Waltzing Matilda

"The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail.
Travel too fast and you miss all you are traveling for."

Louis L'Amour (1908 - 1988)

Ride The Dark Trail

Today begins a departure both figuratively and literally. I will begin with a legend and finish with the truth.

The poignant Australian folk song "Waltzing Matilda" tells the story of an itinerant worker (a sheep shearer) brewing a pot of tea at a bush camp and stealing a sheep to eat. When the owner arrives with three lawmen to arrest him, he drowns himself in a nearby lake and haunts the area for eternity.

By most accounts, the original lyrics were written in 1895 by the Australian nationalist poet Banjo Paterson and it was first published in 1903.

Many scholars and folklorists argue that the song is a political statement in much the same way as classic children’s nursery rhymes attacked political figures in earlier centuries. The song is not an explicit attack on the squatters’ refusal to pay shearers higher wages. However, it has been argued that the plot of ‘Waltzing Matilda’ is based on the conflict that raged between these two groups in the 1890s before the song was composed.

Waltzing Matilda is the act of carrying a "swag" which is a shoulder bag used to carry a man's provisions and blankets.

The name Matilda comes from a old Teutonic female name meaning "mighty battle maid" and is used in this case as a slang term for a de facto wife who accompanies the wanderer.

A Billabong is a small area of water leading from a river.

A Coolibah is a gum or eucalyptus tree.

A Swagman is an Australian tramp.

A Billy is an old can used to make tea.

A Tucker Bag is part of the Swag used to hold food.

A Jumbuck is a sheep.

A Squatter was originally the land owner.

Once a jolly swagman sat beside the billabong,

Under the shade of a coolibah tree,

And he sang as he sat and waited by the billabong

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 sat and waited by the billabong

You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me.

Down came a jumbuck to drink beside the billabong

Up jumped the swagman and seized him with glee

And he sang as he tucked jumbuck in his tuckerbag

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 sat and waited by the billabong

You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me.

Down came the stockman, riding on his thoroughbred,

Down came the troopers, one, two, three.

"Where's the jolly jumbuck you've got in your tuckerbag?

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 sat and waited by the billabong

You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me.

Up jumped the swagman and plunged into the billabong,

"You'll never catch me alive," cried he

And his ghost may be heard

as you ride beside the billabong,

You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me.