13.2.1 "Waltzing Matilda", by Banjo Paterson (3 versions :-)
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This article is from the soc.culture.australian FAQ, by Stephen Wales with numerous contributions by others.
13.2.1 "Waltzing Matilda", by Banjo Paterson (3 versions :-)
* Waltzing Matilda - the song we had to have. Copyright A.B.
"Banjo" Paterson (reproduced here w/o permission). (thanks to
Ross Paterson for correcting the "tt" misspelling :-)
Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong,
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled,
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me."
Chorus:
"Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda,
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me;
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled,
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me."
(Substitute third line of verse in each chorus.)
Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong,
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee;
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tuckerbag,
"You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me."
Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred,
Down came the troopers -- one, two, three;
"Whose that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tuckerbag?"
You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me.
Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong,
"You'll never catch me alive", said he;
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me.
There is also a "Queensland version" of the song, generally
believed to be the Patterson original (or pre-original). It has
very similar words but has a different metre and is set to a
waltz tune. The "standard" version of the song was subsequently
rewritten to fit a march time tune pinched from some other
source. In a wonderful essay published at the time of the
referendum which chose AAF as the anthem, some (forgotten by me)
author made the point that Waltzing Matilda was much more
appropriate. It tells the story of the swagman, unemployed and
desperate, driven to petty theft by society's oppression. The
squatter symbolises the privileged property owners (probably
multi-national) with the sinister intrusion of the Police to
support privilege. Finally, the hero dies in an heroic gesture,
which unfortunately leads only to the pollution of an inland
waterway. [CM]
------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is what appears to be the original "Waltzing Matilda", from
"The Collected verse of A. B. Patterson", first published in
1921. It seems to have been published in "Saltbush Bill, J.P."
(1917), although I have a feeling it may have been presented in
the Bulletin somewhat earlier. Punctuation as printed in the
1982 edition -- don't blame me for the unmatched quotation mark
in the second verse :-). [IR]
WALTZING MATILDA
(Carrying a Swag.)
Oh! there once was a swagman camped in a Billabong,
Under the shade of a Coolibah tree;
And he sang as he looked at his old billy boiling,
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda, my darling,
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
Waltzing Matilda and leading a water-bag--
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
Down came a jumbuck to drink at the water-hole,
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him in glee;
And he sang as he stowed him away in his tucker-bag,
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me."
Down came the Squatter a-riding his thoroughbred;
Down came Policemen -- one, two and three.
"Whose is the jumbuck you've got in the tucker-bag?
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me."
But the swagman, he up and he jumped in the water-hole,
Drowning himself by the Coolibah tree;
And his ghost may be heard as it sings in the Billabong
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"
Both versions are in the Australian Scout Song Book, available by mail
order from the Sydney Scout Shop price $2.65, phone +61 2 7999640.
--------------------------------------------------------
SWAGMAN: An itinerant labourer, a hobo, a bum. So called because
his most important possession is his bedroll ("swag"), worn
behind his head as he walks along.[TM]
An excellent book, probably no longer in print, is "Diary of a
Welsh swagman" published in Australia some years ago. It is based
on the journeyings of a Welsh immigrant who was waltzing Matilda
in the late 19th century [AC]
(Jenkins, Joseph, 1818-1898. Diary of a Welsh swagman, 1869-1894
/ abridged and annotated by William Evans. -- South Melbourne,
Vic. : Macmillan, 1975.)
WALTZING MATILDA "Waltzing Matilda", "humping a bluey, "carrying
a swag" are all terms for the same thing, namely tramping about
looking (or not looking) for itinerant work like shearing. The
"Matilda" was the swag. [PA]
Matilda=swag=bluey = (american) bedroll (blankets, etc.)
The reason I know of is that one name for a swag was "Matilda" -
a feminine name for the swagman's sole companion. Walking from
place to place was called "Taking Matilda for a waltz". [jds]
BILLABONG: A billabong is what the geographers call a "truncated
meander", i.e. a lake formed by a loop in a river course being
cut off by the river subsequently cutting a new and shorter path.
In the US they are called "ox-bow lakes".[JB]
COOLIBAH: Type of eucalypt (gum) tree with hard strong wood, very
hardy, found in central Australia near inland water courses and
billabongs.
BILLY: A small tin, generally used to boil water for tea. The
third- most important possession of a swagman.
JUMBUCK: A (male?) sheep.
TUCKERBAG: A bag for carrying tucker (food). The second-most
important possession of a swagman.
SQUATTER: Someone who just grabbed land early on, often later
given title to the land by the government.Basically the landed
gentry.
TROOPER: A soldier or policeman.
* Short Version
The "verse" below is from a competition to shrink works of OZ
literature conducted by the Australian (?) newspaper some time
ago. I found it in some papers I was looking through. I don't
have the attribution to hand. There was a shrunken "Sydney White
Pages" too.[CM]
[GG] This verse is attributed to Pauline Howie in the (little) book
Oz Shrinked Literature, edited by Michele Field, Penguin Books, 1983.
Page 10.
Waltzing Matilda
================
Swaggie dreams of roast lamb dinner
Passing jumbuck looks a winner
Bags it, but here come the cops
Into billabong he flops
Drowns himself, forgoes hot roast
Leaves the last waltz to his ghost
"Sod the law" says our aquarian,
"Better dead than vegetarian!"
