Waltzing Matilda

Combo Waterhole, thought to be the location of the story that inspired "Waltzing Matilda"

The Australian poet Banjo Paterson wrote the words to "Waltzing Matilda" in August 1895[7] while staying at Dagworth Station, a sheep and cattle station near Winton in Central West Queensland owned by the Macpherson family. The words were written to a tune played on a zither or autoharp by 31‑year‑old Christina Macpherson (1864–1936),[8][9] one of the family members at the station.

Macpherson heard the tune, "The Craigielee March", played by a military band while attending Warrnambool steeplechase horse racing in Victoria in April 1894, and played it back by ear at Dagworth. Paterson decided that the music would be a good piece to set lyrics. He produced the original version during the rest of his stay at the station and in Winton.[10][11]

The march was based on the music the Scottish composer James Barr composed in 1818 for Robert Tannahill's 1806 poem "Thou Bonnie Wood of Craigielee".[12] In the early 1890s it was arranged as "The Craigielee" march music for brass band by Australian composer Thomas Bulch.[10]

Fortified temporary shearing shed at Dagworth Station following the 1894 arson of the main shed. The three troopers at left are thought to be those referred to in "Waltzing Matilda", while the squatter was Bob Macpherson, fourth from right.[10]

It has been widely accepted[13] that "Waltzing Matilda" is probably 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 of Queensland, Samuel Griffith, called in the military. In September 1894, some shearers at Dagworth Station were again on strike. The situation turned violent with the striking shearers firing their rifles and pistols in the air and setting fire to the woolshed at Dagworth, killing dozens of sheep. The owner of Dagworth Station and three policemen gave chase to a man named Samuel Hoffmeister, an immigrant said to have been born in Batavia[7] also known as "Frenchy".[14] Rather than be captured, Hoffmeister shot and killed himself at the 4 Mile Creek south of Kynuna at 12.30 pm on 2 September 1894.

Bob Macpherson (the brother of Christina) and Paterson are said to have taken rides together at Dagworth. Here they would probably have passed the Combo Waterhole, where Macpherson is purported to have told this story to Paterson. Although not remaining in close contact, Paterson and Christina Macpherson had different recollections of where the song was first composed- Christina said it was composed "in Winton" while Paterson said it was at "Dick's Creek" on the road to Winton. Amongst Macpherson's belongings, found after her death in 1936, was an unopened letter to a music researcher that read "... one day I played (from ear) a tune, which I had heard played by a band at the Races in Warrnambool ... he [Paterson] then said he thought he could write some words to it. He then and there wrote the first verse. We tried it and thought it went well, so he then wrote the other verses." Similarly, in the early 1930s on ABC radio Paterson said: "The shearers staged a strike and Macpherson's woolshed at Dagworth was burnt down and a man was picked up dead ... Miss Macpherson used to play a little Scottish tune on a zither and I put words to it and called it Waltzing Matilda."[10]

The song itself was first performed on 6 April 1895 by Sir Herbert Ramsay, 5th Bart., at the North Gregory Hotel in Winton, Queensland. The occasion was a banquet for the Premier of Queensland. The song did not very quickly spread: an electronic search of hundreds of Australian newspaper titles between 1895 and 1901 reveals only one report of it being sung.[15] However, the cultural critic, A.A. Phillips, born in 1900, recalled being taught it in his childhood.

In February 2010, ABC News reported an investigation by barrister Trevor Monti that the death of Hoffmeister was more akin to a gangland assassination than to suicide. The same report asserts, "Writer Matthew Richardson says the song was most likely written as a carefully worded political allegory to record and comment on the events of the shearers' strike."[16]

Several alternative theories for the origins or meaning of "Waltzing Matilda" have been proposed since the time it was written. Still, most experts now essentially agree on the details outlined above. Some oral stories collected during the twentieth century claimed that Paterson had merely modified a pre-existing bush song, but there is no evidence for this. In 1905, Paterson himself published a book of bush ballads he had collected from around Australia entitled Old Bush Songs, with nothing resembling "Waltzing Matilda" in it. Nor do any other publications or recordings of bush ballads include anything to suggest it preceded Paterson. Meanwhile, manuscripts from the time the song originated indicate the song's origins with Paterson and Christina Macpherson, as do their own recollections and other pieces of evidence.[10]

There has been speculation[17] about the relationship "Waltzing Matilda" bears to a British song, "The Bold Fusilier" or "The Gay Fusilier" (also known as "Marching through Rochester", referring to Rochester in Kent and the Duke of Marlborough), a song sung to the same tune and dated by some back to the 18th century but first printed in 1900.[18] There is, however, no documentary proof that "The Bold Fusilier" existed before 1900, and evidence suggests that this song was in fact written as a parody of "Waltzing Matilda" by English soldiers during the Boer War where Australian soldiers are known to have sung "Waltzing Matilda" as a theme.[10] The first verse of "The Bold Fusilier" is:

A bold fusilier came marching back through Rochester
Off from the wars in the north country,
And he sang as he marched
Through the crowded streets of Rochester,
Who'll be a soldier for Marlboro and me?

