Waltzing Matilda, an Australian country song, is often regarded as Australia’s unofficial National anthem. The lyrics were written as a poem in 1895 by Banjo Paterson and then turned into a song in 1903 by Christina Macpherson. The music for this song was influenced by Celtic fold ballads, instead of the American Country and Western music style. In 1977, this song was one of four (Waltzing Matilda, Advance Australia Fair, God Save the Queen, and Song of Australia) considered for the national song of Australia and it received 28% of the votes. Even though it did not officially become the national anthem, it is still used widely today. For example, it was used at the Montreal Olympic Games in 1976 and it is played at many sporting events, including the National Rugby Union Team Games as well as the AFL Grand Final where it is played along with Advance Australia Fair. The 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment also uses it and it is the official song of the U.S. 1st Marine Division.
It has been widely accepted that “Waltzing Matilda” is potentially based on the following story:
“In Queensland in 1891 the Great Shearers’ Strike brought the colony close to civil war and was broken only after the Premier Samuel Griffith called in the military.
In September 1894, on a station called Dagworth (north of Winton), some shearers were again on stike. It turned violent with the strikers firing their rifles and pistols in the air and setting fire to the woolshed at the Dagworth Homestead, killing dozens of sheep.
The owner of Dagworth Homestead and three policemen gave chase to a man named Samuel Hoffmeister – also called Samuel “French(y)” Hoffmeister. Rather than be captured, Hoffmeister shot and killed himself at the Combo Waterhole.”
I found an article that analyzed the story and it said:
“He (Hoffmeister) then chooses to die at his own hand for this trifling crime – as though the sheep’s life were more valuable than his own. Remember that Australia was colonised by convicts sentenced to transportation” from England, often for trivial property offences; Australians are still suspicious of authority, and cynical about the pomposity and hypocrisy of the judicial and police systems”
There are several different versions of the lyrics, but here’s one of them:
Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong,
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited ’til his billy boiled
“Who’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?”
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”
And he sang as he watched and waited ’til his billy boiled,
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”.
Down came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong,
Up got the swagman and grabbed him with glee,
And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”.
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”
And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”.
Down came the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred,
Up came the troopers, one, two, three,
“Who’s that jolly jumbuck you’ve got in your tucker bag?”
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”.
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”
“Who’s that jolly jumbuck you’ve got in your tucker bag?”,
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”.
Up got the swagman and jumped into the billabong,
“You’ll never catch me alive”, said he,
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
“Who’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?”
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
“Who’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?
Listen to it on Youtube: Waltzing Matilda
The clip is actually interesting! It talks about the song at first and then plays it and has pictures that go along with what the song is saying.
The information in my blog came from Roger Clarke’s Waltzing Matilda Home-Page and Wikipedia.
-Natalie Boyce
