cut down He fleeeth also as a Shadow and continueth not." (Job XIV,2) His father, by the way, spelled his name Merrick, at least on his marker. Linn (still the thanatolithologist) |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE PESKY SARPENT From: GUEST,Q Date: 18 Jun 03 - 02:56 PM THE PESKY SARPENT On Springfield Mountain there did dwell, A comely youth I knew full well. Chorus: Ri tu di nu, ri tu di na, Ri tu di nu, ri tu di na. One Monday morning he did go, Down to the meadow for to mow. He scarce had mowed half the field, When a PESKY SARPENT bit his heel. He took his scythe and with a blow, He laid the Pesky Sarpent low. He took the Sarpent in his hand, And straitway (sic) went to Molly Bland. Oh Molly, Molly here you see, The Pesky Sarpent what bit me. Now Molly had a ruby lip, With which the pizen she did sip. But Molly had a rotten tooth, Which the Pizen struck and kill'd 'em both. The neighbours found that they were dead, And laid them both on one bed. And all their friends both far and near, Did cry and howl they were so dear. Now all you maids a warning take, From Molly Band and Tommy Blake. And mind when your (sic) in love don't pass, Too near to patches of high grass. Sheet music in American Memory, dated in MS. 1840, pub. by Oakes and Swan, Boston. "By the Author." Another copy (nd) in Levy Collection. Original capitalization and spelling kept in this copy. The Traditional Ballad Index has a date of 1836. This may be the same text. The story about Timothy Myrick apparently is a late addition. Is there any data as to the cause of death of this 18th century man? |
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Subject: RE: Rattlesnake Mountain / Springfield Mountain From: GUEST,Q Date: 18 Jun 03 - 03:08 PM Thanatolithologist- nice word. I spent some time photographing and noting the markers in a pioneer cemetary which was turned over to private owners by the church that formerly owned it. Now I have a proper name for the work. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: SPRINGFIELD MOUNTAIN From: GUEST,Q Date: 18 Jun 03 - 06:09 PM Odd that Brown, "North Carolina Folklore," has no versions of "The Pesky Sarpent." One version was collected in Jackson Co., West Virginia by M. F. Morgan in 1915 and printed under the title, "Springfield Mountain," by J. H. Cox, "Folk-Songs of the South," p. 292. SPRINGFIELD MOUNTAIN A charming youth in Conway dwelled, A charming youth that I knew quite well. Too-da-nica-da-li, too-da-nica-dali, too-da-nica, too-da-nica, Too-da-nica-da-li, too-da-nica, Too-da-nica, too-di-a. That charming youth one day did go Down in the meadow for to mow. He mowed along but at length did feel A great big serpent bite him on the heel. They carried him to his Sally dear, Now don't you bet it made her feel queer? "O Johnnie dear, why did you go, Down in the meadow for to mow?" "Why, Sallie, dear, and I thought you knowed 'T was granddaddie's meadow, and it must be mowed." At length he died, gave up the ghost; In Abraham's bosom he was post. Now all ye people this warning take, To shun the bite of a great big snake. ON SPRINGFIELD MOUNTAINS or the Pesky Sarpent. On Springfield Mountain there did dwell A comely youth I knew full well. One Monday morning he did go Down to the meadow for to mow. Ri tu di nu, ri tu di na, Ri tu di nu, ri tu di na. He scarce had mowed half the field When a pesky serpent bit his heel. He took his scythe and with a blow He laid the pesky serpent low. He took the serpent in his hand And straight-way went to Molly Bland. The serpent's poison made him weak He scarcely had the strength to speak. Extra chorus 1: Oh Molly, Molly here you see The pesky serpent what bit me. Now Molly had a ruby lip With which the pizen she did sip. The pizen proved so awful strong It killed them both ere very long. The neighbors found that they were dead So laid them both upon one bed. And all their friends from far and near Did cry and howl they were so dear. Now all you maids a warning take From Molly Bland and Tommy Blake And mind when you're in love don't pass, Too near to patches of high grass. Extra chorus 2: Oh Molly, Molly, this we take As a moral of that snake. Sheet music in the Levy Collection, O. Ditson, Boston, 1878, arranged by L. C. Elson. The first verses are the same as those of "The Pesky Sarpent" of 1840, but the last parts are re-written. |
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Subject: ADD Version: On Springfield Mountain (Burl Ives) From: CRANKY YANKEE Date: 19 Jun 03 - 04:46 AM "Springfield Maountain" is now known by the name, "Mount Tom" is located near Holyoke, Masachusets, USA. I seem to remember some folk musicx authority stating that this song "On Springfield Mopuntain" is the oldest originally American folk ballad. I heard a Burl Ives recording of this a long long time ago ON SPRINGFIELD MOUNTAIN On Springfield Mountain there did dwell A love lie (lovely) youth, I knew him well (refrain) Re too dee day, ray toody do ray toodum day rey toodum do. This lovely youth one day did go. Out to the mountain for to mow. (repeat refrain) He had not mowed half round the field When an ug-lie serpent bit his heel He went straight home to Molly dear To draw th poison from his heel But Molly had a rotten tooth And so the poison killed them booth. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: GUEST,Q Date: 19 Jun 03 - 01:13 PM Any certain evidence of the song before 1836-1840? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: Joe Offer Date: 28 Apr 04 - 01:43 PM I think it's time to refresh this thread again, now that it's mowing season for us who live in rural areas. I looked out at our high grass yesterday and thought about all the rattlesnakes that are out there, waiting to get me. I figured the mowing can wait a couple of weeks. Besides, I had a plumbing emergency yesterday. The flexible pipe from the irrigation ditch split, so I had to dig it up in the neighbor's pasture, and try to patch it with special leak-patch tape. One roll of tape didn't make it, so I put a second roll on top - with the neighbors' three cows staring at my butt at close range... Interesting afternoon. I hope you city folks will think of us out here in the wilderness, as you enjoy your city water and garbage collection, and all those other luxuries. Lord, protect me from the snakes... -Joe Offer- Oh, and here's Dreadful Snake. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: Amos Date: 28 Apr 04 - 02:01 PM This situation (the one Joe fears) is also depicted in a children's song called "Fod" (a nonsense word injected into every chorus, loudly, by the children in the audience). "I went down to the mowing field Too-rah too-rah, foladiddle dido! I went down to the mowing field, FOD!!!!!!!!!!!! I went down to the mowing field When an ugly sarpent bit mah heel Too-rah-die-ay! Just put them high boots on, Joe, and use a noisy riding mower or tractor, and you'll be okay!! A |
