The Waltzing Matilda Song

A True Blue Aussie Legend

To most Australians, singing this bush ballad stirs something down deep inside, a real patriotic pride.

• Matilda-a romantic Australian folklore term for a swagman's bundle
• Walzing Matilda-is to travel with a swag
• Swagman-man who walked the country looking for work
• Swag-a bed roll or blanket that carried the swagman's belongings
• Billabong-an oxbow or elbow lake forming a cut off section of a meandering river
• Coolibah Tree-a species of eucalypt tree growing by the riverbank
• Jumbuck-a wild sheep and hard to catch. Not owned by the squatter and therefore unable to be actually stolen
• Billy-a can for boiling water and that great Aussie Tea Brew
• Tucker Bag-a bag for carrying food
• Troopers-Policemen
• Squatter-An old time farmer raising livestock on land that they did not legally own or have a right to use.Years later in the twentieth century the word was refined to mean a person who occupied or resided at a property illegally.

In 1838 two convicts transported to Australia for sheep stealing were William Quincey and Hayes Savage. Both men came from Old Weston families.

You can read the full story here at Convicts transported to Australia from Old Weston

I just wonder if they continued their skill when they reached Australia?

One of them just may have been the character depicted in the Waltzing Matilda Song

Below I have a selection of books that may be of interest to you. Just click on the image or text link and check them out.

Once a Jolly Swagman Waltzing Matilda is the one song that belongs to all Australians. It has been bringing people together spontaneously since 1895. This book tells the story and evolution of Australia's favourite song up until the twenty-first century. It tries to answer the riddles within the song, and unpick its inherent contradictions.	Stories from the Billabong Tens of thousands of years before Tutankhamen was buried in his pyramid, the Yorta-Yorta people -- one of Australia's aboriginal tribes -- told the stories in this volume beside the campfires and waterholes of the Australian desert.	Billabong Bill's Bushfire Christmas Billabong Bill has nowhere to go for Christmas lunch. How sad! But when a fire breaks out the whole community comes together to put it out and to celebrate Christmas in true Aussie style.

• The Waltzing Matilda Song is probably Australia's most widely known bush ballad and sometimes referred to as the country's unofficial national anthem
• Humping the bluey is another term for carrying the swag or waltzing the Matilda
• Derived from an old Teutonic female name meaning mighty battle maid, Matilda has been used as a slang term to mean a defacto wife who accompanied a wanderer.

  The Australian Swaggie carried a swag and it was regarded as his sleeping partner...believe it or not.

• The swagman is an old Australian term that describes a roaming worker who moved from farm to farm looking for that odd job or two.

  He carried his swag, his blanket that stored his precious possessions and wore a wide brimmed hat that had corks hanging from it to chase off the flies.

• The bush lyrics were written by Banjo Patterson in 1895
• The ownership of this rousing bush ballad is still held in great dispute.

  For a full run down and update on this on going battle I refer you to the National Library of Australia

• German immigrants told the story that the German soldiers referred to their greatcoats as Matilda. These coats kept them warm not unlike the warmth of a woman.

  These early immigrants who then went off on the waltz would wrap their belongings up in their coats and referred to this bundle as a Matilda...believe it or not

• It was lawful in Australia for a marooned and hungry traveler to kill and consume a farmer's sheep, however it had to be eaten there on the property.

  The hide was usually hung across the fence to let the farmer know someone had eaten one of his sheep...believe it or not

The Nile -Australia's Largest Online Bookstore, offers the widest range of books at very low prices. Click here to check out more Australian bush ballads.

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50 Elderslie Street

Winton Qld 4735

Mail to: PO Box 286

Winton, Queensland 4735

Find out at this center why the Waltzing Matilda song is as relevant to Australians today as it was over 110 years ago.

For now enjoy this rendition of the "Waltzing Matilda Song" sung by another Australian Legend...Slim Dusty

The Nile -Australia's Largest Online Bookstore, offers the widest range of books at very low prices. Click here to check out more Australian bush ballads.

For more information on My Home Town Melbourne, Australia return to the Family Getaways Melbourne Home Page from the Waltzing Matilda Song

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