Song View

The poem "Waltzing Matilda," written by A. B. Paterson in 1895, was set to music by Christina McPherson in 1900 and published on December 20, 1902, in an arrangement by Harry A. Nathan by W. H. Paling & Co. in Sydney. A copyright notice for this publication is dated February 27, 1903. Christina McPherson's claim that she heard the Scottish song "Thou Bonny Wood of Craigie Lee" (or its march version, "Craigielee March") at a horse race in Warrnambool in 1894, played it herself in 1895, and then composed the song based on it, can be relegated to the realm of legend. The two pieces bear no resemblance whatsoever. The story likely stems from memory lapses and confusion on Christina McPherson's part, but it persists stubbornly in the relevant sources.