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Subject: FOD From: Joe Offer Date: 28 Apr 04 - 02:26 PM I forgot about that one, Amos. I thing it's on a CD called Two Little Boys: More Old Time Songs for Kids, but Jeff Warner and Jeff Davis. Now I'll have to see if I can actually find the CD. Here's the entry on "Fod" from the Traditional Ballad Index. -Joe Offer- FodDESCRIPTION: "As I went down to the mowin' field Hu-ri tu-ri fod-a-link-a-di-do, As I went down... Fod! As I went down... A big black snake got me by the heel." The injured singer sits down and watches a woodchuck fight a skunk (and complains about the smell)AUTHOR: unknown EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (recording, Henry King & family) KEYWORDS: animal nonsense humorous injury dancing fight FOUND IN: US(So,SW) REFERENCES (4 citations): Warner-Eastern, pp. 44-45, "Fod" (1 text) Lomax-FSNA 213, "Fod" (1 text, 1 tune) Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 222, "Fod" (1 text, 1 tune) Fuson, p. 159, "A Mighty Maulin'" (twelfth of 12 single-stanza jigs) (1 text, perhaps from this though it's just a loose verse) ST LoF213 (Full) Roud #431 RECORDINGS: Henry King, "Fod!" (AAFS 8) Henry King & family, "Fod" (AFS 5141 B2, 1941; on LC02) CROSS-REFERENCES: cf. "(I Can't Be) Satisfied" (words) cf. "Springfield Mountain" (words) NOTES: Roud catalogs this as a version of Springfield Mountain. Oy. (Admittedly Warner-Eastern thinks it's a lost ending of "Springfield Mountain.") I stuck Fuson's single stanza ("As I went down to my old field, I heard a mighty maulin'; The seed-ticks was a-splittin' rails, The chiggers was a-haulin'") here because it sounds like it might be a loose verse of something similar, and because there is nothing else much like it. Roud gives it its own number, 16395, but it's probably a floating verse from something. - RBW Last updated in version 4.2 File: LoF213 Go to the Ballad Search form Go to the Ballad Index Instructions The Ballad Index Copyright 2017 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle. |
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Subject: ADD: FOD From: Joe Offer Date: 28 Apr 04 - 02:47 PM FOD 1. As I went down to the mowin' field, Hu-rye, tu-rye, fod-a-link-a-dye-do As I went down to the mowin' field, Fod! As I went down to the mowin' field, A big black snake got me by the heel, Tu-rolly-day. 2. Well, I fell down upon the ground, (3 times) I shut both eyes and looked all around. 3. I set upon a stump to take my rest, (3) I (It??) looked like a woodchuck on his nest. 4. The woodchuck grinned a banjo song (3) And up stepped a skunk with the britches on. 5. The woodchuck and skunk got into a fight, (3) The fumes was so strong they put out the light. 6. They danced and they played till the chimney begin to rust, (3) It was hard to tell which smelt the wust. Source: Alan Lomax, The Folk Songs of North America Collected by C. Todd and R. Sonkin as adapted and arranged by the King Family, Visalia, Calif., Okie emigrants to Calif. from Missouri. AAFS 8 BI. see: Botkin V, 792; Brown III, 221; White, 203. This is a white remake of Negro animal jingles popular in blackface minstrel era. Tune is one of the Middlewestern variants of the Rattlesnake Song, which has also contributed to Fod. Click to playThere is an identical version of the song in Old-Time String Band Songbook (Cohen/Seeger/Wood), except that the third verse has
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 28 Apr 04 - 03:18 PM Please don't mow in the meadow, Joe. Unrelated, but take a look at "Charming Emma Snow," done in by a cruel black snake: thread 32054: Sweet Lorena |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add FOD From: Amos Date: 28 Apr 04 - 03:43 PM That verse should be "got into a fight", Joe. And, as I heard it long ago, it was "along come a woodchuck, wearing a verst". See, the woodchuck was wearing the vest, and the skunk had his britches on...enough to start a fight in any good song, and likely to smell pretty bad. Makes sense to me, anyway! A
-Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: Big Jim from Jackson Date: 28 Apr 04 - 07:26 PM Jimmy Driftwood recorded the "Texas" version alluded to early in this thread. Cathy Barton and Dave Para do a really fine version of the song(Not the Texas version)on one of their newest recordings. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Moun From: Joe Offer Date: 01 Jun 05 - 04:21 AM Well, it's that time of year again. No snakes when I was mowing the high grass today, though... |
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Subject: Lyr Add: RATTLESNAKE MOUNTAIN (from Patrick Sky) From: GUEST,George Date: 24 Jun 05 - 07:44 PM This is how I remember the words as sung by Patrick Sky on his album: RATTLESNAKE MOUNTAIN On rattlesnake me-y-mountain I did dee-y-dwell And I've got a stee-y-story I'm a-gonna tee-y-tell. Come a roodi roodi roo. A nice young mee-y-man in the month of mee-y-May Went down to the fee-y-fields for to mow his hee-y-hay. Come a roodi roodi roo. He had not mow-y-owed all around that fee-y-field When a rattle copper snee-y-snake come and bit him on the hee-y-heel. Come a roodi roodi roo. He jumped up a hee-y-high and he looked all a ree-y-round And he closed his ee-y-eyes and he fell to the ghee-y-ground. Come a roodi roodi roo. He told the bee-y-bird, "Go fetch my ghee-y-gal. I'm rattlesnake bee-y-bit and I need my see-y-Sal." Come a roodi roodi roo. The bird did flee-y-fly and spread the new-y-ews And along come a see-y-Sal without any shoe-y-oos. Come a roodi roodi roo. "Oh, Johnny dee-y-dear, why did you go-y-wo Down into the fee-y-fields a hay for to mow-y-oh?" Come a roodi roodi roo. "Why, Sally d-y-dear, I thought you'd know-y-oh. When the hay is ree-wi-ripe it's a-gotta be mow-y-owed." Come a roodi roodi roo. "Oh, Johnny dee-y-dear, I'll save your lee-y-life If I may be-y-e your sweet little wee-y-wife." Come a roodi roodi roo. She grabbed his lee-y-leg and made him squee-y-squeal And sucked that pizon blood right out of his hee-y-heel. Come a roodi roodi roo. Now Sal she hee-y-had a rotten tee-y-tooth And the pizon stee-y-struck and killed them bee-y-both. Come a roodi roodi roo. The nee-y-neighbors found that they were dee-y-dead And laid them bee-y-both upon one bee-y-bed. Come a roodi roodi roo. So all young lee-y-lovers a warnin' tee-y-take From Johnny Bee-y-Bland and Sally Bee-y-Blake. Come a roodi roodi roo. And mind if you're in lee-y-love, don't pee-y-pass Too close to pee-y-patches of high ghee-y-grass. Come a roodi roodi roo. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: Dave Ruch Date: 24 Jun 05 - 10:34 PM 'Twas Frank Warner who popularized the "FOD" version for me, and as I remember the story, he got it from a displaced Okie in California in the 1930's or so. