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:

This song, originally known as "Springfield Mountain," is certainly among the oldest native American ballads still in folk tradition. It is thought to deal with the death of one Timothy Myrick of Wilbraham, Massachusetts, formerly Springfield Mountain, who expired from a snakebite in Farmington, Connecticut, August 7, 1761. At some point in time the serious ballad became converted into a comic ballad, so today both traditions exist simultaneously. Phillips Barry, who made an extensive study of this song, suggests that each of the two ballad types has several subtypes. He was able to trace the comic ballads back to 1836, with the serious song only dating back to 1849. G. Malcolm Laws feels that Barry is in error on this point and suggests that the original ballad was composed locally and soon after the tragedy it recounts.
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."