On Springfield Mountain

"On Springfield Mountain" or "Springfield Mountain" (Laws G16)[1] is an American ballad which recounts the tragic death of a young man who is bitten by a rattlesnake while mowing a field.[2] Historically, the song refers to the death of Timothy Merrick, who was recorded to have died on August 7, 1761, in Wilbraham, Massachusetts by snakebite. It is commonly included in collections of American folksong, and is one of the earliest known American ballads.[3][4][5][6]

"(On) Springfield Mountain"
Melody and verse to a "Molly type" variation of the ballad
Song
PublishedLate 18th or early 19th century
GenreBallad, Folk song

The ballad has been cited as representative of elegiac verse tradition which later gained status as folklore throughout the United States. Due to its popularity, there exist many variations of the ballad and its narrative. Although the song is now accompanied by its own distinct melody, early performances of the ballad were sung to other airs, including "Old Hundredth"[7] and "Merrily Danced the Quaker's Wife".[8]

Historical basis

Research efforts by several local historians have uncovered biographical and historical context surrounding the incident. Charles Merrick claimed Wilbraham, Massachusetts to be the site of the 1761 snakebite fatality.[9] Chauncey Peck's 1913 History of Wilbraham relates that it occurred "70 to 90 rods southwest of the boy's home,"[10] placing it within current-day Hampden borders.[11]

There exists some disagreement among folklorists with regards to the ballad's lyrics. Scholar Phillips Barry did not believe the ballad to predate 1825;[12] Tristram Coffin later rejected this claim as short-sighted, and held that the ballad might be derived from older elegiac verse about the incident.[13][14] Other authors note that no written versions were found until 1836 (or 1840, with melody).[15]

Variants and adaptations

The events related in the lyrics have been adapted outside of song, including stage performances and other ballads that include embellished details of the event. Alternative titles include "Ballad of Springfield Mountain",[16] "The Springfield Ballad", "On Springfield Mountains",[17] "The Pizing Sarpent",[18] "The Pesky Sarpent", "Stuttering Song",[19] "The Story of Timothy Mirick", and "Elegy on a/the Young Man Bitten by a Rattlesnake". In variations which feature the character Timothy Mettick, his name is occasionally spelled "Mirick" or "Myrick".[20]

One "entirely serious" version was recorded by George Brown from Mr. Josiah S. Kennison of Townshend, Vermont, and published in Vermont Folk-Songs & Ballads in 1931.[21]

Lyrical variations

"Molly type" version

In one variation of the ballad published in Flanders's The New Green Mountain Songster and collected by C.M. Cobb, it is sung with melisma on the last syllable of each verse, which is drawn out over two nonsense diphthongs vowels. In addition, this variation features a four-bar refrain at the end of each verse. This later development of the ballad uses characters Tommy Blake and Molly Bland in place of Timothy and Sarah. Molly attempts to suck out the poison and dies in the process.[20][22]

Woody Guthrie version

The song has also found popularity outside of New England folk tradition. Folk singer Woody Guthrie, who claimed his mother sang it to him as a child,[23] covered the song with Sonny Terry, Cisco Houston, and Bess Hawes on the album Woody Guthrie Sings Folk Songs. This rendition incorporated nonsense lyrics into each verse line.

See also
  • Rattlesnake Mountain (song), a popular variant of the ballad.
  • Fair Charlotte, another cautionary folk ballad situated in New England, about a girl who freezes to death during a sleigh-ride. The two ballads are often cited together as examples of narrative verse representative of an American obituary tradition.

References
  1. Laws, G. Malcolm (1964). Native American Balladry: A Descriptive Study and a Bibliographic Syllabus. Philadelphia: The American Folklore Society. p. 220. ISBN 0-292-73500-6.
  2. Jordan, Philip D. (July–September 1936). "Notes and Queries". Journal of American Folk-Lore. 49 (193): 263–265. JSTOR 535405.
  3. Downes, Olin; Siegmeister, Elie (1940). A Treasury of American Song. New York: Howell, Soskin & Co. pp. 32–3.
  4. "New York Folklore 1988
  5. National Broadcasting Company, Music of the New World: Handbook, Vols 1-2 p. 43
  6. Toelken, Barre (1979). The Dynamics of Folklore. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. pp. 349–50. ISBN 0-395-27068-5.
  7. Coffin, Tristam (1964). In A Good Tale and a Bonnie Tune. Dallas, Texas: Southern Methodist University Press. pp. 205, 207.
  8. Flanders, Helen Hartness; Elizabeth, Ballard; Brown, George; Phillips, Barry (1939). The New Green Mountain Songster. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 161.
  9. Merrick, Charles; Foster, Philip (1964). History of Wilbraham, U.S.A., 1763-1963. Massachusetts: Polygraphic Company of America.
  10. Peck, Chauncey Edwin (1914). The History of Wilbraham, Massachusetts. Wilbraham, Massachusetts. pp. 80–6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  11. Carl Howlett, "On Springfield Mountains" in The Country Press Vol 2 No. 11, Nov 21, 1961.
  12. Davidson, Donald (1972). Still Rebels, Still Yankees: And Other Essays. Louisiana State University Press. p. 110. ISBN 0807124893.
  13. Limón, José E. (Winter 2007). "Américo Paredes: Ballad Scholar (Phillips Barry Lecture, 2004)". The Journal of American Folklore. 120 (475): 3–4. doi:10.1353/jaf.2007.0019. JSTOR 4137861. S2CID 161766225.
  14. Coffin 1964.
  15. The Bay and the River: 1600-1900. Boston University. 1982. ISBN 9781946083166.
  16. New York Folklore Vol. 14, 1988, p. 123
  17. "The Springfield Ballad". The Middlebury Register. Middlebury, Vermont. May 30, 1855. p. 1. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  18. Jordan 1936, p. 118.
  19. Keefer, Jane (2011). "Folk Music Index". Ibiblio. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  20. Merrick 1964, p. 311.
  21. Helen Hartness Flanders; George Brown (1931). Vermont Folk-songs & Ballads. Folklore Associates.
  22. Flanders 1939, p. 160.
  23. Reuss, Richard A. (Jul–Sep 1970). "Woody Guthrie and His Folk Tradition". The Journal of American Folklore. 83 (329): 284. doi:10.2307/538806. JSTOR 538806.
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