Matildan.
/məˈtɪldə/, U.S. /məˈtɪldə/, Australian English /məˈtɪldə/ Australian slang.
= swag n.1 10. to walk (also waltz) Matilda: to carry a swag, to travel the road.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > a journey > [noun] > luggage > travelling bag
cloak-bagc1540
mallet1612
Peter1667
sac de nuit1814
carpet-bag1830
roll-up1831
pikau1836
travelling bag1838
swag1853
suit bag1869
bluey1878
Matilda1889
shiralee1892
port1898
handgrip1915
sea-bag1918
blanket pack1920
weekender1929
valpack1934
weekend bag1946
swag bag1951
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel from place to place > [verb (intransitive)] > with no fixed aim or wander > as a vagabond or tramp > carrying belongings
to swag it1861
to hump (one's, the) bluey1878
to walk (also waltz) Matilda1889
1889 Centennial Mag. (Austral.) Nov. 286/2 The coarse blue blankets are shaken and folded..neatly arranged in a long slim bundle that is slung across the back... This is what the bushman in his queer cynical dialect calls ‘Bluey’, ‘Matilda’, and half-a-dozen other more or less ambiguous names.
1890 Centennial Mag. (Austral.) June 850/2 There was no road they did not know, and ‘humping bluey’, ‘waltzing matilda’—Anglicé, carrying their swags—or riding they traversed year in and out countless miles of solitary and inhospitable country.
1893 Bulletin (Sydney) 18 Nov. 20/3 No bushman thinks of ‘going on a wallaby’ or ‘walking Matilda’..he goes on the track.
1895 A. Paterson Singer of Bush (1983) 254 Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda, my darling, Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.
1916 J. B. Cooper Coo-oo-ee i. 3 Somehow things appear different to a man on a coach to a swaggie padding the hoof along the same road with ‘Matilda’ slung from his shoulders.
1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 27 Sept. 20/4 Waltzing Matilda in the waybacks of S.A. I came upon a well-found homestead.
1986 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 14 June (Weekend Suppl.) 8/1 I've just waltzed my matilda round the world, doing what I enjoy doing.
Compounds
Objective, as Matilda-bearer, Matilda waltzer, etc.
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1910 Bulletin (Sydney) 26 May 15/2 The average Matilda-hawker, if he happens on a ‘stiff’ mate, rushes into the nearest town with the news.
1927 Smith's Weekly (Sydney) 30 Apr. 19/7 Hence the hearty welcome to any Matilda bearer who..succeeds in passing the deep crossing.
1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 3 May 20/2 Matilda-waltzers with one black (or brown) shoe or boot are an everyday sight.
1939 Bulletin (Sydney) 28 June 20/3 Your modern Matilda-lumper doesn't fool around on a wet day with damp chips.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1889