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.