Ruth Ann Musick, who is undoubtedly the most prolific of folklorists focusing on West Virginia, collected much about the presence of snakes in stories, songs, and superstitions from the Mountain State. Indeed, the presence of snakes in West Virginian folklore is not easily ignored, for it permeates throughout the region's folk culture. Below are a few examples of snakes in West Virginian storytelling, found in Musick's work over the years.
According to a story told by one of Musick's students from her folk literature class. A fellow by the name of Joe Helton went out flower picking one evening and while hiking through the hills of West Virginia, came upon a cliff. It was then that Joe and his companions came across an atypically giant snake. The boys who were with Joe had claimed the snake had been at least 10 feet long. Once Joe and his students had got some distance from the snake on a neighboring bridge, they pelted rocks at the creature until they had killed it. According to accounts, the snake had bled "poison" (Here is surely meant venom, but it is not uncommon for the two to be conflated) and turned the water yellow-green and killed all the grass where it had been. The boys then told their parents about the giant snake they had seen, but of course, no one believed them. When the boys took their folks to the scene, the snake was nowhere to be found, but the grass was still dead, and the creek was still that yellow-green.
Another brief story collected originally from a May Stutler in Fairmont, West Virginia, speaks about the mythical hoop snake. A boy and girl were traveling down a road one day when they had seen the hoop snake traveling at swift speed towards them. They climbed a nearby apple tree to gain safety and when the hoop snake arrived at the tree, it kept its speed and continued to go around the tree in circles, keeping the children up in its branches. At one point, the children became hungry and decided to grab apples to eat. Unfortunately, after taking just one bite from the apples they died, for the snake had poisoned the tree.
In other stories collected by Musick, a man went berry picking and climbed up on a log, only to realize later on that the log had been a large black snake and had been moving the entire time. In Jacksonburg, WV, a man by the name of Cliff Mansfield was well known for wearing leggings. He traveled far into the hills one day and noticed he was standing in a nest of rattlesnakes. They were biting at his leggings viciously, and he then killed them all. When he returned home from his voyage, his dog joyfully met him and began licking his legs only to become then poisoned and die.
The prevalent theme in the snake folklore of WV is death, evil, and the destruction of the environment. It is only natural for the snake to be viewed in this way since West Virginia is historically a very Christian state, particularly on the protestant side. The snake is often seen as one of the many guises the Devil can take, and thus the animal is often given the same superstitious treatment as the Devil himself. It is not uncommon to see themes of hypnosis throughout stories of serpents. One tale describes how a young girl was having a tea party by herself in a barn when her parents went to check on her. They saw a black snake partaking in sandwiches with the young girl and seemingly keeping her under its spell. The father immediately killed the snake only to have his daughter die instantaneously as well.
It is clear that snakes were held in great fear and greeted with hostility by the people of West Virginia. However, this hostility seems to never play out well for those involved, as stories of individuals killing snakes usually always amounts to their death or the deaths of their loved ones. The snake has always been viewed superstitiously, and much of this superstition continues into the present day.
Dalton Miller
June 6th, 2021
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