[Aussie Mike]

Nope, that's an urban legend. It's actually a very political song from the time.

It talks about the way the shearers were treated by the government and land owners back in 1894. The land owners via the pastoralists association were trying to lower the award rates of pay for shearers and shed hands. They were also trying to introduce a law that if they didn't perform as directed by the land owners they could be brought up on criminal charges. The land owners were trying to keep profits up in a time of droughts and droping export wool prices. There had been some strikes in earlier years and I think the land owners were trying to collectively flex some muscle. The unions took action and there was a strike that escalated into some serious civil unrest. The govenment jumped in an apointed "special constables" who were rather over zealous in their duties.

Banjo Paterson lived through it and wrote Waltzing Matilda as a protest song. I guess it's a metaphor much like many of Dylans songs in the 60's.

I think this is pretty much the gyst of it. I enjoyed watching an interesting doccumentary a while back on the origins of the song and the events of the time.

Cheers