A History Lesson

Swags were originally carried by swagmen, who were farm workers who walked from job to job in Australia during the 1800's. Swagmen carried their belongings in a bundle called a swag, which usually consisted of a bluey (a blue bush blanket) rolled up with spare clothing inside a tarpaulin or ground sheet. Swagmen carried a billy (can) and a tucker bag containing a frying pan and tucker (food). It was usual for swagmen to receive rations of food handed out by country police stations or homesteads. Partly because of this, some wandered continually without working. While the number of swagmen began to dwindle after the turn of the century, swags today are widely used in camping and outdoor recreation.

John Flavel is the Inventor of the Brook Swag. He recognized that modern people like to have some comforts when they go camping, so he developed the Brook Swag from the best materials available.

Trivia: "Waltzing Matilda"

The famous Australian song "Waltzing Matilda" is actually about a swagman and his travels. The song's lyrics are listed below. Click on any underlined word to see the definition.

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a coolibah tree
And he sang as he watched and waited
'til his billy boiled
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.
  
Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda [refrain]...

Down came a jumbuck 
To dri-ink at that billabong
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee
And he sang as he stuffed that jumbuck in his 
tucker-bag
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me

Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred
Up rode the troopers, one, two, three
"Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your 
tucker-bag?"
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me
Up jumped the swagman and sprang into that billabong
"You'll never take me alive!", said he
And his ghost may be heard as you pa-ass by that 
billabong
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.

- Banjo Patterson
circa 1890

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