Robert W. Service

Robert William Service (January 16, 1874 – September 11, 1958) was a poet and writer. He is most well known for his writings on the Canadian North, including the poems "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and "The Cremation of Sam McGee". Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (445x640, 30 KB) Poet and author Robert W. Service Copyright has expired in canada according to source. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (445x640, 30 KB) Poet and author Robert W. Service Copyright has expired in canada according to source. ... is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1874 (MDCCCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link with display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 254th day of the year (255th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jan. ... The Cremation of Sam McGee is the most famous of Robert W. Services poems. ...

Early life

Service was born into a Scottish family while they were living in Preston, England. He was schooled in Scotland, attending Hillhead High School in Glasgow. He moved to Canada at the age of 21 when he gave up his job working in a Glasgow bank and traveled to Vancouver Island, British Columbia with his Buffalo Bill outfit and dreams of becoming a cowboy. Hired by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, he was posted to the bank's branch in Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory. Inspired by the vast beauty of the Yukon wilderness, Service started writing his poetry about the things he saw. This article is about the country. ... This article is about Preston, Lancashire. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Hillhead High School is a day school located in Glasgow, Scotland, on Oakfield Avenue, neighbouring the University of Glasgow. ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ... Vancouver Island is separated from mainland British Columbia by the Strait of Georgia and the Queen Charlotte Strait, and from Washington by the Juan De Fuca Strait. ... Motto: Splendor sine occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Official languages English (de facto) Government Lieutenant-Governor Steven Point Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament House seats 36 Senate seats 6 Confederation July 20, 1871 (6th province) Area  Ranked 5th Total 944... Buffalo Bill Cody William Frederick Buffalo Bill Cody (February 26, 1846 – January 10, 1917) was an American soldier, bison hunter and showman. ... For other uses, see Cowboy (disambiguation). ... The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce TSX: CM NYSE: CM, also French: Banque Canadienne Impériale de Commerce, is Canadas fifth largest bank with over 1,100 branches across Canada and over 38,500 employees is primarily marketed as CIBC. CIBC and its subsidiaries Amicus Bank and Presidents... Whitehorse (IPA: /ʍaɪt. ... Motto: none Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Whitehorse Largest city Whitehorse Commissioner Jack Cable Premier Dennis Fentie (Yukon Party) Area 482,443 km² (9th)  - Land 474,391 km²  - Water 8,052 km² (1. ...

Writing career

Service became known for his work about the West and the Yukon gold miners. Such works as "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and "The Cremation of Sam McGee" made him famous around the world. After having collected enough poems for a book, Service offered a publisher $100 of his own money to publish the work, but the publisher was so sure that the works would be popular (he had already taken 1700 offers for sale off the galley proofs), he returned Service's money and offered him a contract. GOLD refers to one of the following: GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade). ... Chuquicamata, the second largest open pit copper mine in the world, Chile. ... The Cremation of Sam McGee is the most famous of Robert W. Services poems. ...

The book was published in 1907 in North America as The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses and in England as The Songs of a Sourdough. This made Service wealthy and he became known as the "Canadian Kipling". Within two years he was able to quit his job at the bank, and to travel to Paris, the French Riviera, Hollywood, and beyond. During his time in Paris he was reputedly the wealthiest author living in the city, yet was known to dress as a working man and walk the streets, blending in and observing everything around him. From 1912 to 1913 he was a correspondent for the Toronto Star during the Balkan Wars. Year 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... The Songs of a Sourdough is a book of poetry published in 1907 by Robert W. Service. ... The Songs of a Sourdough is a book of poetry published in 1907 by Robert W. Service. ... This article is about the British author. ... This article is about the capital of France. ... The Quai des États-Unis in Nice on the French Riviera at night. ... ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Toronto Star is Canadas highest-circulation newspaper, though its print edition is distributed almost entirely within Ontario. ... Combatants  Ottoman Empire Balkan League: Bulgaria Greece Serbia Montenegro Commanders Ottoman Empire: Nizam PaÅŸa, Zeki PaÅŸa, Esat PaÅŸa, Abdullah PaÅŸa, Ali Rıza PaÅŸa Bulgaria: Vladimir Vazov, Vasil Kutinchev, Nikola Ivanov, Radko Dimitriev Greece:Crown Prince Constantine, Panagiotis Danglis, Pavlos Kountouriotis Serbia:Radomir Putnik, Petar...

Service was not a conscientious objector during World War I; he was a British subject, and worked as an ambulance driver for the Canadian Red Cross, as well as working as a war correspondent for the Canadian government. He wrote a number of poems about the war, many appearing in a new book, Rhymes of a Red-Cross Man, in 1916. Some of these, along with his earlier "The March of the Dead" about the Boer War, were put to music and compiled into the anti-war album War, War, War by "Country" Joe McDonald in 1971.Many of Service's poems celebrated duty to country in war, and although he often pointed out the sacrifice of the common soldier in war, he could not be considered an "anti-war" writer. “The Great War ” redirects here. ... In British nationality law, the term British subject has at different times had different meanings. ... Country Joe McDonald Country Joe McDonald (born Joseph McDonald, on January 1, 1942 in El Monte, California) was the leader and lead singer of the 1960s rock & roll group Country Joe and the Fish. ...

Service married Germaine Bougeoin, a Parisian, and they purchased a summer home in the Brittany region of France. At the outbreak of World War II he was in Poland and fled the country, going back to North America. He remained in Hollywood until the war's end, then he returned to his home in Brittany. Throughout all this, he remained a British subject and carried a British passport. Historical province of Brittany, showing the main areas with their name in Breton language The traditional flag of Brittany (the Gwenn-ha-du), formerly a Breton nationalist symbol but today used as a general civic flag in the region. ... Look up Region in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... Greetings from Hollywood Hollywood is a district of the city of Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., that extends from Vermont Avenue on the east to just beyond Laurel Canyon Boulevard above Sunset and Crescent Heights Boulevards on the west; the north to south boundary east of La Brea Avenue...

