The Creation of this Website

This site is dedicated to the true story behind the writing of 'Waltzing Matilda' and the song's creators, Andrew (Banjo) Paterson and Christina Macpherson.

'As a performer of Australian Folk Songs for so many years, I thought it would be good to know exactly what the lyrics of our national folk song ‘Waltzing Matilda' actually meant.' This document is the result of some 20 years research disceminating those lyrics and represents the most comprehensive academic referenced work on ‘Waltzing Matilda' ever produced.

Dennis O'Keeffe is one of the country's leading performers of our unique Australian traditional songs, has written countless songs on various Australian stories and is an acclaimed song-writing tutor.

Since 1994, Dennis has performed numerous concerts and workshops relating the history and importance of 'Waltzing Matilda'. By many he is considered the nation's leading authority on the origins of the song. His publication ‘The Creation of Waltzing Matilda" is the culmination of almost 20 years of research on the origins of the song and the related shearers' strike of 1894.

Armed with the knowledge within ‘The Creation of Waltzing Matilda', I believe ‘Waltzing Matilda' ranks alongside all of the great folk-songs throughout the world.