Rattlesnake Mountain (song) explained

Rattlesnake Mountain
Genre:	American folk music

"Rattlesnake Mountain" is a traditional American folk song derived from one of the earliest known American ballads, "On Springfield Mountain".^[1] It is based on the events surrounding the death by snakebite of Timothy Merrick (or Mirick) on August 7, 1761.^[2]

Recordings

• Woody Guthrie on Woody Guthrie Sings Folk Songs (1940s, released 1989)
• Burl Ives on Historical America in Song (1950)
• Harry Belafonte (1953)
• Bascom Lamar Lunsford on Smoky Mountain Ballads (1953)
• Patrick Sky (1965)
• Sam Hinton on The Wandering Folksong (1966)
• Brooks Williams on Inland Sailor (1994)
• Tara Maclean for the soundtrack of the movie Inventing the Abbotts (1997)

References

Merrick, Charles L., "History of Wilbraham", Vermont, Polygraphic Company of America, Inc, 1964

Notes and References

1. [Roud Folk Song Index]
2. Web site: Waltz . Bob . Remembering The Old Songs: Springfield Mountain . web reprint from Inside Bluegrass February 2003 . 2008-03-06.