Fred Skelly has been wondering why Waltzing Matilda nearly got up as Australia's national anthem when we chose Advance Australia Fair. I suspect it was put up as a bit of a red herring to provide context for more serious contenders. However, it does remain a much loved Australian anthem, originally written by Banjo Patterson against the backdrop of severe economic depression in the 1890's and put to music later. It combines themes of the bush, freedom, petty crime and outwitting authority and privilege. What's not to like in that list?
To understand the song, it helps to know that a swag-man was an itinerant worker of variable reliability, a billabong is not surf wear nor illegal substance equipment but an oxbow lake, a coolabah tree is a shady species of eucalypt that grows where few other shade trees survive, a billy is not illegal substance equipment either but rather is a tin can with a handle for cooking everything as well as making tea, a matilda is your swag which is a bundle of all your belongings carried at an angle across the shoulders, and waltzing with your matilda is going on the road working from place to place, camping where you can and getting food however you can. A jumbuck is a sheep, a tucker-bag is where you carry your food (its a tucker-box if you have wheeled transport and has become the esky these days). The squatter in this story is someone who has decided that the colonial government is too slow handing out selections and has grabbed land unilaterally. They were not well liked...
So it is really another of those bush anthems that most Australians identify with despite being one of the more urban nations on the planet! Cheers
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(A LONG time ago...of course)
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. I follow the happenings in Australia/New Zealand pretty closely, fascinating places. I know they are two different places so I don't mean to offend you by putting them together. Love your little stories and sorry I didn't meant hijack the original post Hope all is well with you and your family.