Note: Alan Lomax's sings some of "Springfield Mountain" in a New England accent with some spoken explanation before introducing the Texas version he learned from his family. Lomax: The original Massachusetts version had the serious religious moral that you never know when God will strike you down: "Let this be a warning to you all: / You never know when God will call." but as this provoked laughter it was changed to "Be careful how you all do pass / Too close to patches of high grass" and the song morphed into a comic one and spread throughout the entire country.
This song is based on the true story of twenty-two year old Lieutenant Timothy Merrick who died on August 7, 1761 after being bitten by a rattlesnake in Springfield Mountain Massachusetts where he his grave may still be seen. As a comic song it was performed in the nineteenth century music hall in Boston.