In 2008, Australian amateur historian Peter Forrest claimed that the widespread belief that Paterson had penned the ballad as a socialist anthem, inspired by the Great Shearers' Strike, was false and a "misappropriation" by political groups.[19] Forrest asserted that Paterson had in fact written the self-described "ditty" as part of his flirtation with Macpherson, despite his engagement to someone else.[20] This theory was not shared by other historians like Ross Fitzgerald, emeritus professor in history and politics at Griffith University, who argued that the defeat of the strike in the area that Paterson was visiting only several months before the song's creation would have been in his mind, most likely consciously but at least "unconsciously", and thus was likely to have been an inspiration for the song.[20] Fitzgerald stated, "the two things aren't mutually exclusive"[20]—a view shared by others who, while not denying the significance of Paterson's relationship with Macpherson, nonetheless recognise the underlying story of the shearers' strike and Hoffmeister's death in the lyrics of the song.[10]

Paterson sold the rights to "Waltzing Matilda" and "some other pieces" to Angus & Robertson for five Australian pounds.[21] In 1903, tea trader James Inglis hired Marie Cowan, who was married to Inglis's accountant, to alter the song lyrics for use as an advertising jingle for the Billy Tea company, making it nationally famous.[22] Cowan adapted the lyrics and set them to music in 1903.[23][24]

Although no copyright applied to the song in Australia and many other countries, the Australian Olympic organisers had to pay royalties to an American publisher, Carl Fischer Music, following the song being played at the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta.[25] According to some reports, the song was copyrighted by Carl Fischer Music in 1941 as an original composition.[26] However, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Carl Fischer Music had collected the royalties on behalf of Messrs Allan & Co, an Australian publisher that claimed to have bought the original copyright, though Allan's claim "remains unclear".[27] Arrangements such as those claimed by Richard D. Magoffin remain in copyright in America.[28]

There are no "official" lyrics to "Waltzing Matilda" and slight variations can be found in different sources.[30] Paterson's original lyrics referred to the swagman "drowning himself 'neath the Coolibah Tree".[31] The following lyrics are the Cowan version.

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited till his "Billy" boiled,[22]
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

Chorus:
Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda,
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me,
And he sang as he watched and waited till his "Billy" boiled,[lower-alpha 1]
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong,
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee,
And he sang as he shoved[lower-alpha 2] that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

(Chorus)

Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred.
Down came the troopers, one, two, and three.
"Whose is that jumbuck[lower-alpha 3] you've got in your tucker bag?
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

(Chorus)

Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong.
"You'll never catch me alive!" said he
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong:
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

(Chorus)

Photograph of a swagman, c. 1901, holding a billy and carrying a swag on his back

Painting of a swagman camped by a billabong, Gordon Coutts, 1889, Art Gallery of New South Wales

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

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.[32]

Matilda

a romantic term for a swagman's bundle. See below, "Waltzing Matilda".

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. The exact origins of the term "Matilda" are disputed; one fanciful derivation states that when swagmen met each other at their gatherings, there were rarely women to dance with. Nonetheless, they enjoyed a dance and so danced with their swags, which was given a woman's name. However, this appears to be influenced by the word "waltz", hence the introduction of dancing. It seems more likely that, as a swagman's only companion, the swag came to be personified as a female.

The National Library of Australia states:

Matilda is an old Teutonic female name meaning "mighty battle maid". This may have informed the use of "Matilda" as a slang term to mean a de facto wife who accompanied a wanderer. In the Australian bush a man's swag was regarded as a sleeping partner, hence his "Matilda". (Letter to Rt. Hon. Sir Winston Churchill, KG from Harry Hastings Pearce, 19 February 1958. Harry Pearce Papers, NLA Manuscript Collection, MS2765)[33]

In Germany the terms "Waltzing Matilda" have a very specific meaning:

It refers to the tradition where craftsmen, after having completed their apprenticeship, spend 3 years away from their hometown, travelling on minimal budget, working in many places in order to acquire experience and master their craft. See Journeyman Years for a detailed description. In this context, (Walz) or (auf der Walz) refers to this activity. And (Mathilda) is the patron saint of the road, looking after the men (and women), helping them but sometimes dealing harsh lessons.

