G'day,

Jeanie: Thanks for that reference - I have seen and heard the song Mrs Swaggy Joe that is alluded to in the start of the article. It was refered to me on a research request a decade or so back - It is a fabrication, largely from back-formation on the ecxpression and a limited understanding of the various meanings of "waltz".

The Harry Pearce conjecture I have read - and I think he has much of the origins of the expression right - but was wrong in theory of the composition of the song Waltzing Matida ... but he did not have access to the personal papers of the MacPherson family - and holograph copies of the tune and song handed out to Christina MacPherson's friends.

Mudguard: Thans for the correction of the der/die ... I was struggling with the German dictionary and must have got gender/number muddled. I was the only student at my high school to elect to study German ... so Herr Boder was stuck with looking after the library for the next four years - and I studied French and Latin! (A great pity, as German would have actually been useful in later years!)

Joe Ofer: Thanks for the Thread name change - it makes much more sense - and get many more erudite 'Catters involved. Thanks also for the links - but I have saved them to my 'C' drive and will have to plough through them with German dictionary in left hand!

I had best get back to the article on the National Library of Australia's new (pilot) Music Australia site, which will allow surfers to see and hear many of our seminal music pieces, along with their history ... and I'm (obviously) dealing with Waltzing Matilda as an example. I'll be back when the Mulga Wire looks a little more complete!

Regards to all,

Bob Bolton