waltzing Matilda: to waltz Matilda To carry a swag; to travel the road. A matilda is a swag, the roll or bundle of possessions carried by an itinerant worker or swagman.
The Great Shearer's Strike
During this strike, over 100 sheep were killed as the Dagworth Homestead woolshed was set on fire. It is believed that Paterson's popular song 'Waltzing Matilda' 'kept the cause for social justice in front of the public's mind', resulting in the public to rally behind the shearers.
The song describes war as futile and gruesome, while criticising those who seek to glorify it. This is exemplified in the song by the account of a young Australian serviceman who is maimed during the Gallipoli Campaign of the First World War.
'Banjo' Paterson poem 'Waltzing Matilda' which reads "Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me?". A musical version of the piece by Christina Macpherson is actually featured in the film. This picture about a boxing Australian kangaroo was not actually an Australian movie but was an entirely American production.
(“Banjo”) Paterson, “Waltzing Matilda,” is the unofficial national anthem of Australia known the world over. Paterson's “Waltzing Matilda” became Australia's best-known song—part folk hymn and part national anthem.
Despite it's status as the official national anthem, Waltzing Matilda (1895), a more uplifting tune with lyrics by Banjo Paterson telling the story of a criminal stealing a sheep, is still widely regarded as Australia's 'unofficial' national anthem. Advance Australia fair.
On 19 April 1984 the then Governor-General, the Rt Hon Sir Ninian M Stephen KG AK GCMG GCVO KBE, proclaimed the Australian National Anthem the tune of 'Advance Australia Fair' and the verses drafted by the National Australia Day Council. At the same time, 'God Save The Queen' was first proclaimed as the Royal Anthem.
Jumbuck is an Australian word for a 'sheep'. It is best known from Banjo Paterson's use of it in Waltzing Matilda.
A billy is a small metal can used for boiling water over an open fire. It's short for billycan. It almost always means to 'make tea' but if you are sitting around an open fire (camping for example) and someone says “I'll boil the billy” this can just mean “boil some water” for coffee, tea or washing up water.
Patterson wrote the words of the song "Waltzing Matilda": the melody by Marie Cowan can be heard at the very end of the movie.
billabong. An originally aboriginal word for a section of still water adjacent to a river, cut off by a change in the watercourse, cf. an oxbow lake. In the Australian outback, a billabong generally retains water longer than the watercourse itself, so it may be the only water for miles around. billy.
It was a mutual love affair for the guys who left their homes in the U.S. to fight with and for the Aussies. On George Washington's birthday, Feb. 22, 1943, the Marines marched a parade through Melbourne. During this parade, the 1st Marine Division Band decided to play the Australian folk favorite, Waltzing Matilda.
Billabong is a term that derives from the language of the Wiradjuri people in south western New South Wales, and describes a pond or pool of water that is left behind when a river alters course or after floodwaters recede3.
Waltzing Matilda has been labelled Australia's 'unofficial' national anthem. The song (originally a poem) was written by Australian poet, Banjo Paterson in the late 19th Century while he was staying at Dagworth Station, a cattle station near Winton in Central West Queensland.
Australian values based on freedom, respect, fairness and equality of opportunity are central to our community remaining a secure, prosperous and peaceful place to live. Our values define and shape our country and they are a reason why so many people want to become Australian citizens.
chiefly Australia. : drifter. especially : one who carries a swag when traveling.
5. Sheila = Girl. Yes, that is the Australian slang for girl.
The song narrates the story of an itinerant worker, or "swagman", making a drink of billy tea at a bush camp and capturing a stray jumbuck (sheep) to eat.
The billy is an Australian term for a metal container used for boiling water, making tea or cooking over a fire.
Bunyip Sculpture
It resembles a grazing animal, recalling a reconstruction of the extinct Diprotodon, a grazing marsupial that lived in Australia until about 10,000 years ago. Fossils of Diprotodon were sometimes interpreted as the remains of bunyips.
Legends of the Bunyip
A few experts have suggested that the Bunyip could be a Diprotodon (giant wombat), a bear-sized Australian marsupial which is believed to have gone extinct more than 30,000 years ago. The Diprotodon likely spent days wallowing in shallow billabongs.
kookaburra, also called laughing kookaburra or laughing jackass, (species Dacelo novaeguineae), eastern Australian bird of the kingfisher family (Alcedinidae), whose call sounds like fiendish laughter.
Overview. The laughing kookaburra is Australia's national symbol. The kookaburra is a brown-colored bird, about the size of a crow. The male is easily distinguished from the female by the blue hues on his wing feathers and darker blue on his tail feathers.
In 1901, Australia became a nation, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. One year later, Australia became one of the first countries in the world to give women the right to vote. In 1945, Australia became a founding member of the United Nations.
Written by Scottish-born composer Peter Dodds McCormick, the song was first performed as a patriotic song in Australia in 1878. It replaced "God Save the Queen" as the official national anthem in 1974, following a nationwide opinion survey, only for "God Save the Queen" to be reinstated in January 1976.