Waltzing Matilda

Waltzing Matilda is a ballad. It is a traditional song that is passed on by word of mouth rather than being written down. There is a lot of repetition to make it is easier to remember. It also has an easy rhyme scheme.

In the middle ages, people didn't usually take credit for songs or other works of art they made, so the writer of Waltzing Matilda is unknown. This Australian folk song narrates the story of an itinerant worker making a drink of tea at a bush camp and stealing a sheep to eat. When the sheep's owner arrives with three police officers to arrest the worker, he drowns himself in a small watering hole and goes on to haunt the site. The original lyrics were written in 1895 by the poet and nationalist Banjo Paterson. It was first published as sheet music in 1903.

The poem which consists of 32 lines, divided into eight quatrains.

The lyrics contain many distinctively Australian words, some now rarely used in Australian English outside this song. These include:

Swagman:

A man who travelled the country looking for work. His swag was a bed roll that bundled his belongings.

Waltzing:

Derived from the German term auf der Walz, which means to travel while working as a craftsman and learn new techniques from other masters before returning home after three years and one day, a custom which is still in use today among carpenters.

Matilda:

A romantic term for a swagman's bundle.

Waltzing Matilda:

From the above terms, "to waltz Matilda" is to travel with a swag, that is, with all one's belongings on one's back wrapped in a blanket or cloth.

Billabong:

A cut-off river bend found alongside a meandering river.

Coolibah tree:

A kind of eucalyptus tree which grows near billabongs.

Jumbuck:

A large difficult-to-shear sheep. It is not a tame sheep. The sheep was not 'owned' by the squatter or regularly shorn, thus not really able to be stolen by the swagman.

Billy:

A can for boiling water.

Tucker bag:

A bag for carrying food ("tucker" meaning food)

Troopers:

Policemen - usually on horseback.

Squatter:

Australian squatters started as early farmers who raised livestock on land which they did not legally have the right to use; in many cases they later gained legal use of the land even though they did not have full possession, and became wealthy thanks to these large land holdings.