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 …
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuAO0SJ9liSANJHW-HIu0qa7-GMwQJFxCmbQztITcrmK58Gchyphenhyphen4-nyRbbExfwgHPEd08tl716hlNYU8stVFE3hlfSBk35tu9g36kgkwRFEpvOOyyvdp5zl1S1_s2WINDs9JfALOqMZT-VY/s320/12+Robert+W+Service.jpg) |
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
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFfz1SJvQe1HpXZ77A_h_Z4YYXyrTLDd0oph0VzxEAJvK76dF7-sBrIJ7liodIZR9Y9j7XluZC7WgEOwvBqUVpSYJdS3wkJ19y0D7sJaBEQmP6NDZb4mSarsaRuylvU1WazdHEAvMUsS9j/s1600/12+Cold+Ham+slice.jpg) |
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’ …
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMywZ0QtQwP0vH8wIIOY6BbXBvwy5eSW5DEicFAUXi7wNkgWD5EaaqPbq5uQ2sl6DhxeDHBatILqif6FXHuB58QcHXNd0X0cUDMzalgPetYN2nLMwUjR2Y_MQ48bs4zkHRON2R3o6cIJWU/s1600/12+Highland+Dancer.JPG) |
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” …
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Z6y6_lMeNp4KBxcqiHGfXJanPdftf9ztsywMnRBtx2ZmPKN8oG_LH-QILRtC0vVgSyLG4gQK89E0ueZAR6dbBVcbi5JlZMSyXXAHtxDdf3NU2SjPGdXTtcw2y4tAcEbmflINlkPmRcFS/s320/12+CowBay.jpg) |
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.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtFptx8ORWZCORxtLjzcpb6Mea6eWUkRUA8piA8bOy7Fe2sluTO894xYBIn9lG8o7u6EU7zCUhZMU2-LZItCEghS_pCSTi5vhT3pldM6ucWoz_F-ntw-r3lzYGrMpL1S7sqtAaG3_oj_GT/s320/12+Corfield+Farm+store+courtesy+Cowichan+Valley+Museum+Archives.JPG) |
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 …
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgMSpyp8lTWiNv9b9dO4dxt-FeyS0hwR891eb1ltA2TPOnva6jUzyClQ6mub5piBF7EOQ-tvb9Ti0gmjFl2FVXUdVVrE3dcx2fcmr9y1Ug2WLlsRGQhEKOkBNg-aXeFbDXRHM3U5vRVzYh/s1600/12+North+Thompson+River%252C+Kamloops.jpg) |
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.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4D2fuq9lRhqnxO248L3sI_OHD1cJHtt5CU7jhBMX23fWL0Ok8XxdNpTeK5ARyegQCadvubtDyZdH4QxJSzP71Y9J4yoJP9LVfeuVqmWvpt03fBFx_l5eCurMYAgOG6RJLMdqD6AfwMK2/s1600/12+Klondikers+on+Yukon+River+sailing+towards+Dawson+1898.jpg) |
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) …
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRwOR-DoSHoAa3iLzB38CI618g65u3EiaEfQSWXpDY48HIe-SJWKmj_ym58r8rDabO1YIwV2XDOWDiodl5v0M4Ddyf-fs5oY_KyYAz0saKJWdBjgQbFSbLQb1D8i9PR8PvBYLX9wTeYl5a/s1600/12+Paying+with+gold+dust%252C+Dawson+1899.jpg) |
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 …
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUjaR4AeTxxvnEtrhgQyZYTBz1hN4LACPEVOrvdiEFv2sGl-K_bCzp8ZRViy88nofwVYYrqTiDmSrkcrnDo53cwK91ctXZFSUCH5OB_vylGNjRFKtYKIJ-B2lAkiNSCXH5x1_9zW3YHtw2/s1600/12+Robert+Service%2527s+cabin+in+Dawson.JPG) |
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 …
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEebO0EWNP-ToquEbXePOv6Veq5e49LR-cqEtp2x4HVM4tqOudSPbHs-U9HPAOPxRF_YZWQr_nwqo0JW4ImMgYY2fZTxKpyQs8mI6cR9Va-7zA9qtSCpEV4SZGaYufqJ3_VHm-qsoJUObg/s200/12+Murder+Most+Foul+Film+Poster.jpeg) |
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 …
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1chyphenhyphenGDO8UXJTv8i2_324EIey-F9cDyaMYnILDPpMuyXL9b_WqMNdWR3eqwp8E7faQyvPIhaevCY7uXnJ4pbOwTcxvGLiFStRaKQG5EI2sPquJbsfBjdGR27KsXZEZKVcGY3oLaUR8u6F7/s200/12+Perros-Guirec.jpg) |
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 …
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJzqGg5yW56XDU-flZ6Zc6iw_zTvWDYxoqVue-daIj0PahxavCXH3IplNBHxfvcDPxE1jeTwP2ifvbjma5eBBD3S1-W8WDsiDtOeTY8X9eFRz87jhlBXt58o7ytROiPF48Xf9Z7334piKt/s320/12+Robert%2527s+book.jpg) |
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