"Springfield Mountain" also known as "On Springfield Mountain" or "The Wicked Serpent" is one of the earliest ballads of American origin 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, 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. 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 Hundred" (in the Hymns section) and "Merrily Danced the Quaker's Wife" (also known as "Merrily Kiss the Quaker's Wife" in the Celtic section). As the story goes, at the age of 22, Timothy Merrick was engaged to be married to his village sweetheart, Sarah Lamb. However, on August 7, 1761, prior to their wedding day, Timothy Merrick set out to mow his father's field and was bitten by a rattlesnake, dying shortly thereafter. The story was newsworthy at the time due to the relative rarity of poisonous snakes in New England. The original poem by Nathan Torrey entitled "Elegy on the Young Man Bitten by a Rattlesnake" was a serious description of the incident. The version given here is a later burlesque on the original. It has been printed in The Burl Ives Song Book, The Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-Speaking World (1964), Warner's Traditional American Folk Songs from the Anne & Frank Warner Collection (1984) and Laws' Native American Balladry (1964). It appears in the Roud Folk Song Index as #431. It was recorded by Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie and others. I learned it from The Burl Ives Song Book.