Arts in Australia and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. The early Anglo-Celtic immigrants of the 18th and 19th centuries introduced folk ballad traditions which were adapted to Australian themes: "Bound for Botany Bay" tells of the voyage of British convicts to Sydney, "The Wild Colonial Boy" evokes the spirit of the bushrangers, and "Click Go the Shears" speaks of the life of Australian shearers. The lyrics of Australia's best-known folk song, "Waltzing Matilda", were written by the bush poet Banjo Paterson in 1895. Adopted by Australian soldiers during World War I, this song remains popular and is often
Waltzing Matilda waltzing Matilda with me. Up came the squatter a-riding his thoroughbred, Up rose the troopers—one, two, a and three. "Whose the jolly jumbuck you've got in the tucker-bag? You'll come a waltzing Matilda with we." Up sprang the swagman and jumped in the waterhole, Drowning himself by the Coolibah tree. And his voice can be heard as it sings in the billabongs, Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me. ("Chorus")</poem> By contrast with the original, and also with subsequent versions, the chorus of all the verses was the same in this version. This is also apparently the only version that