Christina Macpherson
Encyclopedia
Christina Rutherford Macpherson (1864-1936) is credited with having re-played a tune she'd heard circa 1895 which the Australian poet A.B. Patterson (Banjo Paterson
) then set to words.
Thus was Waltzing Matilda
written.
Banjo Paterson
Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, OBE was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the district around Binalong, New South Wales where he spent much of his childhood...
) then set to words.
'...& one day I played (from ear) a tune which I had heard played by band at the Races in Warrnambool, a Country town in the Western District of VictoriaVictoria (Australia)Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
. Mr Paterson asked what it was - I could not tell him, & he then said he thought he could write some lines to it. He then & there wrote the first verse.'
Thus was Waltzing Matilda
Waltzing Matilda
"Waltzing Matilda" is Australia's most widely known bush ballad. A country folk song, the song has been referred to as "the unofficial national anthem of Australia"....
written.
External links
- "Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?" site compiled by the National Library of Australia
- Papers of Christina Rutherford Macpherson