Paterson decided that the music would be a good piece to set lyrics to, and produced the original version during the rest of his stay at the station and in Winton. The march was based on the music the Scottish composer James Barr composed in 1818 for Robert Tannahill's 1806 poem "Thou Bonnie Wood of Craigielee".
Paterson decided that the music would be a good piece to set lyrics to, and produced the original version during the rest of his stay at the station and in Winton. The march was based on the music the Scottish composer James Barr composed in 1818 for Robert Tannahill's 1806 poem "Thou Bonnie Wood of Craigielee".
In the early 1890s it was arranged as "The Craigielee" march music for brass band by Australian composer Thomas Bulch. It has been widely accepted that "Waltzing Matilda" is probably based on the following story: In Queensland in 1891 the Great Shearers' Strike brought the colony close to civil war and was broken only after the Premier of Queensland, Samuel Griffith, called in the military.
In the early 1890s it was arranged as "The Craigielee" march music for brass band by Australian composer Thomas Bulch. It has been widely accepted that "Waltzing Matilda" is probably based on the following story: In Queensland in 1891 the Great Shearers' Strike brought the colony close to civil war and was broken only after the Premier of Queensland, Samuel Griffith, called in the military.
The words were written to a tune played on a zither or autoharp by 31‑year‑old Christina Macpherson (1864–1936), one of the family members at the station. Macpherson had heard the tune "The Craigielee March" played by a military band while attending the Warrnambool steeplechase horse racing in Victoria in April 1894, and played it back by ear at Dagworth.
In September 1894, some shearers at Dagworth Station were again on strike.
Rather than be captured, Hoffmeister shot and killed himself at the 4 Mile Creek south of Kynuna at 12.30 pm on 2 September 1894. Bob Macpherson (the brother of Christina) and Paterson are said to have taken rides together at Dagworth.
When the jumbuck's owner, a squatter (landowner), and three troopers (mounted policemen) pursue the swagman for theft, he declares "You'll never catch me alive!" and commits suicide by drowning himself in a nearby billabong (watering hole), after which his ghost haunts the site. The original lyrics were written in 1895 by Australian poet Banjo Paterson, and were first published as sheet music in 1903.
In 2008, this recording of "Waltzing Matilda" was added to the Sounds of Australia registry in the National Film and Sound Archive, which says that there are more recordings of "Waltzing Matilda" than any other Australian song. ==History== ===Writing of the song=== The Australian poet Banjo Paterson wrote the words to "Waltzing Matilda" in August 1895 while staying at Dagworth Station, a sheep and cattle station near Winton in Central West Queensland owned by the Macpherson family.
The story line used the fictional process of Banjo Paterson writing the poem when he visited Queensland in 1895 to present episodes of four famous Australians: bass-baritone Peter Dawson (1882–1961), soprano Dame Nellie Melba (1861–1931), Bundaberg-born tenor Donald Smith (1922–1998), and soprano Gladys Moncrieff, also from Bundaberg.
There is, however, no documentary proof that "The Bold Fusilier" existed before 1900, and evidence suggests that this song was in fact written as a parody of "Waltzing Matilda" by English soldiers during the Boer War where Australian soldiers are known to have sung "Waltzing Matilda" as a theme.
When the jumbuck's owner, a squatter (landowner), and three troopers (mounted policemen) pursue the swagman for theft, he declares "You'll never catch me alive!" and commits suicide by drowning himself in a nearby billabong (watering hole), after which his ghost haunts the site. The original lyrics were written in 1895 by Australian poet Banjo Paterson, and were first published as sheet music in 1903.
In 1903, Marie Cowan was hired by tea trader James Inglis to alter the song lyrics for use as an advertising jingle for Billy Tea, making it nationally famous.
Cowan, who was married to Inglis's accountant, adapted the lyrics and set them to music in 1903.
In 1905, Paterson himself published a book of bush ballads he had collected from around Australia entitled Old Bush Songs, with nothing resembling "Waltzing Matilda" in it.
A third variation on the song, with a slightly different chorus, was published in 1907. Although no copyright applied to the song in Australia and many other countries, the Australian Olympic organisers had to pay royalties to an American publisher, Carl Fischer Music, following the song being played at the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta.
In 2012, to remind Australians of the song's significance, Winton organised the inaugural Waltzing Matilda Day to be held on 6 April, the anniversary of its first performance. The song was first recorded in 1926 as performed by John Collinson and Russell Callow.
Jimmie Rodgers had a US#41 pop hit with the song in 1959. On 14 April 1981, on Space Shuttle Columbia's first mission, country singer Slim Dusty's rendition was broadcast to Earth. ===Films=== Versions of the song have been used as the title of, or been prominently featured in, a number of films and television programs. Waltzing Matilda is a 1933 Australian film directed by and starring Pat Hanna.
Amongst Macpherson's belongings, found after her death in 1936, was an unopened letter to a music researcher that read "... one day I played (from ear) a tune, which I had heard played by a band at the Races in Warrnambool ... he [Paterson] then said he thought he could write some words to it.
According to some reports, the song was copyrighted by Carl Fischer Music in 1941 as an original composition.
The production toured subsequently again in several years. ===Derivative musical works=== During the 1950s, a parody of the original entitled "Once a Learned Doctor" gained some currency in university circles.
Sir Winston Churchill, KG from Harry Hastings Pearce, 19 February 1958.
Jimmie Rodgers had a US#41 pop hit with the song in 1959. On 14 April 1981, on Space Shuttle Columbia's first mission, country singer Slim Dusty's rendition was broadcast to Earth. ===Films=== Versions of the song have been used as the title of, or been prominently featured in, a number of films and television programs. Waltzing Matilda is a 1933 Australian film directed by and starring Pat Hanna.
The song was one of four included in a national plebiscite to choose Australia's national song held on 21 May 1977 by the Fraser Government to determine which song was preferred as Australia's national anthem.
Jimmie Rodgers had a US#41 pop hit with the song in 1959. On 14 April 1981, on Space Shuttle Columbia's first mission, country singer Slim Dusty's rendition was broadcast to Earth. ===Films=== Versions of the song have been used as the title of, or been prominently featured in, a number of films and television programs. Waltzing Matilda is a 1933 Australian film directed by and starring Pat Hanna.
It is also performed, along with "Advance Australia Fair", at the annual AFL Grand Final. Matilda the Kangaroo was the mascot at the 1982 Commonwealth Games held in Brisbane, Queensland.
Partly also used in the British Royal Tank Regiment's slow march of "Royal Tank Regiment", because an early British tank model was called "Matilda". ==Covers and derivative works== In 1995, it was reported that at least 500 artists in Australia and overseas had released recordings of "Waltzing Matilda", and according to Peter Burgis of the National Film and Sound Archive, it is "one of the most recorded songs in the world".
A third variation on the song, with a slightly different chorus, was published in 1907. Although no copyright applied to the song in Australia and many other countries, the Australian Olympic organisers had to pay royalties to an American publisher, Carl Fischer Music, following the song being played at the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta.
In 2008, this recording of "Waltzing Matilda" was added to the Sounds of Australia registry in the National Film and Sound Archive, which says that there are more recordings of "Waltzing Matilda" than any other Australian song. ==History== ===Writing of the song=== The Australian poet Banjo Paterson wrote the words to "Waltzing Matilda" in August 1895 while staying at Dagworth Station, a sheep and cattle station near Winton in Central West Queensland owned by the Macpherson family.
The first verse of "The Bold Fusilier" is:A bold fusilier came marching back through RochesterOff from the wars in the north country,And he sang as he marchedThrough the crowded streets of Rochester,Who'll be a soldier for Marlboro and me? In 2008, Australian amateur historian Peter Forrest claimed that the widespread belief that Paterson had penned the ballad as a socialist anthem, inspired by the Great Shearers' Strike, was false and a "misappropriation" by political groups.
It was released as a single on 3 August 2012. ===Stage=== On the occasion of Queensland's 150-year celebrations in 2009, Opera Queensland produced the revue Waltzing Our Matilda, staged at the Conservatorium Theatre and subsequently touring twelve regional centres in Queensland.
The occasion was a banquet for the Premier of Queensland. In February 2010, ABC News reported an investigation by barrister Trevor Monti that the death of Hoffmeister was more akin to a gangland assassination than to suicide.
In 2012, to remind Australians of the song's significance, Winton organised the inaugural Waltzing Matilda Day to be held on 6 April, the anniversary of its first performance. The song was first recorded in 1926 as performed by John Collinson and Russell Callow.
Jessica Mauboy and Stan Walker recorded a version of "Waltzing Matilda" to promote the 2012 Summer Olympics in Australia.
It was released as a single on 3 August 2012. ===Stage=== On the occasion of Queensland's 150-year celebrations in 2009, Opera Queensland produced the revue Waltzing Our Matilda, staged at the Conservatorium Theatre and subsequently touring twelve regional centres in Queensland.
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