Just sometimes in life we come across quite
extraordinary people … whose lives we learn about … Robert Service (1874 –
1958) is one of those … he spent a few years in Cowichan Bay, Vancouver Island
in his early twenties … after leaving Scotland for new horizons …
 |
| c 1905 - aged 31 |
We learn that this imaginative, day-dreaming child was
already composing rhythmical verses at the age of 6 … appropriately a delightful
child-like grace:
God bless the
cakes and bless the jam;
Bless the
cheese and the cold boiled ham:
Bless the
scones Aunt Jeannie makes,
And saves us
all from bellyaches. Amen
 |
Plain boiled ham - this though
looks rather good |
Wonderful lives people lead … this six year old had
been sent to live with his grandfather, a general store postmaster, and three
maiden aunts in Kilwinning, Scotland – there were ten children, so perhaps
understandably some got ‘farmed out’ …
 |
Highland Dancer swirling kilt
in the 21st C |
… his mother, on her husband’s return from England,
came to visit to find her son happily dressed in a kilt with nothing underneath
… she took him back to Glasgow!
He was forever reading books, particularly poetry …
Burns, Shakespeare, Browning … on leaving school early he apprenticed with the
Bank of Scotland … where due to inactivity he developed his craft of writing and
“selling verses” …
 |
| Driving down towards Cowichan Bay |
… as you can imagine he got bored, wanted to travel
and at 21 in 1895, journeyed to Vancouver Island, where the family had
relatives; he dreamt of becoming a
Buffalo Bill type cowboy having read or seen the Wild West performances in
England and Europe.
 |
| Corfield Farm - c/o Cowichan Bay Museum Archives |
He explored up and down the west coast … just subsisting
… returning to the Island he took a job as a cowhand/store-keeper/ also tutor
to the farmer’s sons … once again experiencing life to the full … garnering
stories …
… it was an idyllic time … later he thought it was
time wasted … but to earn a bit more in 1903 he returned to bank work in the
capital Victoria … while continuing to write verses …
 |
Railway crossing the North Thomson
River, Kamloops |
… very soon the bank sent him to Kamloops (a new
railway transportation hub on the mainland) … from there he was sent to Whitehorse,
Yukon – a prospectors stop-over on the way to Dawson City to test their luck in the Gold Rush ...
Still working for the bank, but in a frontier town
where entertainment was always needed … Robert continued to write his verses or
doggerel … entertaining the wide range of characters chasing their fortune in
the frozen ranges.
 |
| Sailing north to the Yukon |
He was able to amass a collection of ballads, which he
sent, to his father, now living in Toronto, asking him to have them printed up
into a booklet, which he was going to give to friends in Whitehorse. He had covered the costs with a cheque …
The booklet true to its title was a self-starter … the
foreman and printer recited the ballads while they worked; a salesman read the
proofs and sold 1700 copies in advance orders … the publisher sent Robert’s
cheque back and offered him a ten percent royalty contract for the book.
‘Songs of a
Sourdough’ (sourdough – as is the bread starter stored in distinctive pouches by
the old miners; and/or as a term for an experienced miner) …
 |
| Paying with gold dust, Dawson City |
Robert’s life was set – he found he fairly easily was
able to draft his works … doggerel, ballads, novels, newspaper articles …
making sure they would appeal to the ear and reflect to the eye … he had found
his voice …
 |
His cabin in Dawson City - it is still there,
but tourists can only walk round |
Coarse rolls of lining paper were hung up … where he
copied out his verses using charcoal … refining them, pacing and repeating …
until the words flowed.
I could write lots more about this fascinating man –
who started life as a boy with no knickers under his kilt, who could write
verses without having visited Dawson City … he listened to the miners, parodied their tales …
 |
Films were made,
verses quoted etc |
He continued to live in the Yukon writing … but being
able to travel went to see other parts of the world … WW1 commenced and he
wanted to sign up – but due to varicose veins was rejected … he still wrote for
newspapers … after the War he settled in Paris, married but moved to the USA west coast during WW2 …
 |
They holidayed and lived in Brittany
- which is where he is buried |
They returned to France, with Robert living out his
days as a wealthy gentleman, who at night transformed himself into a tramp, and together
with his doorman, wandered the Parisian streets seeking inspiration …
 |
| A collection |
That is Robert Service who loved the Yukon, honed his ‘voice’,
wrote to entertain, whose words are forever embedded as wonderful ballads, doggerel
stanzas, whimsical tales of the frozen north … the small child who could praise
‘cold boiled ham’ …
Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories