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Moun From: Joe Offer Date: 10 May 06 - 02:32 AM Well, it's that time of year again, and it seems to be a good year for the snakes. I saw the tail of something slithering away from me as I was mowing this week, and my friend Annette came across a rattlesnake while she was mowing. She said she had never killed anything intentionally before, and she was very shaken up by her encounter. It was getting dark, and I couldn't tell whether my reptile was a rattlesnake. It was fat and brownish, and I'm assuming the worst.... -Joe- |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: Amos Date: 10 May 06 - 03:37 AM Just heard a wonderful story. In the hills up above Cottonwood, Arizona is an old mining town named Jerome, now mostly a tourist town occupied by resident artists and shop keepers, once a copper-mining town clinging to the sleep sides of a mountain. Very windy two-lane blacktop road curls up the mountain to get to it. Yesterday my MIL was driving up to Jerome and al the traffic was stopped in both directions just outside of town. Turned out, the reason was that a diamondback who was five feet long had decided to cross the road, and the citizenry just reckoned they could wait until he had finished get across in his leisurely fashion. I have never seen one five feet long, but what amazes me is that no-one had to run it over. A |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: Goose Gander Date: 10 May 06 - 10:36 AM Springfield Mountain As sung by Mrs. Irene Carlisle, Fayetteville, Arkansas on June 23, 1960 Johnny, My Dear As sung by Mrs. Gladys McChristain, Huntsville, Arkansas on October 1, 1958 Stuttering Boy As sung by Clara Terrill, Altus, Arkansas on August 19, 1959 As sung by Ollie Gilbert, Mountain View, Arkansas on February 9, 1970 Come A Ri-Ru-Ri-Ray As sung by Terry Pieford, Fort Smith, Arkansas on July 14, 1967 All from the Max Hunter Folk Song Collection And then theres also . . . . Fod As sung by the King Family in Visalia FSA Camp on September 2, 1941, as heard on Voices From the Dust Bowl |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Moun From: GUEST,Bob Coltman Date: 10 May 06 - 10:57 AM I was surprised not to see (did I miss it?) anyone mention Jimmy Driftwood in connection with the "Rattlesnake Mountain" branch of the Death of Lt. Myrick/"Springfield Mountain" family. Driftwood recorded his "Rattlesnake Mountain" in or around 1958, on his first RCA Victor album. My impression is that Pat Sky may have learned it there, and that the Texas version cited above may also stem from the Driftwood record. I'm not clear on just how traditional the "me-Y-mountain" treatment is; Driftwood may have learned it from his father, Neal Morris, or from someone else in his boyhood. But as he was also a deft songwriter who varied tradition a good deal, he may have had a hand in forming this version. Does anyone know of a source for the "me-Y-mountain" type of text BEFORE Driftwood and before 1958? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Moun From: Desert Dancer Date: 10 May 06 - 11:18 PM According to the guy who does the presentation with live venomous reptiles at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, if you have been bitten by a rattlesnake the odds are extremely high that you
- have at least one tattoo - have recently consumed alcohol - approached the snake, rather than the reverse ~ Becky in Tucson |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: Amos Date: 10 May 06 - 11:43 PM Becky: LOL! A |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: Peace Date: 10 May 06 - 11:44 PM Yeah. And if ya just watched "Enter the Dragon", the odds go WAYYYYYYYYY up. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: GUEST,little g Date: 29 Jun 06 - 08:12 PM I know next to nothing about traditional music, but my family is from the mountains of North Carolina, and my dad sings a song he calls "rattlesnake mountain" which includes the "snee-y snake" bit. He told me that he had learned it from someone who had learned it from an old man near north wilkesboro, north carolina who told him that it had never been written down, and was only to be transmitted from person to person by mouth. In his version no one dies and the upshot is that he owes the girl his life and has to marry her, with a joke on whether it would have been better to have stuck with the snake. Has anyone heard this version anywhere? Do you know if it really has ever been written down? I'd love to know where if it has. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Moun From: GUEST,Adam Miller Date: 07 Aug 08 - 09:09 AM On August 7, 1761, in what is now present-day Wilbraham, MA, Timothy Mirick, age 22, was killed by a rattlesnake bite while he mowed a field of hay. Timothy may have had other things on his mind that day, as his own wedding day was two weeks away. He is buried next to marked #14 at the Adams Cemetery (founded 1741), 1000 Tinkham Road, Wilbraham, MA, (just south of Hwy. 90). His red granite headstone appears on the right in this photo. It reads, "Here lies ye body of Mr. Timothy Mirick Son of Lieut Thomas and Mrs. Mary Mirick Who died August 7th 1761 in ye 23rd year of his age". His sister Lucy is buried to his left under a smaller. She died in November of her tenth year. Timothy's father, Lieut. Thomas Mirick is buried close by. 18th century Wilbraham historian, Clark Warner wrote, "Timothy Mirrick, [sic] the son of Lt. Thomas and Mary Mirrick was bit by a ratel snake on August the 7th, 1761, and died within about two or three ours, he being 22 years, two months and three days old and vary near the point of marridg," Chauncy E. Peck wrote in his June 15, 1913 "History of Wilbraham: " About 40 years ago, William V. Sessions, who was born in 1801, showed me the place [where Timothy Mirick died] and he said that the summer of 1761 was very dry and it was supposed that the serpent had come down from 'Rattlesnake Peak,' on the mountain, where there were known to be a few, to the meadow, in search of water. He also told me that a search for the snake was made the next day, and it was found curled up near the seythe of young Timothy, and was killed." "...The house which was being built for the young man, so near the 'point of marridg' is still standing on the east side of the road and is occupied by Walter Bliss..." This house was (in 1913) the most southerly place in Wilbraham, on Main St. The meadow Timothy was mowing when he died, was off to the southwest of this house, some "seventy to ninety rods". In the 21st century, Wilbraham, MA is full of families named Merrick. Their Welch ancestors settled in Western, MA, in the 1680s. |
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Subject: ADD: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: GUEST Date: 15 Feb 09 - 03:47 PM My dad use to sing one to me Oh moe wo wo wo wo went on a hill wil wil wil will to moe the gra ra ra ra rass sing a ti ri ruda mida roun He said sa wa wa wa wall oh dont you know wow wow wow wow When the grass gets high wi wi wi wi It's a gota be mow wow wow wow wowed Well he got bite wi wi wi wit by a rattle sna wa wa wa wake and it bitem on the hil will will will will and he fell do won won won won Now he said sall lal lal lal lala Go fetch pa wa wa wa wa tell em I got bit wit wit wit wit by a rattle sna wa wa wa wake Now here come pa wa wa wa wa he said lay dow won won won won and he kick all a roun roun roun roun round and he die on the hil will will will will sing a ti ri ruda mida roun |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Moun From: Bat Goddess Date: 16 Feb 09 - 09:05 AM Adam Miller -- what photo? I wanted to photograph Myrick's marker when I located it several years ago but obeyed the sign. Is a photo available in a book or online? Linn (the thanatolithologist) |
