Billy tea

"And he sang as he watched 
And waited till his billy boiled
You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me"
Banjo Patterson

Where does the word "Billy" come from?
How did this term come into being?
Originally derived from the French word
"Bouilli" pronounced "boo-illi"
After a brand of imported tinned beef soup
This was a staple food item consumed
By Aussie diggers
During the historic gold rush days
They would attach a wire handle
To the empty tins and use them
To boil water for their tea

"And he sang as he looked at the old
Billy boiling...
Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me?"
Banjo Patterson

The original version of Banjo Patterson's
"Waltzing Matilda" was later adapted and used
As an advertising jingle by the Billy Tea Company
Back in the 1903

As history unfolded it was the Billy Tea version
That made the ditty famous...
Banjo wrote this acclaimed poem
At the Dagworth Homestead
A bush station in QLD in 1895
A few years after 
The Billy Tea Company was established...

www.the famousbillytea.com