Waltzing Matilda

by Banjo Paterson

　　

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For those that need a translation from the Australian bush vernacular, this famous folksong and unofficial national anthem of Australia tells the story of an itinerant worker or "swagman" making a cup of tea in a bush camp. When a sheep wanders to the watering hole for a drink, he steals it. When the police come to get him he drowns himself in the "billabong" or watering hole, leaving his ghost behind to haunt the site. So it's like this; a swagman is a drifter or itinerant worker, a billy is a tin can; a Coolibah is a type of eucalyptus tree that is often found at a billabong; a jumpbuck is a sheep which belongs to the squatter; a tucker bag is a bag for storing food. Now comes the hard part for American and other non-Australian English speakers . . . a matilda is a bag that is slung over one's shoulder and if you are "waltzing matilda" it means you are walking around with all your belonging in a single bag slung over your back. The bundle is the swag part of the term swagman, but in a romantic gesture the swagman refers to his swag as "matilda" as though it were a companion accompanying him on his wanderings through the bush.

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Original manuscript, music by Christina Rutherford Macpherson, 1895

　　Oh there once was a swagman camped in the billabong,

　　Under the shade of a Coolibah tree,

　　And he sang as he looked at the 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 Matildta with me

　　2nd verse

　　Down came the jumbuck to drink at the billabong,

　　Up jumped the swagman & grabbed him with glee,

　　And he said as he put him away in the tucker bag

　　"You'll come a'waltzing Matilda with me"!—

　　Chorus: "You'll come" etc

　　3rd verse

　　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."

　　Chorus: "You'll come" etc

　　4th verse

　　But the swagman he up & he jumped in the water-hole

　　Drowning himself by the Coolibah tree,

　　And his ghost may be heard as it sings by the billabong

　　Who'll come a'waltzing Matilda with me.

　　Chorus: "Who'll come" etc

　　Australian billabong (watering hole) below

　　

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Waltzing Matilda was featured as TheShort Story of the Day on Thu, Jan 26, 2017

　　

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Featured in our collection of Poems for Children.

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