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Subject: ADD: Springfield Mountain (Flanders & Brown) From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 23 Mar 10 - 08:29 PM No evidence of the song before 1836; it may not be based on the 1761 death by snakebite of Timothy Myrick of Wilbraham, Mass., in Farmington, Conn. Laws, in Native American Balladry, printed a version collected in Vermont which lacks the silliness of most sung versions. SPRINGFIELD MOUNTAIN 1 On Springfield mountain there did dwell A handsome youth, was known full well, Lieutenant Merrill's only son, A likely youth, near twenty-one. 2 On Friday morning he did go Down to the meadows for to mow. He mowed, he mowed all around the field With a poisonous serpent at his heel. 3 When he received his deathly wound He laid his scythe down on the ground. For to return was his intent, Calling aloud, long as he went. 4 His calls were heard both far and near But no friends to him did appear. They thought he did some workman call Alas, poor man, alone did fall. 5 Day being past, night coming on, The father went to seek his son, And there he found his only son Cold as a stone, dead on the ground. 6 He took *bairn up and he carried him home And on the way did lament and mourn Saying, "I heard but did not come, And now I'm left alone to mourn." *?error in typescript. 7 In the month of August, the twenty-first, When this sad accident was done. May this a warning be to all, To be prepared when God shall call. Sung by Joseph S. Kennison, Vermont. G. Malcolm Laws, 1950, Native American Balladry, Chap. 3, Amer. Folklore Society. Originally printed in Flanders and Brown, Vermont Folksongs and Ballads, with music. Not included in The New Green Mountain Songster, 1939, Flanders et al., Folklore Assoc. Inc. *Typescript of Laws online has spelling mistakes. |
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Subject: ADD Version Springfield Mountain (Burl Ives) From: Joe Offer Date: 20 Oct 10 - 05:50 PM I went on a hike last weekend, and saw TWO snakes on the trail. They were gopher snakes, but they still made me nervous. I mean, if it's good weather for gopher snakes, isn't it good weather for rattlesnakes? ON SPRINGFIELD MOUNTAIN On Springfield Mountain there did dwell A lovely (love-lie) youth, I knowed him well. REFRAIN Ray goo too day-noo-ay, Ray too di-noo-ay, Too di nay hoo-i too di noo. This lovely youth one day did go. Down to the meadow for to mow. (repeat refrain) He scarce had mowed half round the field When an ug-lye serpent bit his heel. They took him home to Mol-lye dear Which made her feel so ve-rye queer. Now Mol-lye had two ruby lips With which the pizen she did sip. But Mol-lye had a rotten tooth And so the poison killed them booth. Source: The Burl Ives Song Book (Ballantine Books, 1953), pages 72-73. The second verse is on a Burl Ives recording, but not in the book. The tune is so close to the first version in the Digital Tradition that I seen no reason to transcribe it from the Burl Ives book. Hey, take a listen to the tune for DT Version 4 of this song - it sounds almost like "Old Hundredth" (Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow). Has anybody actually heard this sung to "Old Hundredth"? [note that this version is from Gale Huntington's "Whalemen" book, and is not very closely connected to the other "Springfield Mountain" songs.] -Joe- |
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Subject: Lyr Add: SPRINGFIELD MOUNTAIN From: Jim Dixon Date: 26 Oct 10 - 12:22 PM From Carmina Yalensia: A Complete and Accurate Collection of Yale College Songs by Ferdinand Van Derveer Garretson (New York: Taintor Brothers, 1867), page 46 – where it appears with musical notation for piano and one voice: SPRINGFIELD MOUNTAIN 1. On Springfield Mountain there did dwell A nice young man; I knew him well-I-ell. CHORUS: Sing turi-luri-turi-lay, Sing turi-luri-turi-lay-i-a. 2. On Monday morning he did go Down to the meadow for to mow. 8. He scarce had mowed half round the field, When a pesky sarpent bit his heel. 4. He raised his scythe and struck a blow, Which laid the pesky sarpent low. 5. He took the sarpent in his hand, And posted off to Molly Brand. 6. "Oh, Johnny dear, why did you go Down to the meadow for to mow?" 7. "Oh, Molly dear, I thought you knowed 'Twas father's field and must be mowed." 8. Now this young man gave up the ghost And did to Abraham's bosom post. 9. And thus he cried as up he went, "Oh, pesky, cruel, sar-pi-ent." 10. Now all young men, a warning take, Beware of the bite of a great big snake. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: GUEST,steve Date: 24 Jun 15 - 03:17 PM heard a similar version of this sung by my pa, I always thought he made it up as he went along, never knew there was ssso much history and interest in it |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: keberoxu Date: 03 Feb 19 - 09:01 PM Like an earlier poster, the Burl Ives version is one I have heard, and remember the sound of it if not Ives's exact text. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: cnd Date: 29 Oct 23 - 10:33 PM Joe, I don't know if it existed back in 2003 when you linked to the Ballad Index, but Robert Waltz (who will hopefully soon also be seeing this thread) and his compatriots now has a page dedicated to the Springfield Mountain song: Springfield Mountain [Laws G16] I did come across a version from 1821, reproduced below, from a Boston, Mass. weekly. I'll include the introductory text, which alludes that the song is older than that. New England Galaxy, July 27th, 1821, p. 4: Mr. Editor, The following pathetic effusion was written several years since, by an attorney at law, who resided at Springfield, Massachusetts. It is, however, merely "a piece of a thousand others," (as the Major says) which I have seen in that flourishing town, from the pen of the same great poet. Were it not to please the dear, bewitching, tender-hearted, smooth-faced creature, "Lydia Languish," who appears so bloomingly in your last paper *, I should not have troubled you to insert it in the Galaxy. Yours, affectionately, CONSERVE OF ROSES. SENTIMENTAL DITTY. -- "Founded on Fact." On Springfield Mountains there did dwell, A likely youth, who was known full well; A likely youth, 'bout twenty-one, Lieutenant Curtis' only son! Last Monday morning he did go Down in the meadow for to mow, He mow'd all round, at length did feel, Some poison serpent bite his hell [sic]. He laid his scythe down on the ground, And with his eyes he looked around, But not a soul could he descry, To carry him home when he should die. The serpent's bite began to smart, The venom had nearly reach'd his heart; He cried aloud, but no one came To help poor Curtis, who was so lame! At last this youth "gave up the ghost," And to Abraham's bosom he did post, Crying all the way as he went, O cruel, cruel, serpent! Now readers all, pray drop a tear, For the unhappy youth who slumbers here; From his sad fate a warning take, And shun the poison of a snake! * Perhaps finding the request could add a bit more detail to the song, but the OCR searches of preceding issues aren't turning up much, and I'm not dedicated enough to pour over pages of small, scratchy microfilm to find something which will provide inconsequential detail at most.
