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Bar-Room Ballads
A collection of Robert Service verses.
169 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1940
4 people want to read
About the author
Robert W. Service
235 books121 followersThis author is the the British-Canadian writer of Yukon poetry. For the British historian of modern Russia, see Robert Service.
Robert William 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.
He drifted around western North America, taking and quitting a series of jobs. Hired by the Canadian Bank of Commerce, he worked in a number of its branches before being posted to the branch in Whitehorse (not Dawson) in the Yukon Territory in 1904, six years after the Klondike Gold Rush. Inspired by the vast beauty of the Yukon wilderness, Service began writing poetry about the things he saw.
Conversations with locals led him to write about things he hadn't seen, many of which hadn't actually happened, as well. He did not set foot in Dawson City until 1908, arriving in the Klondike ten years after the Gold Rush, but his renown as a writer was already established.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Service.
Robert William 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.
He drifted around western North America, taking and quitting a series of jobs. Hired by the Canadian Bank of Commerce, he worked in a number of its branches before being posted to the branch in Whitehorse (not Dawson) in the Yukon Territory in 1904, six years after the Klondike Gold Rush. Inspired by the vast beauty of the Yukon wilderness, Service began writing poetry about the things he saw.
Conversations with locals led him to write about things he hadn't seen, many of which hadn't actually happened, as well. He did not set foot in Dawson City until 1908, arriving in the Klondike ten years after the Gold Rush, but his renown as a writer was already established.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Service.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 22, 2021
A nifty collection of verse by Robert Service. Most are great fun or a nifty story with a twist.
Favorites are 'The Ballad of Lenin's Tomb', 'Security', 'The Ballad of Casey's Billy-goat'. My favorite is 'The Ballad of the Ice-Worm Cocktail'.
Each are well thought out and written.
Two items to note: The "Bar-Room" part of the title is misleading. The entries are not of any specific subject and just a couple even mention a bar.
Of greater note is that this collection was published in 1940 in the U.K. just as all Hell was about to break loose across England.
The last 7 or so verses by Service are anti-war and pointedly against sending soldiers to war.
I'm guessing this book sold poorly as that information got around those in Great Britain.
Bottom line: I recommend this book. 9 out of ten points.
Favorites are 'The Ballad of Lenin's Tomb', 'Security', 'The Ballad of Casey's Billy-goat'. My favorite is 'The Ballad of the Ice-Worm Cocktail'.
Each are well thought out and written.
Two items to note: The "Bar-Room" part of the title is misleading. The entries are not of any specific subject and just a couple even mention a bar.
Of greater note is that this collection was published in 1940 in the U.K. just as all Hell was about to break loose across England.
The last 7 or so verses by Service are anti-war and pointedly against sending soldiers to war.
I'm guessing this book sold poorly as that information got around those in Great Britain.
Bottom line: I recommend this book. 9 out of ten points.
January 27, 2022
note - Goodreads had this attributed to the wrong author as of the time of this review.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rober...
This little beat-up stained hardback cried out to me from an book shelf inside an antique marketplace while I was Christmas shopping. Otherwise in a quite readable condition and based on the title I gifted to myself on a whim thinking it was something I'd pick at over time.
I actually started looking at it when I got home and finished it within a few short days. Despite being somewhat dated, I consider the verse to be quite engaging and imaginative in many instances. Several were hilarious with a few being quite vicious in their own way. This was not necessarily a work of poetic literature but it was one that evoked interest and response. A poetry ( doggerel / whatever) book that I actually read to the end and made me interested in the author.
I look forward to finding more by the laureate of the Yukon on used bookshelves in the future.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rober...
This little beat-up stained hardback cried out to me from an book shelf inside an antique marketplace while I was Christmas shopping. Otherwise in a quite readable condition and based on the title I gifted to myself on a whim thinking it was something I'd pick at over time.
I actually started looking at it when I got home and finished it within a few short days. Despite being somewhat dated, I consider the verse to be quite engaging and imaginative in many instances. Several were hilarious with a few being quite vicious in their own way. This was not necessarily a work of poetic literature but it was one that evoked interest and response. A poetry ( doggerel / whatever) book that I actually read to the end and made me interested in the author.
I look forward to finding more by the laureate of the Yukon on used bookshelves in the future.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews