Editing Ballad (section)

===Bush ballads===
{{Main article|Bush ballad}}
[[File:The Old Bush Songs by Banio Paterson.jpg|thumb|Cover to [[Banjo Paterson]]'s seminal 1905 collection of bush ballads, entitled ''The Old Bush Songs'']]
The ballad was taken to Australia by early settlers from Great Britain and Ireland and gained particular foothold in the rural [[outback]]. The rhyming songs, [[poems]] and tales written in the form of ballads often relate to the itinerant and rebellious spirit of Australia in [[The Bush]], and the authors and performers are often referred to as bush bards.<ref name="abc.net.au">[[Kerry O'Brien (journalist)|Kerry O'Brien]] December 10, 2003 7:30 Report, [http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2003/s1007523.htm abc.net.au] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110082829/http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2003/s1007523.htm |date=2010-01-10 }}</ref> The 19th century was the golden age of bush ballads. Several collectors have catalogued the songs including [[John Meredith (folklorist)|John Meredith]] whose recording in the 1950s became the basis of the collection in the [[National Library of Australia]].<ref name="abc.net.au"/> The songs tell personal stories of life in the wide open country of Australia. Typical subjects include mining, raising and droving cattle, [[sheep shearing]], wanderings, war stories, the [[1891 Australian shearers' strike]], class conflicts between the landless working class and the [[Squatting (pastoral)|squatters]] (landowners), and [[outlaw]]s such as [[Ned Kelly]], as well as love interests and more modern fare such as [[Truck driver|trucking]].<ref>G. Smith, ''Singing Australian: A History of Folk and Country Music'' (Pluto Press Australia, 2005), p. 2.</ref> The most famous bush ballad is "[[Waltzing Matilda]]", which has been called "the unofficial national anthem of Australia".<ref>{{cite web |title=Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me? |url=http://www.nla.gov.au/epubs/waltzingmatilda/ |website=National Library of Australia |access-date=15 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030602190448/http://www.nla.gov.au/epubs/waltzingmatilda/index.html |archive-date=2 June 2003 |url-status=dead}}{{cbignore}}</ref>