Waltzing Matilda

A.B. (Banjo) Paterson

Once a jolly swagman camped by a Billabong
Under the shade of a Coolabah tree
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me.
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"

Down come a jumbuck to drink at the Billabong
Up jumped a swagman and grabbed him with glee
And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me'".

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me.
And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"

Up rode the Squatter mounted on his thoroughbred
Up rode the Troopers - one, two, three
"Where's that jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?",
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me".

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me.
"Where's that jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?",
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"

Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the Billabong
Under the shade of the Coolabah tree,
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by the Billabong,
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me.
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"

Explanation of Australian slang in the song

Waltzing Matilda - Picking up your swag and heading off down the track; or as the Blackfellas would say, "Goin' walk-about".

Billabong - A waterhole.

Billy - A can used to boil water for tea and other purposes.

Coolabah tree - A type of native tree in Australia

Jumbuck - A sheep.

Squatter - In the Penal Colony, convicts who were unable to get a land grant "squatted" on a piece of land anyway.  They were accepted because the food they produced was valuable.  Latter, in the Democratic Colony the term was used to refer to the "Landed Gentry", the rich pastoralists who had been accepted into Polite Society.

Swagman - In colonial times, someone who lived on the open road, usually they were iterant workers moving between jobs.  The term came from the canvas sheet or "swag" that they would wrap their bedroll and belongings in.

Trooper - In the Penal Colony the Rum Corps was the "police force" and so the military term "trooper" seemed to stick into Democratic Colony.  At the time this poem was written both police and soldiers were deployed across the eastern Colonies dealing with the four great strikes that constituted the Second Eureka Rebellion.

Tucker bag - A bag for storing food in the bush.