Hence (Waltzing Matilda) would refer to the activity of a journey man traveling the road, only carrying a simple swag.

"Weiter zogen wir durch die Schweiz, um uns in der Genfer Gegend neue Arbeit zu suchen. Aber Mathilda, unsere Straßengöttin, meinte es dieses Mal nicht gut mit uns. Wenn es regnete, wenn es kalt war, wenn man keinen Lift fand, kein Bett und auch keine Arbeit, dann hieß es bei uns: Kann man nichts machen, das will die Mathilda jetzt so."

We kept travelling through Switzerland, to look for work around Geneva. But Mathilda, our patron saint of the road, was not kind to us this time. When it rains, it is icy cold, or when we couldn't find a ride, a bed for the night or even no work, then we used to say: 'no can do, this is what Mathilda wants it to be'

— Franz im Glück, Meine Wanderjahre auf der Walz (2015) [34]

"Aktuell ist also Mathilda meine beste Freundin – so nennen wir die Straße. Mathilda ist unsere Schutzpatronin, sie hilft uns, wenn wir etwas brauchen. Wenn ich mir ein warmes Bett wünsche oder an ein weit entferntes Ziel mitgenommen werden möchte, hat Mathilda bisher immer dafür gesorgt, dass es klappt."

Actually Mathilda is my best friend - this is what we call the road. Mathilda is our patron saint. She helps us when we are in need. If I really long for a warm bed or look for a ride for a distant destination, I always found that Mathilda helped to make it work.

— "Jeder Tag ist ein neues Abenteuer", Spiegel.de "Mein erstes Jahr im Job" (2021)[35]

swagman

a man who travelled the country looking for work. The swagman's "swag" was a bed roll that bundled his belongings.

billabong

an oxbow lake (a cut-off river bend) found alongside a meandering river

coolibah tree

a kind of eucalyptus tree which grows near billabongs

jumbuck

a sheep[33]

billy

a can for boiling water, usually 1–1.5 litres (2–3 pints)

tucker bag

a bag for carrying food

troopers

policemen

squatter

Australian squatters started as early farmers who raised livestock on land which they did not have the legal title 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. The squatter's claim to the land may be as unfounded as is the swagman's claim to the jumbuck.

The lyrics of "Waltzing Matilda" have been changed since it was written. The following version, considered to be the 'original',[36] was published by Paterson himself in Saltbush Bill, J.P., and Other Verses in 1917, and appears as follows:[37][38]

In a facsimile of the first part of the original manuscript, included in Singer of the Bush, a collection of Paterson's works published by Lansdowne Press in 1983, the first two verses appear as follows:

Some corrections in the manuscript are evident; the verses originally read (differences in italics):

It has been suggested that these changes were from an even earlier version and that Paterson was talked out of using this text, but the manuscript does not bear this out. In particular, the first line of the chorus was corrected before it had been finished, so the original version is incomplete.

The first published version, in 1903, differs slightly from this text:

By contrast with the original, and also with subsequent versions, the chorus of all the verses was the same in this version. This is also apparently the only version that uses "billabongs" instead of "billabong".

Current variations of the third line of the first verse are "And he sang as he sat and waited by the billabong" or "And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled". Another variation is that the third line of each chorus is kept unchanged from the first chorus, or is changed to the third line of the preceding verse.

There is also the very popular so-called Queensland version[39][40] that has a different chorus, one very similar to that used by Paterson:

The song has never been the officially recognised national anthem in Australia. Unofficially, however, it is often used in similar circumstances. The song was one of four included in a national plebiscite to choose Australia's national song held on 21 May 1977 by the Fraser Government to determine which song was preferred as Australia's national anthem. "Waltzing Matilda" received 28% of the vote compared with 43% for "Advance Australia Fair", 19% for "God Save the Queen" and 10% for "Song of Australia".[43]

Australian passports issued from 2003 have had the lyrics of "Waltzing Matilda" hidden microscopically in the background pattern of most of the pages for visas and arrival/departure stamps.[44]

"Waltzing Matilda" was used at the 1974 FIFA World Cup and at the Montreal Olympic Games in 1976 and, as a response to the New Zealand All Blacks haka, it has gained popularity as a sporting anthem for the Australia national rugby union team. It is also performed, along with "Advance Australia Fair", at the annual AFL Grand Final.

