[pct-l] FW: Waltzing Mathilda- PhD Bob

[metam01 at earthlink.net (Monty Tam)]

metam01@earthlink.net


 
 From: Monty Tam 
 To: Robert Ellinwood (Dr. Bob)
 
 Subject:  Waltzing Mathilda


 Dr Bob Knew

 I knew that you knew 
 and  what no one else knows 
 all that you know 
 and nobody knew 
 that you know what you knew.  
 This is new news. 
 I'd like to let them all know.  
 And forward this news. 
 Let me know yes or no.

WS Monty©2005

Sorry Dr Bob...I couldn't help it.


> > From: Robert Ellinwood <rellinwood@worldnet.att.net>
> > To: <metam01@earthlink.net>; <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>

> > Monte,
> >
> > Shhh!   Don't bring our musicological discourses into public view!  I
was
> > hiding under a rock, deleting references to Waltzing Mathilda as fast
as I
> > could, hoping I wouldn't hear from you on this one.
> >
> > As with many authentic "folk" songs there are different versions
floating
> > around.  I believe there are over 40 versions of the folk song, Barbara
> > Allen, for example.  A simple check on the Internet shows that several
> > understandings of the text are out there. However, I think Andrew Witham
> > posted the most widely held, traditional understanding of the text.  I
think
> > you have to have roots in Australia to really understand Waltzing
Mathilda,
> > so in looking at a site at an Australian University
> > (www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/WM/WMTerms.html), one finds the
> > following definitions.  (Monte, you'll be sorry you asked!)
> >
> > Dr Bob   (let's get back to the PCT!)
> >
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > -------------------
> > billabong
> > An originally aboriginal word for a section of still water adjacent to a
> > river, cut off by a change in the watercourse, cf. an oxbow lake. In the
> > Australian outback, a billabong generally retains water longer than the
> > watercourse itself, so it may be the only water for miles around.
> >
> > billy
> > A tin can, maybe two litres (four pints) in capacity, usually with a
wire
> > handle attached to the top rim, in which 'swaggies' (and contemporary
> > Australian campers) boil water to make tea (and to kill the beasties in
the
> > water they've taken out of the billabong).
> >
> > swagman
> > A gentleman of the road, an itinerant roaming country roads, a drifter,
a
> > tramp, a hobo. Carried his few belongings slung in a cloth, which was
called
> > by a wide variety of names, including 'swag', 'shiralee' and 'bluey'.
Given
> > the large number of names for them, they must have been a pretty common
> > sight.
> >
> > tucker-bag
> > A bag to keep tucker in. Tucker is grub, victuals/vittles, or food.
> >
> > waltzing matilda
> > Matilda was a mock-romantic word for a swag, and to waltz matilda was
to hit
> > the road with a swag on your back. Very few non-Australians seem to
> > understand this, and hence regard the song as gibberish or cute,
something
> > like 'Jabberwocky' set to music. "'Twas brillig and the slithy toves
..."
> > indeed.
> >
> > The term is thought to come from a German expression. Auf die Walz gehen
> > means to take to the road (as of apprentices in the Middle Ages, who
were
> > required by their Master to visit other Masters and report back, before
they
> > could secure their release. In some trades, at least in some parts of
> > Germany and I believe Denmark, they still do). The dance, anglicised as
> > 'waltz', came several centuries later). Matilda is a girl's name,
applied to
> > one's bed-roll. As a correspondent points out, this is a bit of a
come-down
> > for a name that originated as the Teutonic Mathilde - 'Mighty in
Battle'.
> >
> > So the poem (doggerel? folk song?) can be interpreted as yet another
Aussie
> > complaint about them in authority. We're one of the most urbanised
nations
> > in the world, who sort-of yearn for the wide open spaces (there's so
much of
> > it out there!), and the freedom that goes with it (or at least seems to
go
> > with it, to those that don't live there). So Waltzing Matilda strikes a
> > chord (so to speak), generation after generation, for the same reason
that
> > Crocodile Dundee was as popular here as anywhere else - we know we're
not
> > like that; but it's fun pretending for a while that we are.
> >
> > Note: These are my own explanations and interpretations, checked
against the
> > Macquarie Dictionary; except for the origins of the term to 'waltz
matilda',
> > which, like most Australians, I didn't know until I looked it up.
> >
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-
> > > bounces@mailman.backcountry.net] On Behalf Of Monty Tam
> > > Sent: Friday, November 04, 2005 2:34 AM
> > > To: Lonetrail@aol.com; awitham@postnetburney.net;
> > pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
> > > Subject: RE: [pct-l] Clarification once twice sold
> > > 
> > > Doctor Bob Where Are You!!!
> > > 
> > > I'd like to hear from Dr. Bob on this subject!!  Our own Dr. Bob thru
> > hiker
> > > is a recently retired music professor (PhD therefore DR. Bob.)
> > > Myself a Songwriter/entertainer leaning toward folk and sometimes
billed
> > as
> > > performing contraversial childrens music.
> > > 
> > > I asked Dr bob a question about "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and its
> > > origin while we were re-caching Gate #3.
> > > We discussed it for more than an hour, and more every time our paths
> > > crossed on the trail this year.
> > > In all my years in music I have never met a person more knowledgable
and
> > > clear on so many types of music.
> > > 
> > > Hey Dr. Bob!!  Waltzing Matilda!!!
> >
> >