Bill D,
Your comments are spot on. I don't reckon there's much doubt that "Frenchie" Hoffmeister's suicide (by gun) on 2 September 1894 was Banjo's inspiration. Note that Banjo's words were "camped IN the billabong". More on this later.

Note that the CD referred to by Phideaux is the one I just referred to by Dennis O'Keeffe and is definitely worth having.

The link provided by Joe and Phideaux is well worth a visit.

BTW it's because of Waltzing Matilda that I started signing on here as Alan of Australia. See the "Folk songs to ditch" thread of a few months ago.

Cheers,
Alan