Nigel McFarlane <nrm@tusc.com.au> adds:
Firstly let me point out there was an excellent article
on the ABC on "Landline" tracing the history of the song,
and also identifying the "original version" - close to the
QLD version, but not the same.
Also, where it has "Matilda" defined as a swag or bedroll,
it really referred to a campside whore, who might hang
around the mines or goldfields. Thus "Waltzing Matilda"
meant something entirely different to carrying a bedroll.
That 2nd meaning came later as an affectionate parallel with
the earlier meaning - the bedroll being the only company
to be had while travelling.
* Waltzing Matilda to Music! [JS]
.
|\ D A7 Bm G
-----|-)--#------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------
|/ | |
----/|-----------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
/ | # | |
--/--|"--------|\---|\---|\---|\---------------|--------------|\--------------------------------|
/ /| \ C | | | | | | | ----| | |
-\-(-|--)------|----|----|----|-----|------|---|---|----|-----|----|\--------------------|------|
\""|"/ @ @ @ @ | | | | | @ | |\ | |
-----|-----------------------------@------@---- ---|---@-----------|-------|\---|--------|------
| @ --- @ | | @
`-' --|---@-
@
1. Once a jol - ly swag - man camp'd by a bil - la - bong
.
|\ D A7 D A7
-----|-)--#------------------------------ ----------------------------- ------------------------
|/ | | |
----/|-----------------------|----|\--|\-|--|\--|\----|----|-----------|------------------------|
/ | # | | | | | | | | | |
--/--|"-----------------|\---|----|---|--|--|---|-----|----|-----------|--|---|\--|\------------|
/ /| \ |\ @ @ @ | @"_"@ @ @ |\ | | | | | | |
-\-(-|--)----------|\---|----------------|----------------------|\--|--|--|---|---|----|-----|--|
\""|"/ | @ | | | | @ @ @ | | |
-----|-------------|--------------------- ----------------------|--@--- --------------@-----@---
. | | @. @
`-' --|--
|
--@--
Un - der the shade of a cool - li - bah tree, And he sang as he watch'd and
.
|\ Bm G D A7 D
-----|-)--#------------------------------ ------------------------------- ----------------------
|/ | | |
----/|-----------------------------------|-------------------|-----------|----------------------|
/ | # | | |\ | |
--/--|"---------------|\-----------------|--------------|\---|----|---|\-|----------------------|
/ /| \ |\ | | |\ @ | | | | |\ |\ |
-\-(-|--)-----|\--|---|---|\----------|--|----------|\--|--------@----|--|----|----|----|----|--|
\""|"/ | | @ | |\ | | | @ @ | | | | | |
-----|--------|--@--------|---|\--|---|-- ----------|-------------------- ---@----@----@-----|--
. | @ @ | | @ | @. @
`-' --|--@-- --|-
@ |
--@--
wait-ed till his bil-ly boiled 'You'll come a- waltz-ing Ma - til - da with me.'
Chorus
|\ D G
-----|-)--#----------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------
|/ | . |
----/|-----------|---------|\----|\----|------------|----@-------@---------------------|--------|
/ | # | | |\ | | | | @ | |
--/--|"----------|---------|-----|-----|-----|------|---|-------|-----|------@---------|--------|
/ /| \ @ @. @ @ | | | |/ |/ | @ |
-\-(-|--)------------------------------------|------|-----------------|/----|-------------------|
\""|"/ @ | | |
-----|---------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------
. |
`-'
'Waltz - ing Ma - til - da, Waltz - ing Ma - til - da,
.
|\ D A7 D A7
-----|-)--#----------------------------- -------------------------- ----------------------------
|/ | | | |
----/|---------|---|\--|\---|---|\---|\-|--|-----------------------|----------------------------|
/ | # | | |\ | | |\ | | |\ | |
--/--|"--------|---|---|---@----|----|--|--|---|---|\--------------|---|---|\--|\---------------|
/ /| \ @ @. @ @. @ | @ | | | |\ | | | | | |\ |\ |
-\-(-|--)-------------------------------|-----@----|----|---|\--|--|---|---|---|---|-----|---|--|
\""|"/ | @ | | | | @ @ @ | | | |
-----|---------------------------------- --------------@----|--@--- --------------@-----@---@---
. | @ ----
`-'
You'll come a-waltz-ing Ma - til- da with me.' And he sang as he watch'd and --
.
|\ Bm G D A7 D
-----|-)--#------------------------------- -------------------------------- --------------------
|/ | | |
----/|------------------------------------|-------------------|------------|--------------------|
/ | # | | |\ | |
--/--|"---------------|\------------------|--------------|\---|-----|---|\-|--------------------|
/ /| \ |\ | | | @ | | | | |\ |\ |
-\-(-|--)----|\--|----|---|\------------|-|----------|\--|---------@----|--|---|---|----|----|--|
\""|"/ | | @ | |\ | | | @ @ | | | | | |
-----|-------|--@---------|----|\--|----|- ----------|--------------------- --@---@----@-----|--
. | @ @ | | @ | @ O
`-' --|--@-- ---|-
@ |
--@--
wait-ed till his bil- ly boiled 'You'll come a-waltz - ing Ma - til-da with me.'
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