Waltzing Matilda Home

<body> <p><a title="All About Waltzing Matilda" href="index.html">Waltzing Matilda Home</a></p> <p><a title="A.B.Paterson - wrote the words to Waltzing Matilda" href="TheBanjo.html">Andrew Barton "The Banjo" Paterson</a></p> <p><a title="The Song that inspired the tune of Waltzing Matilda" href="Craigielea.html">Craigielea/ Craigielee</a></p> <p><a title="Christina - The composer of Waltzing Matilda" href="Christina.html">Christina MacPherson</a></p> <p><a title="The man who inspired the swagman in Waltzing Matilda" href="Hoffmeister.html">Samuel Hoffmeister</a></p> <p><a title="Some Historical Background" href="ThePeriod.html">The Historical Period behind Waltzing Matilda</a></p> <p><a title="A musical that has been written about Waltzing Matilda, the song" href="TheMusical.html">Waltzing Matilda The Musical</a></p> <p><a title="The writers and composers of Waltzing Matilda the musical" href="AboutUs.html">Edward Holding and Andrew Partington</a></p> <p><a title="Links about Waltzing Matilda" href="Links.html">Links to other sites about Waltzing Matilda</a></p> <p>"Waltzing Matilda the musical" is a large-scale musical about the writing of the song, Waltzing Matilda. On this website, we provide information about the true story behind Waltzing Matilda the musical.<br /> Waltzing Matilda, Australia’s most famous song, is known all around the world. It has often been put forward as a possible national anthem.<br /> The words to Waltzing Matilda were written by Andrew Barton (“the Banjo”) Paterson, early in 1895 at Dagworth Station in Queensland, and the music was composed by Christina MacPherson, the sister of Robert MacPherson, the station owner.<br /> Waltzing Matilda is literally about a swagman who is discovered by some troopers with a stolen jumbuck (sheep), and who commits suicide by jumping into a billabong (waterhole) to evade capture. However, according to most historians of the song, the words of Waltzing Matilda are actually an oblique reference to, or inspired by, the suicide of a Unionist named Samuel Hoffmeister. This seems to be supported by Banjo Paterson’s account of the writing of the song.<br /> Samuel Hoffmeister is believed to have participated in a Union raid on Dagworth Station on the night of the 2nd September 1894 in which the shearing shed was burnt down (a common enough incident during the Shearing Strikes of the 1890’s). Later the following day, Hoffmeister shot himself. The subsequent inquest found that Hoffmeister committed suicide, however the testimony of the witnesses was contradictory, so the full events of the evening and subsequent day are still unknown.<br /> Several versions of the song have been written. The first version was to the tune by Christina MacPherson, which was based on a Scottish folk tune called Thou Bonnie Wood Of Craigielea, a setting of a poem by the Scottish poet Robert Tannahill; who, coincidentally, drowned himself in a canal in his home town of Paisley, near Glasgow, at the age of 36.<br /> The more well-known version of the melody was an arrangement of Christina MacPherson’s melody by Marie Cowan, commissioned by tea merchant James Inglis for an advertisement for his product “Billy Tea.” James Inglis was a friend of Marie Cowan’s. Some confusion about the authorship of the music may have come from the fact that Christina MacPherson’s married name was McCowan.</p> <p><br /> These are the original words to the Christina MacPherson melody that Banjo Paterson wrote in 1895:<br /> WALTZING MATILDA<br /> Oh there once was a swag man camped in the billabong,<br /> Under the shade of a coolibah tree;<br /> And he sang as he looked at the old billy boiling<br /> “Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me?”<br /> <br /> Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda my darling,<br /> Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me?<br /> Waltzing Matilda, and leading a water bag;<br /> Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me?<br /> <br /> Down came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong,<br /> Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee;<br /> And he said as he put him away in the tucker bag<br /> “You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me!”<br /> <br /> Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda my darling,<br /> Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me?<br /> Waltzing Matilda, and leading a water bag;<br /> Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me?<br /> <br /> Down came a squatter, a-riding his thoroughbred,<br /> Down came policemen, one, two, three;<br /> “Whose is that jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?<br /> You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me!”<br /> <br /> Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda my darling,<br /> Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me?<br /> Waltzing Matilda, and leading a water bag;<br /> Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me?<br /> <br /> But the swagman he up and he jumped in the waterhole,<br /> Drowning himself by the coolibah tree;<br /> And his ghost may be heard as it sings by the billabong<br /> “Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me?”<br /> <br /> Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda my darling,<br /> Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me?<br /> Waltzing Matilda, and leading a water bag;<br /> Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me?<br /> </p> <p>The third version of Waltzing Matilda, known in folk music circles as the “Queensland” or “Buderine” version, uses the same words as the original and was written by Josephine Penn, a girlfriend of Christina MacPherson’s brother Robert, according to Robert Magoffin (1937-2006), the historian who discovered much of the background about Waltzing Matilda.</p> <p><a title="Images relevant to Waltzing Matilda" href="IMAGESWM1.html">Here are some interesting images</a></p> <p></p> <p><font size="-2"><br /> All content on this website Copyright © 1993,1996,2006,2007 Submarine Media Pty Ltd, Waltzing Matilda the musical Pty Ltd, Edward Holding & Andrew Partington except direct quotations, which are public domain in most instances.<br /> Waltzing Matilda the musical Copyright © 1993,1996,2006,2007 Submarine Media Pty Ltd, Waltzing Matilda the musical Pty Ltd, Edward Holding & Andrew Partington</font></p> </body>