Banjo Paterson Travelling with fiancée, Sarah Riley, they met with her old school friend, Christina Macpherson, who had recently attended a race at Warrnambool in Victoria. She had heard a band playing a tune there, which became stuck in her head and replayed it for Paterson on the autoharp. The melody also resonated with him and propelled him to write "Waltzing Matilda" While there has been much debate about what inspired the words, the song became one of his most his widely known and sung ballads. In addition, he wrote the lyrics for songs with piano scores, such as "The Daylight is
Banjo Paterson of the relief of Kimberley, surrender of Bloemfontein (the first correspondent to ride in) and the capture of Pretoria attracted the attention of the press in Britain. He also was a correspondent during the Boxer Rebellion, where he met George "Chinese" Morrison and later wrote about his meeting. He was editor of the "Sydney Evening News" (1904–06) and of the "Town and Country Journal" (1907–08). In 1908 after a trip to the United Kingdom he decided to abandon journalism and writing and moved with his family to a property near Yass. In World War I, Paterson failed to become a