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Subject: RE: Origins: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: cnd Date: 29 Oct 23 - 10:53 PM Worth noting, many early versions reference a Lieutenant (often spelled Leftenant) Curtis or Carter rather than the Timothy Myrick often cited as inspiration. I also searched briefly for death by snake of a Curtis or Carter whose father was a lieutenant, but turned up nothing of note. The next earliest version I've come across was in Godey's Lady's Book, May 1840 (link). This version is quoted briefly in a story and adds little of value, other than calling it a "true, old-fashioned ballad style" song. The Boston Morning Post of January 14th, 1841 (link) took issue with the quotation of the song in an edition of The United States Gazette a few days prior, calling it "an old poem" (quoted below). After this instance, the song/poem was quoted frequently and often in numerous papers. * * * * * LEFTENANT CARTER'S SON The United States Gazette, a few days since, gave some stanzas from an old poem, in which is narrated the lamentable fate of "Leftenant Carter's only son,which we only notice to express our astonishment that a gentleman of Mr Chandler's learning should have been imposed upon by a spurious version of a story so famous, and to preserve the memory of the brave though unfortunate young man alluded to from injustice. The Gazetie says-- "He went on to the mounting high--Now this is an entire misrepresentation of the facts. "Leftenant Carter's only son" did not "go on to the mounting high" --" a rattle snake he did not espy," (if he had seen the snake, of course he would have kept it at a proper distance) -- no, the true version of the story, which we copy from the earliest edition, is as follows, and we call upon the editor of the Gazette to mark its superior beauties:-- "One day this young man di-id goThe lines as we have given them have an air of consistency which renders any other guaranty of their genuineness unnecessary. "The poet continues (says the Gazette) by describing the peculiar conduct of the victim after he had been bitten. As he went home he was heard 'Crying aloud, all as he wentHere, we are grieved to say, is another unfortunate error, which would represent the hero of an epic in the light of a whining, snivelling boy. But we have the satisfaction of knowing that young Mr Carter bore himself on the occasion more like the son of a Leftenant— "For when he felt this varmint bite,And then, when he had thus, like a brave knight, slain his enemy, like a true one, he proceeded to lay the spoils which his prowess bad won at the feet of his ladye love." So "He took the sarpent in his hands |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: cnd Date: 29 Oct 23 - 11:07 PM Below is at least one source version which is the origin of the song having been written by Nathan Terrey (or Torrey) which also references Mirick. It is presented with a fuller narrative than quoted below, but I've omitted some more irrelevant portions. It is quoted from the July 11th, 1886 edition of The Chicago Tribune (link): FAMOUS YANKEE POEMS. Springfield (Mass.) Republican: A correspondent asks us to reproduce the poem of "Springfield Mountain," to which David A. Wells alluded in his speech at the anniversary banquet. We can do no better, therefore, than to quote Mr. Wells as follows: And then, if it is the more comic, as well as the poetic side of human nature that is to be sought, what can be more organically ludicrous than the famous poem or elegy of "Springfield Mountain," which has almost become a classic in English literature; and without a sufficiently proper notice of which, any historical review of Springfield would, it seems to me, be manifestly most incomplete. This elegy was written by one Nathan Terrey, a citizen at the time of Springfield, about the year 1761, in commemoration of a tragic occurrence that caused a great local sensation at the time--namely: the death from the bite or a rattlesnake of the son of Lieut. Mirick, who resided in that part of the town which was then known as "Springfield Mountain," and which was afterwards incorporated as a town by itself under the name of "Wilbraham" .... There have been many versions of this doggerel, but the following, which with your permission I will read, is believed to be the most authentic: "SPRINGFIELD MOUNTAIN." On Springfield mountin' ther' did dwell A likely youth, was known full well. This youth, his age was twenti-one, Was Leftenant Mirick's onley son. On Friday mornin' he did go In to the meadow for to mow, And as he turned around, did feal A pisin sarpent bite his heal. This youth he soon give up the ghost, And up to Abraham's bosom did post-- A cryin' all the ways he went-- "O crewel, O crewel! O crewel sarpent!" So soon his careful father went To seat his son with discontent, And there his onley son he faound Ded as a stun a pon the graound. His father vieude his track with great consarn Where he had ran acrost the corn; Uneven tracks, where he did go, Did appear to stagger to and frow. The seventh of August, sixty-one, This fatal axsident was done. Let this a warning be to all To be prepared when God does call. When he received his dedly wond He dropt his sithe a pon the ground, Tho all around his voys ware hered None of his friends to him apered. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: Stilly River Sage Date: 30 Oct 23 - 01:05 AM I learned that second line from my father as "A lovely youth, I knew him well." Makes more sense than "likely." |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: cnd Date: 30 Oct 23 - 09:23 AM Here is an earlier source of the Nathan Torrey (proper spelling) link: Berkshire County Eagle, February 20th, 1868, p. 2 An Old Settler - Dalton [Mass.], Feb. 19, 1868 EDITOR EAGLE:--The following newspaper clipping caught my attention recently: "Nathan Torrey, formerly Hinsdale, read the Bible through seventy-two times by course. He was the first settler of the town, coming there at the time of the revolution, and died in 1819 at the age or 85." There are but few perhaps who are aware that this same Nathan Torrey is the author of those celebrated lines commencing: "On Springfield mountains there did dwell." These lines will live as long as the Old Bay State itself, and the name of their author should be preserved and associated with them. The authorship has been claimed for a number of persons, but Rev. Dr. Stebbins in his history of Wilbraham, says "to Nathan Torrey belongs the honor of the authorship, if any reliance can be placed upon the most direct and authentic tradition upon the subject." I have looked in vain through this history to find some further mention of Mr. Torrey. It is probable that he was a native of Wilbraham but removed to Hinsdale not long after writing his Elegy on "Leftenant Merrick's Only Son" some time between 1761 and 1776. There are persons living in this town who remember Mr. Torrey and there are doubtless those in Hinsdale who could give many interesting reminiscences of him. I believe he lived in the northen part of the town, near the present residence of Mr. Philander Booth. If I mistake not, the place of his burial is known, but no stone marks the spot. It seems to me that there are many people in Wilbraham and Hinsdale who would be pleased to see an appropriate monument erected to his memory