“Springfield Mountain”

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"

Notes

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.) - RBW

Historical references

• Aug 7, 1761 - Death by snakebite of Timothy Myrick, often considered the inspiration for this song

Cross references

• cf. "Fod" (words)
• cf. "The Little Girl and the Dreadful Snake" (plot)

Recordings

• Winifred Bundy, "Young Johnny (Springfield Mountain)" (AFS, 1941; on LC55)
• Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Springfield Mountain" (on BLLunsford02) (on AschRec2)
• "Yankee" John Galusha, "Springfield Mountain" (on USWarnerColl01)

References

1. Laws G16, "Springfield Mountain" (sample text in NAB, pp. 35-36)
2. Belden, pp. 299-300, "Springfield Mountain" (1 text plus a reference to 1 more)
3. Randolph 424, "Springfield Mountain" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
4. Eddy 109, "Springfield Mountain" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
5. Gardner/Chickering 38, "Springfield Mountain" (2 texts, 1 tune)
6. BrownII 208, "Springfield Mountain" (3 text plus 3 fragments and mention of 1 more; the final fragment, "G," may perhaps be another song)
7. Hudson 61, p. 184, "Springfield Mountain" (1 short text)
8. Brewster 76, "Springfield Mountain" (1 fragment)
9. MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 223-224, "Springfield Mountain (I), (II)" (2 texts)
10. Flanders/Brown, pp. 15-18, "On Springfield Mountain" (2 texts plus some scraps, 2 tunes)
11. Linscott, pp. 285-286, "Springfield Mountain or The Black Sarpent" (1 text, 1 tune)
12. Leach, pp. 719-723, "Springfield Mountain" (4 texts)
13. McNeil-SFB2, pp. 53-54, "The Rattlesnake Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
14. Friedman, p. 302, "Springfield Mountain" (4 texts)
15. Warner 23, "Springfield Mountain"; 65, "On Springfield Mountain" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
16. SharpAp 132, "Springfield Mountain" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
17. Scott-BoA, pp. 44-45, "Springfield Mountain"; pp. 156-158, "The Pesky Sarpent" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
18. Lomax-FSUSA 9, "Springfield Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune)
19. Lomax-FSNA 3, "Springfield Mountain"; 212, "Springfield Mountain (Texas Version)" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
20. Lomax-ABFS, pp. 356-357, "Rattle Snake" (1 text, 1 tune)
21. Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 828-829, "On Springfield Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune)
22. Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 554-555, "The Pesky Sarpent" (1 text, 1 tune)
23. Arnett, p. 16, "Smithfield Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune)
24. JHCox 81, "Springfield Mountain" (1 text)
25. JHCoxIIB, #3A-3C, pp. 122-125, "Springfield Mountain," "The Venomous Black Snake" (2 texts plus a fragment, 1 tune)
26. Abrahams/Foss, pp. 146-147, "Springfield Mountain" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
27. LPound-ABS, 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)
28. Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 167-170, "Springfield Mountain" (1 text, probably rewritten, 1 tune)
29. Darling-NAS, pp. 218-220, "Springfield Mountain" (2 texts, one labeled a parody)
30. Silber-FSWB, p. 216, "Springfield Mountain" (1 text)
31. DT 314, SPRNMNTN* SPRNMTN2* SPRNMTN4*
32. Roud #431
33. BI, LG16