Our National Treasure

I made comment on a blog entry that not enough of my fellow Australians knew enough about our nation’s history. I commented that to me it appeared more of us knew the words to a ballad about a thief that chose death to capture than we did to our national anthem.

The ballad I was referring to was ‘Waltzing Matilda’, written in 1895 by arguably one of our greatest poets – Andrew (Banjo) Paterson.

‘Waltzing Matilda’ is now treated as an immortal Australian national treasure, and sung with much gusto at just about every national (and international) sporting event. Ironically it was once described by its author as ‘a piece of old junk’.

The ‘old junk’ was written whilst Paterson was staying at Dagworth station in Queensland in 1895, with the station owner’s niece putting it to music using an old Scottish tune.

It tells the tale of a wandering swagman who is caught with a stolen sheep and suicides by drowning rather than accept capture.

To my research Paterson was a country boy, born at Narrambla near Orange in New South Wales in 1864. He was an excellent horseman and had a natural affinity with the bush that was brought to life in his work. He was later schooled in Sydney, before becoming a lawyer, journalist, war correspondent (Boxer Rebellion and Boer War) and then writer. These experiences allowed him to portray all sides of the Australian character that endeared him so much to his audience.

In response to that blog entry I was asked if I could recite the ballad and provide some meaning to some of the words used. It gave me a real kick to learn that people outside Australia actually knew about it – let alone been taught the words and that they wanted to know more.

Unfortunately I do not know enough about copyright laws to produce the original or other printed versions here, although I do have a copy of the original. In my ignorance I assume it safe to reproduce the version I remember having been taught in my early youth and that I believe is very close to what the nation sings in those patriotic moments. So with apologies to Banjo Paterson, his descendants and anyone reading this, here goes…

‘Waltzing Matilda’ – as I remember it.

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong,
Under the shade of a Coolibah tree.
And he sang as he sat and waited while 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 sat and waited while his billy boiled,
‘Who’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 stuffed that jumbuck
to 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 stuffed that jumbuck to his
Tuckerbag,
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me.

Down came the squatter,
riding on his thoroughbred,
down came the troopers.
one, two, three,
Who’s that jolly jumbuck you have in that tuckerbag?
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me.

Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda.
Who’s that jolly jumbuck you have in that tuckerbag?
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me.

Up jumped the swagman as he fled into the
billabong,
You’ll never take me alive said he.
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that
billabong,
Who’ll come a waltzing matilda with me?

Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda,
Who’ll come a waltzing matilda with me?
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that
billabong,
Who’ll come a waltzing matilda with me?

I was also asked to give some explanation to some of the words and terminology used. In doing so I have chosen to refrain from using dictionary definitions or a thesaurus but rather provide what my upbringing led me to believe they represent/stand for (does that make sense?).

Swagman – the picture that comes to mind is of a solitary man, walking down a dusty track with the swag on his back. The swag was essentially his bedroll, rolled up and tied so that he could sling it over one shoulder. Envisage a slim sleeping bag, draped across the back from one shoulder to the opposite hip. The personal belongings he had taken with him were usually rolled up in the swag – shaving gear and a change of clothes. A change of boots/shoes were usually tied together by the laces and swung over the other shoulder. He would often carry his billycan in one hand as he strolled along.

A swagman could be a husband, father or son, usually walking the tracks in the bush (rural areas) looking for work. The time frame could have been anything from the mid 1800’s through the depression of the 1930’s to World War Two. He could have been a shearer, fruit picker, fencer, clerk, and stockbroker, lumberjack, from the bush or the city. If he had a horse he wouldn’t have been walking and therefore, to me, not qualified as a swagman.

Billycan – a small metal bucket with a thin wire metal handle, used to brew the drink of tea. Filled with water and hung over an open fire the tealeaves were thrown in as the water came to the boil. The billycan was then swirled in an arc by the arm, like a ferris wheel in motion, without spilling a drop. The tea was then ready to drink. Hot, black and sweet (if the swag had any sugar).