and would gladly contribute money for that purpose. As I claim for my ancestor, one of the first settlers of old Wilbraham, Ensign Abel Bliss, whom tradition says "did carry six bushels of salt on his back all at one time," I feel an interest in whatever pertains to her history and earnestly desire to have her great poem kept fresh in the minds of the people and its author's name indissolubly connected with it. I write this hoping to draw out if possible more particulars in regard to Mr. Torrey. When the steeple of the Congregational meeting house in Dalton was raised (about 1812) it is said that Parson Jennings called on Nathan Torrey for some poetry suitable to the occasion. Mr. T. looked up at the steeple, then around upon the minister and the people and gave utterance to the following: "Little church, tall steeple, Blind guide, ignorant people." We do not learn how well the Parson and his flock relished the joke. As I think the poem composed by Nathan Torrey should be handed down to the latest generations and therefore ought to be published often, I beg you will favor me by printing it herewith verbatim et literatim, also the inscription on the tombstone of the subject of his verse, as it is still to be seen in the old burying ground at Wilbraham. Yours truly, BLISS. INSCRIPTION Here lies ye Body of Mr. TIMOTHY MIRICK, Son of lieut. Thomas & Mrs. Marry Mirrick. 1 who died Aug. 7th, 1761, in ye 23rd year of his age. He cometh forth like a flower and is cut down He fleeth also as a shadow And comith not. BITTEN BY RATTLE.SNAKE. On Springfield mountains there did dwell A likely youth who was known full well Leftenant Mirick onley son A likely youth nigh twenty-one One friday morning he did go in to the meadow and moe A round or two then he did feal A pisin sarpeat at his heal. When he received his dedly wound he dropt his sithe a pon the ground And strate for home wase his intent Calling aloude stil as he went tho all around bid voys was hered but none of his friends to him apiered they thot it was some workmen called and there poor Timothy alone must fall So soon his careful father went to seak his son with discontent and there hes fond onley son he found ded as a stone a pon the ground And there he lay down sopose to rest with both his hands acrost his brest his mouth and eyes closed fast And there poor man he slept his last his father vieude his track with great consarn Where he had ran across the corn uneven tracks where he did go did appear to stagger to and frow The seventh of August sixty-one this fatal axsident was done Let this a warning be to all to be Prepared when God does call |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: cnd Date: 30 Oct 23 - 08:28 PM Below is the text of Rev. Dr. Rufus P. Stebbins, referenced in the Berkshire County Eagle article above. Reference: An historical address, delivered at the centennial celebration of the incorporation of the town of Wilbraham, June 15, 1863, by Rufus P. Stebbins, pp. 66-67, No literary productions have come down from this period except the precinct records... and a celebrated poem, on the death of "Leut. Thomas Mirick's only Son," who "dyed, August 7th, 1761, By the Bite of a Ratle Snake, Being 22 years, two months and three days old, and very nigh marridge," as faithful Clark Warner records. This poem had a wide circulation in both manuscript and print, and is the great Elegy of the "Mountains." Like the author of another immortal poem, the Iliad, its author and his residence are alike mythical; but his work and his fame have endured.... Longmeadow and Ludlow and Springfield will strive to rob Wilbraham of the honor of giving him birth and guarding his ashes, they cannot rob us of the unspeakable glory of having within our borders the grave of the immortal subject of the poem. Without waiting to invoke the aid of muses or gods, either sacred or profane, the poet, seized and carried away with the magnitude and inspiration of his subject, burst forth,— "On Springfield Mountains there did dwell A Likely youth who was known full well, Leutenant Mirick's only sone A likely youth nigh twenty-one." I may well be excused from repeating the pathetic lines which follow, as I am informed that better justice can be done them by the plaintive music of "ye olden tyme" in which they will be sung after we are refreshed at the table. [1] [1] ((This note references Appendix G, which quotes the poem exactly as above, with the title "ELEGY ON THE YOUNG MAN BITTEN BY A RATTLESNAKE," plus)): I hardly overstated the variety of claimants, or rather authors, to whom this Elegy(?) is attributed, — to Daniel or Jesse Carpenter, to a young lady to whom young Merrick was engaged, and to Nathan Torrey. The latter has the honor of authorship, if any reliance can be placed upon the most direct and authentic tradition on the subject. The original hi been tampered with by editors. I have done my best to approach the author's copy. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: cnd Date: 30 Oct 23 - 08:51 PM As to the third asserted author above, "a young lady to whom young Merrick," a history on the descendants of John Dwight (The history of the descendants of John Dwight, of Dedham, Mass. by Benjamin W. Dwight, pp. 450-452), notes that this wife was one Sarah Lamb, who eventually wedded Capt. Justus White (1739-1824) of Belchertown, Mass. in 1763. Sarah was born 1736 and passed 1832. The relevant portion reads: It was concerning the first lover (Mr. Merrick of Wilbraham, Mass.), of his wife, Sarah Lamb, that the doggerel was written, "A pizin sarpint bit his heel." It had originally a dozen or more verses in it, and was sung very much all over the land. "Yankee Hill" used to sing it often, and always "through his nose," and with appropriate twirls and twangs of voice, beginning thus "I'll sing you a song of the olden time: " 'On Springfield mountains there did dwell,' " etc.It is sung also nowadays, at times, at "Old Folks' Concerts." It ran thus: "On Wilbraham Mountings there did dwell,It is said that this effusion was sometimes sung at religious meetings in some parts of the land. If so, it must have been only where both religion and education were at a low ebb. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: Stilly River Sage Date: 30 Oct 23 - 01:05 AM I learned that second line from my father as "A lovely youth, I knew him well." Makes more sense than "likely." |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: cnd Date: 29 Oct 23 - 10:53 PM Worth noting, many early versions reference a Lieutenant (often spelled Leftenant) Curtis or Carter rather than the Timothy Myrick often cited as inspiration. I also searched briefly for death by snake of a Curtis or Carter whose father was a lieutenant, but turned up nothing of note. The next earliest version I've come across was in Godey's Lady's Book, May 1840 (link). This version is quoted briefly in a story and adds little of value, other than calling it a "true, old-fashioned ballad style" song. The Boston Morning Post of January 14th, 1841 (link) took issue with the quotation of the song in an edition of The United States Gazette a few days prior, calling it "an old poem" (quoted below). After this instance, the song/poem was quoted frequently and often in numerous papers. * * * * * LEFTENANT CARTER'S SON The United States Gazette, a few days since, gave some stanzas from an