I did some research in an obscure section of the Temple Hall library, and discovered the original draft of "Waltzing Matilda".
As follows:
Once a jolly swagman sat by a Filthy pool
Under the shade of a corrupted tree.
And he sang as watched and waited till his cookie baked
You'll come a waltzing matilda with me.
Chorus:
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
You'll come a waltzing matilda with me.
And he sang as he watched and waited till his cookie baked,
You'll come a waltzing matilda with me.
Down came a jumbuck to drink at the Filthy pool
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee.
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag
You'll come a waltzing matilda with me.
(Chorus)
Down came 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 matilda with me.
(Chorus)
Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the Filthy pool.
"You'll never catch me alive," said he.
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that Filthy pool.
"You'll come a waltzing matilda with me."
I went and talked with Gladstone, as there were sketches along with the draft. We have discovered that the translations that modern Australians usually give for the assorted 'Australian-isms' in this song are incorrect.
For instance, it's obvious that 'billabong' as per the usual, better known song, does not mean 'crescent lake' - somewhere, the term replaced the 'filth pool' in the song. Gladstone and I think this must have been at the same time as when the Billy Tea company modified the song (the origin of 'his billy boiled' rather than the cookie baking). The company must also have changed the corrupted tree to a 'coolibah' tree.
Even Gladstone did not recognise the creature sketch for the 'jumbuck', but we both agree that such a creature cannot possibly be a male sheep - neutered or otherwise - as Australians claim.
A tucker bag is claimed to be a food bag, by Australians. If the swagman considered the jumbuck to be food: well. 'Itinerant worker' is the nominal translation for 'swagman', but obviously the swagman is filth-infected at best.
The squatter - a person farming a plot of land but without official sanction for owning it - comes down to claim ownership of the jumbuck. The sketches of the troopers have a distinctive and quite familiar logo: they're Orochi. Yes, the time precedes when Orochi is a well-known and familiar company, but knowing what we do about the origins of the company, this can be easily reconciled.
So the squatter's ownership of the 'jumbuck' creature is being reinforced by Orochi troopers, presumably he is farming it for them.
As for the swagman's apparent suicide, a filth-infected cre- er, former person - jumping into a Filth pool isn't going to cause that much more harm. It's probably just turned him into one of the forms of filth creature that's restricted to a particular pool; which explains the final couplet.
Neither Gladstone nor I could come up with a precise meaning for 'waltzing matilda'. Australians claim that the 'matilda' is the swagman's swag, or travel pack; and that to 'waltz matilda' is to carry one's pack.
My current hypothesis is that 'matilda' is indeed a burden - the burden of carrying Filth. And that waltzing matilda is carrying the filth.
Gladstone disagrees, he thinks it's too literal, and his own hypothesis is much more metaphysical and involves words I can neither spell nor pronounce. If you're curious, I recommend popping in to Temple Hall and discussing it with him in person.
