Waltzing Matilda

(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)

© John Eustace 2013