(Carrying a Swag)
by "Banjo" Paterson
Oh! there once was a swagman camped in a Billabong
Under the shade of a Coolabah tree;
And he sang as he looked at the 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 said as he stowed him away in the tucker-bag,
'You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me'
Down came the Squatter a-riding on his thoroughbred;
Down came policemen -- one, two, and three.
'Whose is the jumbuck you've got in the tuckerbag?
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.'
But the swagman, he up and he jumped in the waterhole,
Drowning himself by the Coolabah tree;
And his ghost can be heard as it sings in the Billabong
'Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me?'
(1895)