Service wrote two volumes of autobiography - Ploughman of the Moon and Harper of Heaven. Cover of the first English edition of 1793 of Benjamin Franklins autobiography. ...

He died in Lancieux, Côtes-d'Armor, in Brittany, and is buried there in the local cemetery. Côtes-dArmor (French) / Aodoù-an-Arvor (Breton) is a département in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. ...

Robert Service's Cabin, Dawson City

Robert Service lived between 1909 and 1912 in a log cabin on 8th Avenue in Dawson City, Yukon. His relative prosperity allowed him the luxury of a telephone. After he left for Europe, the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire (I.O.D.E.) took care of the house until 1971, preserving it. Service eventually decided he could not return to Dawson, as it would not be as he remembered it. The Town of the City of Dawson or Dawson City is a town in the Yukon Territory, Canada. ... The Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire (I.O.D.E.) is a Canadian womens charitable organization. ...

In 1971, the Service cabin was taken over by Parks Canada, which maintains it, including its sod roof, as a tourist attraction. Irish-born actor Tom Byrne created The Robert Service Show which was presented in the front yard of the cabin, starting in 1976. This was very popular for summer visitors and set the standard for Robert Service recitations. Parks Canada is a Canadian government agency whose purpose is to protect and present nationally significant examples of Canadas natural and cultural heritage and foster public understanding, appreciation and enjoyment in ways that ensure their ecological and commemorative integrity for present and future generations. ...

Ill health caused the elderly Mr. Byrne to discontinue the show at the cabin. The show was moved to a Front Street storefront and since 2004 has been held at the Westmark Hotel in Dawson. A local Dawson entertainer, Johnny Nunan, now recites Service's poetry (including the classic "The Cremation of Sam McGee") from a willow chair while visitors sit on benches on the front lawn. Following the presentation, visitors can view Service's home through the windows and front door. The fragility of the house, and the rarity of the artifacts, precludes any possibility of allowing visitors to walk inside the house itself. The Cremation of Sam McGee is the most famous of Robert W. Services poems. ...

The works of Robert W. Service

• The Song of the Wage Slave (1915)
• Ballads of a Bohemian (1921)
• Ballads of a Cheechako (1909)
• Bar-Room Ballads {1940)
• The Rhymes of a Red-cross Man {1916)
• Rhymes of a Rolling Stone (1912)
• The Spell of the Yukon and other Verses (also known as The Songs of a Sourdough) (1907)
• The House of Fear, A Novel (1927)
• The Master of the Microbe (1926)
• Ploughman of the Moon, An Adventure Into Memory (1945)
• The Poisoned Paradise (1922)
• The Pretender. A story of the Latin quarter (1914)
• The Roughneck, A Tale of Tahiti (1923)
• The Trail of Ninety-Eight, A Northland Romance (1910)
• Why Now Grow Young? or Living for Longevity (1928)
• The Ballad of the Ice-Worm Cocktail
• Bob Smart's Dream
• The March of the Dead
• Carols of an Old Codger

The Songs of a Sourdough is a book of poetry published in 1907 by Robert W. Service. ... Bob Smarts Dream is a poem written by Robert W. Service while he lived in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. ...

Trivia

Robert W. Service has been honoured with schools named for him including Service High School in Anchorage, Alaska, Robert Service Middle School in Toronto, Ontario[1] and Robert Service School in Dawson City, Yukon Territory.[2] He was also honoured on a Canadian postage stamp in 1976. Robert Service High School is a public high school serving grades 9-12 in Anchorage, Alaska, named for poet Robert Service. ... Nickname: Motto: Big Wild Life Location in the state of Alaska Coordinates: , Borough Municipality of Anchorage Government  - Mayor Mark Begich (D) Area  - Municipality  1,961. ... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Official languages English (de facto) Government - Lieutenant-Governor David C. Onley - Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 106 - Senate seats 24 Confederation July 1, 1867 (1st) Area... The City of Dawson is a town in the Yukon territory of Canada, located at a latitude of 64° 03 45 N and a longitude of 139° 25 50 W. The current population is approximately 2,000. ... This article is about Yukon Territory in Canada. ... This is a list of notables on stamps of Canada. ... Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Author and Canadian historian Pierre Berton, born 1920, did not know the poet while he lived in the Yukon. His parents, Frank and Laura Berton, lived just across the street from his cabin in Dawson City. Canada is a nation of 31 million inhabitants occupying almost all of the northern half of the North American continent. ... Pierre Francis Berton, CC, O.Ont, BA, D.Litt (July 12, 1920 – November 30, 2004) was a noted Canadian author of non-fiction, especially Canadiana and Canadian history, and was a well-known television personality and journalist. ...

Tom Byrne frequently does readings in Dawson City at the Robert Service Cabin. He has recorded many of Service's works for cassette and CD. The City of Dawson is a town in the Yukon territory of Canada, located at a latitude of 64° 03 45 N and a longitude of 139° 25 50 W. The current population is approximately 2,000. ...

David Parry, a folk singer and theater director based in Toronto and Ottawa, released The Man from Eldorado, a CD of musical settings of Service's poems on in the early 1990s. It has been rereleased on Borealis records [3]

External links

Wikisource has original works written by or about:

Robert W. Service

• RobertService.com
• Works by Robert W. Service at Project Gutenberg
• RobertWService.Com
• Robert Service Poems Online