"Rattlesnake Mountain" is a traditional American

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

derived from one of the earliest known American

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

s, "

On Springfield Mountain "On Springfield Mountain" or "Springfield Mountain" (Laws G16) is an American ballad which recounts the tragic death of a young man who is bitten by a rattlesnake while mowing a field. Historically, the song refers to the death of Timothy Merrick, ...

". It is based on the events surrounding the death by

snakebite A snakebite is an injury caused by the bite of a snake, especially a venomous snake. A common sign of a bite from a venomous snake is the presence of two puncture wounds from the animal's fangs. Sometimes venom injection from the bite may ...

of Timothy Merrick (or Mirick) on August 7, 1761.

Recordings

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, and composer widely considered to be one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, A ...

on '' Woody Guthrie Sings Folk Songs'' (1940s, released 1989) *

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American Folk music, folk singer and actor with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his o ...

on '' Historical America in Song'' (1950) *

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

(1953) *

Bascom Lamar Lunsford Bascom Lamar Lunsford (March 21, 1882 – September 4, 1973) was a folklorist, performer of traditional Appalachian music, and lawyer from western North Carolina. He was often known by the nickname "Minstrel of the Appalachians". Biography ...

on ''Smoky Mountain Ballads'' (1953) *

Patrick Sky Patrick Sky (born Patrick Linch; October 2, 1940May 26, 2021) was an American musician, folk singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was of Irish and Native American ancestry, and played Irish traditional music and uilleann pipes in the ...

(1965) *

Sam Hinton Sam Duffie Hinton (March 31, 1917 – September 10, 2009) was an American folk singer, marine biologist, photographer, and aquarist, best known for his music and harmonica playing. Hinton also taught at the University of California, San Diego, pu ...

on ''The Wandering Folksong'' (1966) *

Brooks Williams Brooks Williams (born November 10, 1958) is an American acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter. His style combines roots, jazz, blues, classical, and folk. He has released albums of contemporary folk music, blues music, and of instrumental ...

on ''Inland Sailor'' (1994) *

Tara Maclean Tara Margaret Charity MacLean (born October 25, 1973) is a Canadian musician, singer, and composer. Her songs as a solo artist include "Evidence", "If I Fall (Tara MacLean song), If I Fall", and a cover of the Christmas song "Light of the Stabl ...

for the soundtrack of the movie ''

Inventing the Abbotts ''Inventing the Abbotts'' is a 1997 American period coming-of-age film directed by Pat O'Connor, and starring Liv Tyler, Joaquin Phoenix, Billy Crudup, Jennifer Connelly and Joanna Going. The screenplay by Ken Hixon is based on a short story ...

'' (1997)

References

Merrick, Charles L., "History of Wilbraham", Vermont, Polygraphic Company of America, Inc, 1964 American folk songs Bascom Lamar Lunsford songs Year of song unknown Songs with unknown songwriters {{folk-song-stub