Once a jolly swagman sat beside the billabong,
Under the shade of a coulibah tree,
And he sang as he sat and waited till his billy boiled:
Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me

Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda
Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me
And he sang as he sat and waited by the billabong
Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me.

Down came a jumbuck to drink beside the billabong
Up jumped the swagman and seized him with glee
And he sang as he tucked the jumbuck in his tuckerbag
You'll come a waltzing matilda with me

Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda
You'll come a waltzing matilda with me
And he sang as he tucked the jumbuck in his tuckerbag
You'll come a waltzing matilda with me.

Down came the stockman, riding on his thoroughbred,
Down came the troopers, one, two, three.
"Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tuckerbag?
You'll come a waltzing matilda with me

Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda
You'll come a waltzing matilda with me
Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tuckerbag?
You'll come a waltzing matilda with me.

Up jumped the swagman and plunged into the billabong,
"You'll never catch me alive," cried he
And his ghost may be heard as you ride beside the billabong,
Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me

Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda
Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me
And his ghost may be heard as you ride beside the billabong,
Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me.

In practically any forum, you'll find that there are things expected of the poster. The first thing to contend with are the "Rules", or "Guidelines", which are put in place by the Owner or Moderator of the Forum.

In addition to the "Rules" and "Guidelines", there are also a set of Do's and Dont's" (which are sometimes referred to as "Rules of Ettiquette"). These "Rules" are really not so much rules, but rather a set of suggestions to help your stay in the Forum more enjoyable.

One should be forewarned, before trying to do an internet search or opening a discussion about Forum Ettiquette, that there are many articles out there on Forum or Netettiquette -- However, in practice each forum has it's own set of "Do's and Dont's" which they follow.

When posting your Surname to the Mail List, you may post them in the Subject Line of your message in UPPER or Mixed Case Letters... However, it is highly advisable to post your Surnames in all Capital Letters so that they stand out and get noticed. Be sure to include ONLY those surnames that actually appear in the message you are posting to the Mail List.

When posting an article or discussion to the Mail List, please post the Subject in the Subject Line in Mixed Case Letters. Try to Reserve ALL CAPS for Surnames. Also when choosing information for the Subject Line, please try to be short and to the point... pick something which describes the information provided in the Message.

When posting a response to a message, attempt to edit the Subject line to show ONLY those surnames included in your response. It is no big deal if you don't, however it may make things easier on you in the long run. :)

When Posting a Response to any article or discussion, try to make it a point to see if your replies alter the Subject of the discussion and alter the Subject Line, if necessary. Sometimes, due to Thread History or Content of the Reply, a Subject Line as chosen by the Original Poster doesn't apply anymore.

Name Query Posts are used for two things. The First is for you to find out information about the people you are interested. The second is they often act as a submittal to Roll Call.

For initial postings, one should post the Names of who they are searching, any dates and places for Births, Baptisms or Christenings, Marriages, Deaths. Also who they married, the parents of the Subject you are researching, any known siblings, and children are good to post on the initial query. Another item which can be of real help is any WEB Sites which directly concern the person or family you are searching for. In this way the interested parties can go to the WEB Site and read all about it. :) Information about the Spouse's people can be included in the message or put aside for a separate query. However, the longer your post is, the more people tune out, plus some Mail Lists have a maximum size for posts. So you want to refrain from writing books. :)

The person's Religon, Military Experience, and Occupations can be helpful.. but often that is information which can be sent in follow up letters. So if you forget to add this information, you can always post it if someone responds to your query.

Sometimes no Quoting is necessary for Name Queries, other than what is shown in the Subject Line. You may feel more at ease by quoting the message header from the message you are replying to and maybe even a couple lines to show what you are discussing or questioning.

When posting a response to an article or discussion, the "rules" on quoting change. Most often you need to quote which points you are referring to and possibly enough data to show the differences between your stance and theirs. No one can really tell you up front how much or how little to quote in these cases for the situation alters the standards.

However one can get rid of the footer information which many mail lists. forums and some email programs add. They also can delete some of the header information as well. In addition, when a person sees a paragraph that is 45 lines long, surely they can figure out how to delete some of the unimportant information those lines most probably have in them. :)

Emoticons and Abbreviations are helpful in showing the intent of some of your comments. A :) or a :( can show you are pleased or displeased with something said. An LOL or ROFL can show the degree which you find a comment funny. Also a BTW can show you are making a passing observation.

In some forums, people seem to use as many Abbreviations and Emoticons as humanly possible, this can get confusing to other members of the forum for they have more important things to remember than hundreds of abbreviations and dozens of symbols. :) So it pays to try to keep things simple to avoid possible future problems.