![]() 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 then said he thought he could write some words to it. Although not remaining in close contact, Paterson and Christina Macpherson had different recollections of where the song was first composed- Christina said it was composed "in Winton" while Paterson said it was at "Dick's Creek" on the road to Winton. Here they would probably have passed the Combo Waterhole, where Macpherson is purported to have told this story to Paterson. 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.īob Macpherson (the brother of Christina) and Paterson are said to have taken rides together at Dagworth. The owner of Dagworth Station and three policemen gave chase to a man named Samuel Hoffmeister, an immigrant said to have been born in Batavia also known as "Frenchy". The situation turned violent with the striking shearers firing their rifles and pistols in the air and setting fire to the woolshed at Dagworth, killing dozens of sheep. In September 1894, some shearers at Dagworth Station were again on strike. 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. It has been widely accepted that "Waltzing Matilda" is probably based on the following story: The three troopers at left are thought to be those referred to in "Waltzing Matilda", while the squatter was Bob Macpherson, fourth from right. įortified temporary shearing shed at Dagworth Station following the 1894 arson of the main shed. In the early 1890s it was arranged as "The Craigielee" march music for brass band by Australian composer Thomas Bulch. 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". He produced the original version during the rest of his stay at the station and in Winton. Paterson decided that the music would be a good piece to set lyrics. Macpherson had heard the tune, "The Craigielee March", played by a military band while attending Warrnambool steeplechase horse racing in Victoria in April 1894, and played it back by ear at Dagworth. 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. 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. Ĭombo Waterhole, thought to be the location of the story that inspired "Waltzing Matilda" 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. The song was first recorded in 1926 as performed by John Collinson and Russell Callow. 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. ![]() Extensive folklore surrounds the song and the process of its creation, to the extent that it has its own museum, the Waltzing Matilda Centre in Winton, in the Queensland outback, where Paterson wrote the lyrics. ![]() The original lyrics were written in 1895 by Australian poet Banjo Paterson, and were first published as sheet music in 1903. When the jumbuck's owner, a squatter ( grazier), 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 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 title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing) with one's belongings in a "matilda" ( swag) slung over one's back. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem". " Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. Original manuscript, transcribed by Christina Macpherson, c.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |