Waltzing Matilda
Banjo Paterson, 1903
Banjo Paterson's bush ballad of an Australian swagman who camps by a billabong and grabs a stray jumbuck.
(Carrying a Swag.)
Oh! there once was a swagman camped in the Billabong,Under the shade of a Coolabah tree;And he sang as he looked at his old billy boiling,“Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.”
Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda, my darling,Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?Waltzing Matilda and leading a water-bag—Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
Down came a jumbuck to drink at the water-hole,Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him in glee;And he sang as he put him away in his tucker-bag,“You’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me!”
Down came the Squatter a-riding his thorough-bred;Down came Policemen—one, two, and three.“Whose is the jumbuck you’ve got in the tucker-bag?You’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.”
But the swagman, he up and he jumped in the water-hole,Drowning himself by the Coolabah tree;And his ghost may be heard as it sings in the Billabong,“Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?”