Night on Bald Mountain 25 December 1858, has been interpreted as an indication of Mussorgsky's intent to write an opera on the subject of Gogol's short story "St. John's Eve" (, "Vecher nakanune Ivana Kupala", "St. John's Eve"). Gogol's tale contains the elements of witchcraft common to other stories in the "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" collection, but does not feature a witches' sabbath. No further plans for this project were mentioned. The theme of a witches' sabbath, the central theme in all subsequent "Night on Bald Mountain" projects, appears to have been derived from the nonextant play "The Witch" (, "Ved′ma") by
Hares on the Mountain Hares on the Mountain "Hares on the Mountain" (Roud 329) (otherwise titled "Blackbirds and Thrushes", "If All the Young Women", "Nancy Lay Sleeping", "The Knife in the Window", "Shepherd So Bold", "Sally My Dear", "Lightning and Thunder", "Crawling and Creeping" and "Ain't Gonna Do It No More") is an English folk song. Versions of this song have been collected from traditional singers in England, Canada and the USA, and have been recorded by modern folk artists. This song is composed of two distinct parts, "Hares on the Mountain" and "The Knife in the Window", both of which have been collected