old poem, in which is narrated the lamentable fate of "Leftenant Carter's only son,which we only notice to express our astonishment that a gentleman of Mr Chandler's learning should have been imposed upon by a spurious version of a story so famous, and to preserve the memory of the brave though unfortunate young man alluded to from injustice. The Gazetie says-- "He went on to the mounting high--Now this is an entire misrepresentation of the facts. "Leftenant Carter's only son" did not "go on to the mounting high" --" a rattle snake he did not espy," (if he had seen the snake, of course he would have kept it at a proper distance) -- no, the true version of the story, which we copy from the earliest edition, is as follows, and we call upon the editor of the Gazette to mark its superior beauties:-- "One day this young man di-id goThe lines as we have given them have an air of consistency which renders any other guaranty of their genuineness unnecessary. "The poet continues (says the Gazette) by describing the peculiar conduct of the victim after he had been bitten. As he went home he was heard 'Crying aloud, all as he wentHere, we are grieved to say, is another unfortunate error, which would represent the hero of an epic in the light of a whining, snivelling boy. But we have the satisfaction of knowing that young Mr Carter bore himself on the occasion more like the son of a Leftenant— "For when he felt this varmint bite,And then, when he had thus, like a brave knight, slain his enemy, like a true one, he proceeded to lay the spoils which his prowess bad won at the feet of his ladye love." So "He took the sarpent in his hands |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: cnd Date: 29 Oct 23 - 11:07 PM Below is at least one source version which is the origin of the song having been written by Nathan Terrey (or Torrey) which also references Mirick. It is presented with a fuller narrative than quoted below, but I've omitted some more irrelevant portions. It is quoted from the July 11th, 1886 edition of The Chicago Tribune (link): FAMOUS YANKEE POEMS. Springfield (Mass.) Republican: A correspondent asks us to reproduce the poem of "Springfield Mountain," to which David A. Wells alluded in his speech at the anniversary banquet. We can do no better, therefore, than to quote Mr. Wells as follows: And then, if it is the more comic, as well as the poetic side of human nature that is to be sought, what can be more organically ludicrous than the famous poem or elegy of "Springfield Mountain," which has almost become a classic in English literature; and without a sufficiently proper notice of which, any historical review of Springfield would, it seems to me, be manifestly most incomplete. This elegy was written by one Nathan Terrey, a citizen at the time of Springfield, about the year 1761, in commemoration of a tragic occurrence that caused a great local sensation at the time--namely: the death from the bite or a rattlesnake of the son of Lieut. Mirick, who resided in that part of the town which was then known as "Springfield Mountain," and which was afterwards incorporated as a town by itself under the name of "Wilbraham" .... There have been many versions of this doggerel, but the following, which with your permission I will read, is believed to be the most authentic: "SPRINGFIELD MOUNTAIN." On Springfield mountin' ther' did dwell A likely youth, was known full well. This youth, his age was twenti-one, Was Leftenant Mirick's onley son. On Friday mornin' he did go In to the meadow for to mow, And as he turned around, did feal A pisin sarpent bite his heal. This youth he soon give up the ghost, And up to Abraham's bosom did post-- A cryin' all the ways he went-- "O crewel, O crewel! O crewel sarpent!" So soon his careful father went To seat his son with discontent, And there his onley son he faound Ded as a stun a pon the graound. His father vieude his track with great consarn Where he had ran acrost the corn; Uneven tracks, where he did go, Did appear to stagger to and frow. The seventh of August, sixty-one, This fatal axsident was done. Let this a warning be to all To be prepared when God does call. When he received his dedly wond He dropt his sithe a pon the ground, Tho all around his voys ware hered None of his friends to him apered. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: cnd Date: 30 Oct 23 - 09:23 AM Here is an earlier source of the Nathan Torrey (proper spelling) link: Berkshire County Eagle, February 20th, 1868, p. 2 An Old Settler - Dalton [Mass.], Feb. 19, 1868 EDITOR EAGLE:--The following newspaper clipping caught my attention recently: "Nathan Torrey, formerly Hinsdale, read the Bible through seventy-two times by course. He was the first settler of the town, coming there at the time of the revolution, and died in 1819 at the age or 85." There are but few perhaps who are aware that this same Nathan Torrey is the author of those celebrated lines commencing: "On Springfield mountains there did dwell." These lines will live as long as the Old Bay State itself, and the name of their author should be preserved and associated with them. The authorship has been claimed for a number of persons, but Rev. Dr. Stebbins in his history of Wilbraham, says "to Nathan Torrey belongs the honor of the authorship, if any reliance can be placed upon the most direct and authentic tradition upon the subject." I have looked in vain through this history to find some further mention of Mr. Torrey. It is probable that he was a native of Wilbraham but removed to Hinsdale not long after writing his Elegy on "Leftenant Merrick's Only Son" some time between 1761 and 1776. There are persons living in this town who remember Mr. Torrey and there are doubtless those in Hinsdale who could give many interesting reminiscences of him. I believe he lived in the northen part of the town, near the present residence of Mr. Philander Booth. If I mistake not, the place of his burial is known, but no stone marks the spot. It seems to me that there are many people in Wilbraham and Hinsdale who would be pleased to see an appropriate monument erected to his memory and would gladly contribute money for that purpose. As I claim for my ancestor, one of the first settlers of old Wilbraham, Ensign Abel Bliss, whom tradition says "did carry six bushels of salt on his back all at one time," I feel an interest in whatever pertains to her history and earnestly desire to have her great poem kept fresh in the minds of the people and its author's name indissolubly connected with it. I write this hoping to draw out if possible more particulars in regard to Mr. Torrey. When the steeple of the Congregational meeting house in Dalton was raised (about 1812) it is said that Parson Jennings called on Nathan Torrey for some poetry suitable to the occasion. Mr. T. looked up at the steeple, then around upon the minister and the people and gave utterance to the following: "Little church, tall steeple, Blind guide, ignorant people." We do not learn how well the Parson and his flock relished the joke. As I think the poem composed by Nathan Torrey should be handed down to the latest generations and therefore ought to be published often, I beg you will favor me by printing it herewith verbatim et literatim, also the inscription on the tombstone of the subject of his verse, as it is still to be seen in the old burying ground at Wilbraham. Yours truly, BLISS. INSCRIPTION Here lies ye Body of Mr. TIMOTHY MIRICK, Son of lieut. Thomas & Mrs. Marry Mirrick. 