You'll Come a-Waltzing Trivia Quiz

Answer:

In 1895, while he was staying at Dagworth Station, a cattle station in Central West Queensland, Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Paterson, one of Australia's most prolific and beloved authors, penned this poem. It was turned into a ballad by Marie Cowan and first published as sheet music in 1903.

About an itinerant traveller (going by foot was 'waltzing') who lived in the Australian outback with his swag (also called Maltilda, a swag was a bundle of belongings or a tent), this poem was based on a true story. The swaggie, who had camped by a pond (billabong) under a coolibah tree (a specific type of gum), sits down to boil a billy (kettle) over the fire to make himself a cuppa.

However, he gets himself into trouble by stealing the jumbuck (sheep) that happens to stray nearby, the property of a nearby landowner (squatter). The swaggie shoves the sheep into his tucker-bag (a bag used to carry provisions). The irate squatter brings the police (troopers) to reclaim the sheep. However, rather than being taken alive, the swagman decides to kill himself. In the true version of the story, he shoots himself, but in Paterson's version, he drowns himself in the billabong, where it is said that the ghost of the swaggie can be heard to this day.

Other famous poems by Banjo Paterson well worth a read are 'The Man from Ironbark', 'Clancy of the Overflow' and 'The Man from Snowy River' upon which the 1982 film of the same name was based. My Dad's favourites included 'Mulga Bill's Bicycle', 'A Bush Christening' and 'The Geebung Polo Club'.