Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/460
One Monday morning, he did go
Intew the meadow for to mow,
And all ter once, he thar did feel
A pizen sarpint bite his heel.
Quick as he felt the sarpent bite
He raised his scythe, with all his might
He struck ter once a deadly blow,
That lay the pizen creeter low.
He tuk the riptyle in his hand,
And straightway went tew Molly Bland;
Oh! Molly, Molly, here you see
A pizen sarpent, what bit me.
Zerubbabel, why did ye go
Intu the meadow for to mow?
Oh! Molly Bland, I thought you knowed
'T was Daddy's field, and must be mowed.
Then Molly Bland, she squatted down,
And sucked the pizen from the wound;
But oh! she had a rotten tewth;
The venim soon affected both.
Oh, then they ware all spotted o'er
With all the colors that the sarpent wore;
They laid 'em both upon a bed,
And they swelled up and di-i-ed!
Then when they had gin up the ghost,
From "Springfield Mounting" they went, post;
And they larfed, and sung, as up they went,
As chipper as if there wa'nt no pizen sar-pent.
It will be seen that nearly all the variations found in the version of Mr. Derby, and which at first sight appear as designedly ludicrous, nevertheless had a popular origin.
Absurd as the piece may be thought, when regarded from a literary point of view, it is none the less valuable and suggestive, when considered in relation to theoretical knowledge. We have a striking example of a song composed in a particular place, on a definite occasion, with regard to circumstantial accuracy, and by a person of some literary education, which nevertheless, almost in our own time, has passed into folk-lore, and obtained popular currency. The example makes clear that any ballad, no matter how ancient and universal,