Waltzing Mathilda

Once a jolly swagman camped beside a billabong

 

Under the shade of a coolabah tree,

 

And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled,

 

"You'll come a-waltzing Mathilda with me!"

Chorus:

Waltzing Mathilda, Waltzing Mathilda,

 

You'll come a-waltzing Mathilda with me.

 

And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled.

(The chorus uses the third line of each verse)

 

"You'll come a-waltzing Mathilda with me!"

 

 

Down came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong,

Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee,

And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag,

"You'll come a-waltzing Mathilda with me!"

 

Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred,

Down came the troopers, one, two three:

"Where's that jolly jumbuck

You've got in your tucker bag?"

"You'll come a-waltzing Mathilda with me!"

 

Up jumped the swagman, sprang into the billabong.

"You'll never catch me alive", said he.

And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,

"You'll come a-waltzing Mathilda with me!"

 

*The original lyrics were written in 1895 by poet and nationalist Banjo Paterson. It was first published as sheet

music in 1903 – en.wikipedia.org.