Matilda the Kangaroo was the mascot at the 1982 Commonwealth Games held in Brisbane, Queensland. Matilda was a cartoon kangaroo, who appeared as a 13-metre (43 ft) high mechanical kangaroo at the opening ceremony,[45] accompanied by Rolf Harris singing "Waltzing Matilda".

The Australian women's national soccer team is nicknamed the Matildas after this song.[46]

Jessica Mauboy and Stan Walker recorded a version of "Waltzing Matilda" to promote the 2012 Summer Olympics in Australia. It was released as a single on 3 August 2012.[47][48]

It is used as the quick march of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment and as the official song of the US 1st Marine Division, commemorating the time the unit spent in Australia during the Second World War.[49][50] Partly also used in the British Royal Tank Regiment's slow march of "Royal Tank Regiment", because an early British tank model was called "Matilda".

6 April has been observed as Waltzing Matilda Day annually in Australia since 2012.[51][52]

Versions of the song have been used as the title of, or been prominently featured in, a number of films and television programs.

Waltzing Matilda is a 1933 Australian film directed by and starring Pat Hanna.[58] It features a young Coral Browne.[59]

The introduction of the song was the title of Once a Jolly Swagman, a 1949 British film starring Dirk Bogarde.[60]

An animated short was made in 1958 for Australian television.[61]

Ernest Gold used the song and variations of it extensively in the 1959 film On the Beach.[62][63]

The 2017 short film Waltzing Tilda features various versions of the song and it is also sung by the main character.[64][65]

The song is featured in the 2019 film Deadwood: The Movie[66] despite the film being set in 1889, six years before the song was written.

The theme song of the 1980 Australian television series Secret Valley is sung to a faster version of the tune of "Waltzing Matilda".[67]

It is the theme song for Australia in the video game Civilization VI.[68]

The song is the basis for a side-quest in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, developed by 2K Australia named The Empty Billabong. The player is instructed to search for a man known only as "the Jolly Swagman" at his camp under a coolibah tree where they find his billabong and an audiolog where the Jolly Swagman recounts events identical to the song.[69]

On the occasion of Queensland's 150-year celebrations in 2009, Opera Queensland produced the revue Waltzing Our Matilda, staged at the Conservatorium Theatre and subsequently touring twelve regional centres in Queensland. The show was created by Jason and Leisa Barry-Smith and Narelle French. The story line used the fictional process of Banjo Paterson writing the poem when he visited Queensland in 1895 to present episodes of four famous Australians: bass-baritone Peter Dawson (1882–1961), soprano Dame Nellie Melba (1861–1931), Bundaberg-born tenor Donald Smith (1922–1998), and soprano Gladys Moncrieff, also from Bundaberg. The performers were Jason Barry-Smith as Banjo Paterson, Guy Booth as Dawson, David Kidd as Smith, Emily Burke as Melba, Zoe Traylor as Moncrieff, and Donna Balson (piano, voice). The production toured subsequently again in several years.[70]

• During the 1950s, a parody of the original entitled "Once a Learned Doctor" gained some currency in university circles. It featured lyrics rewritten with reference to the split in the Australian Labor Party in the period 1954 to 1957.[71]
• In 1961, Australian songwriter Jack O'Hagan provided new lyrics to the traditional tune to be called "God Bless Australia" (see that article for its lyrics) that he hoped would become the Australian national anthem.[72]
• Eric Bogle's 1971 song "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" relates the story of a former swagman whose comrades got killed in the Gallipoli campaign and who himself loses his legs. The song incorporates the melody and a few lines from "Waltzing Matilda" at its end.[73]
• Rambling Syd Rumpo (played by Kenneth Williams) in the late 1960s BBC radio programme Round the Horne did a parody of "Waltzing Matilda" beginning "Once long ago in the shade of a goolie bush..."[74]
• The Family Car Songbook (1983) presents a "translation" of the song, using the same musical score, into an "American" version.[75]
• Tom Waits' 1976 song "Tom Traubert's Blues" incorporates elements of "Waltzing Matilda".[76]
• Australian composer Harry Sdraulig's "Fantasia on Waltzing Matilda" (2020), composed for Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott.[77]

• O'Keeffe, Dennis (2012). Waltzing Matilda: The secret history of Australia's favourite song. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-74237-706-3. OCLC 780413544.