1 who died Aug. 7th, 1761, in ye 23rd year of his age. He cometh forth like a flower and is cut down He fleeth also as a shadow And comith not. BITTEN BY RATTLE.SNAKE. On Springfield mountains there did dwell A likely youth who was known full well Leftenant Mirick onley son A likely youth nigh twenty-one One friday morning he did go in to the meadow and moe A round or two then he did feal A pisin sarpeat at his heal. When he received his dedly wound he dropt his sithe a pon the ground And strate for home wase his intent Calling aloude stil as he went tho all around bid voys was hered but none of his friends to him apiered they thot it was some workmen called and there poor Timothy alone must fall So soon his careful father went to seak his son with discontent and there hes fond onley son he found ded as a stone a pon the ground And there he lay down sopose to rest with both his hands acrost his brest his mouth and eyes closed fast And there poor man he slept his last his father vieude his track with great consarn Where he had ran across the corn uneven tracks where he did go did appear to stagger to and frow The seventh of August sixty-one this fatal axsident was done Let this a warning be to all to be Prepared when God does call |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: cnd Date: 29 Oct 23 - 10:33 PM Joe, I don't know if it existed back in 2003 when you linked to the Ballad Index, but Robert Waltz (who will hopefully soon also be seeing this thread) and his compatriots now has a page dedicated to the Springfield Mountain song: Springfield Mountain [Laws G16] I did come across a version from 1821, reproduced below, from a Boston, Mass. weekly. I'll include the introductory text, which alludes that the song is older than that. New England Galaxy, July 27th, 1821, p. 4: Mr. Editor, The following pathetic effusion was written several years since, by an attorney at law, who resided at Springfield, Massachusetts. It is, however, merely "a piece of a thousand others," (as the Major says) which I have seen in that flourishing town, from the pen of the same great poet. Were it not to please the dear, bewitching, tender-hearted, smooth-faced creature, "Lydia Languish," who appears so bloomingly in your last paper *, I should not have troubled you to insert it in the Galaxy. Yours, affectionately, CONSERVE OF ROSES. SENTIMENTAL DITTY. -- "Founded on Fact." On Springfield Mountains there did dwell, A likely youth, who was known full well; A likely youth, 'bout twenty-one, Lieutenant Curtis' only son! Last Monday morning he did go Down in the meadow for to mow, He mow'd all round, at length did feel, Some poison serpent bite his hell [sic]. He laid his scythe down on the ground, And with his eyes he looked around, But not a soul could he descry, To carry him home when he should die. The serpent's bite began to smart, The venom had nearly reach'd his heart; He cried aloud, but no one came To help poor Curtis, who was so lame! At last this youth "gave up the ghost," And to Abraham's bosom he did post, Crying all the way as he went, O cruel, cruel, serpent! Now readers all, pray drop a tear, For the unhappy youth who slumbers here; From his sad fate a warning take, And shun the poison of a snake! * Perhaps finding the request could add a bit more detail to the song, but the OCR searches of preceding issues aren't turning up much, and I'm not dedicated enough to pour over pages of small, scratchy microfilm to find something which will provide inconsequential detail at most.
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Subject: RE: Origins: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: cnd Date: 30 Oct 23 - 08:28 PM Below is the text of Rev. Dr. Rufus P. Stebbins, referenced in the Berkshire County Eagle article above. Reference: An historical address, delivered at the centennial celebration of the incorporation of the town of Wilbraham, June 15, 1863, by Rufus P. Stebbins, pp. 66-67, No literary productions have come down from this period except the precinct records... and a celebrated poem, on the death of "Leut. Thomas Mirick's only Son," who "dyed, August 7th, 1761, By the Bite of a Ratle Snake, Being 22 years, two months and three days old, and very nigh marridge," as faithful Clark Warner records. This poem had a wide circulation in both manuscript and print, and is the great Elegy of the "Mountains." Like the author of another immortal poem, the Iliad, its author and his residence are alike mythical; but his work and his fame have endured.... Longmeadow and Ludlow and Springfield will strive to rob Wilbraham of the honor of giving him birth and guarding his ashes, they cannot rob us of the unspeakable glory of having within our borders the grave of the immortal subject of the poem. Without waiting to invoke the aid of muses or gods, either sacred or profane, the poet, seized and carried away with the magnitude and inspiration of his subject, burst forth,— "On Springfield Mountains there did dwell A Likely youth who was known full well, Leutenant Mirick's only sone A likely youth nigh twenty-one." I may well be excused from repeating the pathetic lines which follow, as I am informed that better justice can be done them by the plaintive music of "ye olden tyme" in which they will be sung after we are refreshed at the table. [1] [1] ((This note references Appendix G, which quotes the poem exactly as above, with the title "ELEGY ON THE YOUNG MAN BITTEN BY A RATTLESNAKE," plus)): I hardly overstated the variety of claimants, or rather authors, to whom this Elegy(?) is attributed, — to Daniel or Jesse Carpenter, to a young lady to whom young Merrick was engaged, and to Nathan Torrey. The latter has the honor of authorship, if any reliance can be placed upon the most direct and authentic tradition on the subject. The original hi been tampered with by editors. I have done my best to approach the author's copy. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Rattlesnake Mountain/Springfield Mountain From: cnd Date: 30 Oct 23 - 08:51 PM As to the third asserted author above, "a young lady to whom young Merrick," a history on the descendants of John Dwight (The history of the descendants of John Dwight, of Dedham, Mass. by Benjamin W. Dwight, pp. 450-452), notes that this wife was one Sarah Lamb, who eventually wedded Capt. Justus White (1739-1824) of Belchertown, Mass. in 1763. Sarah was born 1736 and passed 1832. The relevant portion reads: It was concerning the first lover (Mr. Merrick of Wilbraham, Mass.), of his wife, Sarah Lamb, that the doggerel was written, "A pizin sarpint bit his heel." It had originally a dozen or more verses in it, and was sung very much all over the land. "Yankee Hill" used to sing it often, and always "through his nose," and with appropriate twirls and twangs of voice, beginning thus "I'll sing you a song of the olden time: " 'On Springfield mountains there did dwell,' " etc.It is sung also nowadays, at times, at "Old Folks' Concerts." It ran thus: "On Wilbraham Mountings there did dwell,It is said that this effusion was sometimes sung at religious meetings in some parts of the land. If so, it must have been only where both religion and education were at a low ebb. |
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