Billabong – to me this needs a bit of explanation. A lot of the bush Paterson wrote about was in outback Queensland and New South Wales – two of the older states in Australia, both situated on our east coast. I saw a fair bit of New South Wales in my youth and remember a mix of coastal mountain ranges dipping westwards into drier flat plains. My understanding of a lot of the watercourses running through those states is that they are very seasonal. A lot of the areas are subject to flood or drought. When in flood the watercourses flowed very freely and the wool bales were transported to ocean ports by paddle steamer and barges. When in drought only the deeper parts held water.

It is the latter that is my impression of a billabong. A large pond of water, usually at a bend of a river that was deep when in full flood, with dry river beds leading into and out of it when not.

Coolabah Tree – I always imagined a large eucalypt, towering out of the ground just on the bend. Its branches spreading out over the banks half way across the billabong. The trunk would be white or smoky grey and it would be full of birds; cockatoos, magpies or kookaburras, although the ballad makes no mention of bird noises.

Just on this – I have spelt Coolabah with an 'a' after the 'l', whereas my copy of the original version of the ballad spells it with an 'i' after the 'l'. My copy of ‘Australian Native Plants’ also spells it with an 'a'. So I went with that. This book also describes the Coolabah as small to medium shady tree that can grow to twenty metres (approx fifty feet) in favourable conditions.

Trooper – mounted police, armed and usually the servant of the wealthy.

Squatter – usually a wealthy landowner and pastoralist/ grazier of mainly sheep for wool, who used open land that had not been released for sale, rental or development, but treated it as his for the taking.

Tuckerbag – tucker is Australianism (but could be used elsewhere – I don’t really know) for food. So tuckerbag is pretty self-explanatory, although how one fit into the swag I don’t know either.

Waltzing Matilda – I don’t really know the origins of the songs/poems/ballads title. However my lifelong impression has always been that it meant, wandering, walking, adventuring, that kind of thing. Who will keep me company while we see what we will see kind of thing?

Jumbuck - our term for a sheep. Mainly the Merino ram, which used to jump and kick out with its hindlegs when harassed or coralled by the sheep dogs - hence jump, then buck for the male of the species. They have short curly horns and immediately prior to shearing an abundance of fleecy wool, making them appear barrel like.

So why has the ballad become such an important part of the Australian ethos?
Firstly I think it is the catchy tune - is it still the original (I have not explored this)? I do know modern day Australia relates and sings to it.

Secondly I think it has a lot to do with the mindset that has made a bushranger our national hero. Ned Kelly has been portrayed to represent the poor, oppressed and disadvantaged, a hero against establishment. Whether he was or not I have no idea. But I believe that during his time there was a real distrust amongst the common people towards authority. The latter was there to further the causes of the wealthy and influential.

If we understand that Australia was settled by Europeans (just ignoring the prior history and original landholders for the purpose of this exercise) of three classes then the ethos may become clearer. Firstly Australia was settled as a place to dump Britain’s unwanted. Then it became obvious the place had potential. So the wealthy came. Then more unwanted were sent to do the work and someone had to keep them in line.

So we have the authorities that protected the interests of the wealthy, the wealthy that just took it all and the unwanted to do all the hard stuff. Occasionally some of the unwanted joined the wealthy. Naturally there was animosity between the three groups, as experienced in the bloody and uneven battle at Eureka Stockade – professionally trained and equipped soldiers against armed civilians over miners’ rights.

So we can understand why a man, possibly of ex convict, but definitely the unwanted, stock would choose infinity in the bush as opposed to the oppression of the authorities offered at the bidding of the wealthy.

I apologise for the length of this explanation and hope the latter part has not been too political – I tried to keep it brief.

I hope those that were interested were kept interested and I would be willing to research other aspects of our ‘unknown’ history if requested.