The Ballad of Sam McGee??
Larry Winger
> If you're really quick, I can read it at the King's Head, our local
> Northumbrian folk club, tonight 8^]
Many many thanks to those proffering tips on how to find the poem. Turns
out to be: 'The Cremation of Sam McGee' by Robert Service, which I have
now found handily anthologised in 'The New Oxford Book of Canadian Verse',
chosen by Margaret Atwood. Thanks a big bunch, Margaret, for not
considering this folksy Canadian poem too passe to include!
Might post the text, if I'm not too busy over the next week.
Meanwhile, am looking forward to a nice warm pint of Theakston's beside
the roaring fire at the King's Head, Allendale, tonight, for a traditional
evening when I will regale the locals about how it ain't half bad, man,
why when I were a lad out in the Yukon, etc. 8^]
Cheers, thanks again!
Larry
Larry 'wearing three hats in these cold time' Winger
Larry....@ncl.ac.uk http://georgia.ncl.ac.uk
Larry...@mkn.co.uk http://mkn.co.uk/help/extra/craftnet/info
Larry Winger: PGCE Secondary Science, Teacher Trainee, Open Univ.
Larry Winger
Way back in my Wellandport red brick schoolhouse in Ontario, some 35 years
ago, we had a nice, handy-sized blue backed poetry anthology. Sadly, I've
lost it over the course of various travels. Anyway, in this anthology was
one of my favourite poems, well known, I'm sure, to most Canadians. It
was called, 'The Ballad of Sam Mc(Mac?)Gee.
Starts off:
There are strange things done, in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold.
But the strangest of all ??? that I ever did see
Was the ballad of Sam McGee.
Something wrong with the rhyme there, not sure what the right words are,
from here and beyond.
I won't spoil the ending, just now, but if someone has a wee copy (that
too is a joke, since I seem to remember it covering several pages), I'd be
very much obliged if they could forward it along to me. Or here to the
newsgroup -- could be an interesting electronic comment on the weather
folks on the East coast are having, eh?
If you're really quick, I can read it at the King's Head, our local
Northumbrian folk club, tonight 8^]
Cheers, thanks
traa . . .
Larry Winger
Steve Goldfield
Ed Cray <cr...@mizar.usc.edu> wrote:
#>larry:
#>
#>Your "Ballad of Sam McGee" is by Robert Service, a popular in the 1920s
#>Canadian poetaster whose *Rhymes of the North* was widely read. But his
#>most famous poem is "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and even mroe famous
#>still is the bawdy parody, "The Reaming of Dan McGrew" which some
#>stalwarts still recite in all its 20 odd double stanza verses when
#>properly lubricated with beer.
#>
#>Ed
It's "The Cremation of Sam McGee, which I've got on page 16
of *The Best of Robert Service* (New York: Dodd, Mead &
Company, 1963). The copyright dates begin with 1907. If you
can find it, the one I have is Apollo Editions A-65 for which
I paid the princely sum of $1.75. I don't think Sam McGee is
any less famous than Dan McGrew; both are mentioned on the
blurb on the back cover. A friend of mine, a fiddler, liked the poem
so much that he memorized it and used to be able to recite the
whole thing from memory. "There are strange things done in
the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Steve Goldfield :-{ {-: s...@coe.berkeley.edu
University of California at Berkeley Richmond Field Station
Bev Herzog
Larry Winger <larry....@ncl.ac.uk> writes:
> Calling all Canadians!
>
> Way back in my Wellandport red brick schoolhouse in Ontario, some 35 years
> ago, we had a nice, handy-sized blue backed poetry anthology. Sadly, I've
> lost it over the course of various travels. Anyway, in this anthology was
> one of my favourite poems, well known, I'm sure, to most Canadians. It
> was called, 'The Ballad of Sam Mc(Mac?)Gee.
I'm not Canadian, but I believe it's "The Cremation of Sam McGee" by
Robert Service that you seek. He wrote poems of the Yukon (there's even
a Robert Service campground outside of Whitehorse, Yukon Terrifory) and has
a couple of collected works of poems that I found years ago at a local
(then Wisconsin) bookstore - I haven't looked for him in ages. But you
should be able to find his works through your bookstore or library. I'll
try to remember to look at home to see if the poem is in the volume I still
own so I can send you the words if you haven't found them. It is a fine
poem.
Ed Cray
Your "Ballad of Sam McGee" is by Robert Service, a popular in the 1920s
Canadian poetaster whose *Rhymes of the North* was widely read. But his
most famous poem is "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and even mroe famous
still is the bawdy parody, "The Reaming of Dan McGrew" which some
stalwarts still recite in all its 20 odd double stanza verses when
properly lubricated with beer.
Ed
Joseph C Fineman
>There are strange things done, in the midnight sun
>By the men who moil for gold.
My memory goes a little farther:
The arctic trails have their secret tales
That will make your blood run cold.
The northern lights have seen strange sights,
But the strangest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake LaBarge
When I cremated Sam McGee.
Change "cremated" to "castrated", and you have the beginning of a
takeoff written ca. 1950 by an engineer calling himself (& perhaps
inspired by) Jack Daniels.
--
Joe Fineman j...@world.std.com
239 Clinton Road (617) 731-9190
Brookline, MA 02146
Robert Kirk
says...
>[...]
>It's "The Cremation of Sam McGee, which I've got on page 16
>of *The Best of Robert Service* (New York: Dodd, Mead &
>Company, 1963). The copyright dates begin with 1907. If you
>can find it, the one I have is Apollo Editions A-65 for which
>I paid the princely sum of $1.75. I don't think Sam McGee is
>any less famous than Dan McGrew; both are mentioned on the
>blurb on the back cover. A friend of mine, a fiddler, liked the poem
>so much that he memorized it and used to be able to recite the
>whole thing from memory. "There are strange things done in
>the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold."
>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>Steve Goldfield :-{ {-: s...@coe.berkeley.edu
>University of California at Berkeley Richmond Field Station
Listen to the beautiful version recorded by Hank Snow, "There on
the marge of Lake Lebarge."
Bob Kirk
mcre...@delphi.com
>Canadian poetaster whose *Rhymes of the North* was widely read. But his
>most famous poem is "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and even mroe famous
>still is the bawdy parody, "The Reaming of Dan McGrew" which some
>stalwarts still recite in all its 20 odd double stanza verses when
folks that would be very interested in a copy of the lyrics!
BTW--I read (in a scholarly work on bawdy ballads, in the U. of Oklahoma
music library) that not only does Service deny writing "The Ballad of Eskimo
Nell" (equally bawdy) but he did not think that Kipling wrote "The Bastard
King Of England". Supposedly, THAT was created at Yale or therabouts around
1912 or so...
>Your "Ballad of Sam McGee" is by Robert Service, a popular in the 1920s
>Canadian poetaster whose *Rhymes of the North* was widely read. But his
version in college. My huband and I still sing it on occasion at filksings
(folk circles at Science Fiction conventions).
Mary the Filker
mcre...@delphi.com
>blurb on the back cover. A friend of mine, a fiddler, liked the poem
>so much that he memorized it and used to be able to recite the
>whole thing from memory. "There are strange things done in
sing it on occasion.
Mary the Filker
mcre...@delphi.com
>Listen to the beautiful version recorded by Hank Snow, "There on
>the marge of Lake Lebarge."
Mary the Filker
Stewa1
version of this poem for Columbia. In fact he made a whole album of
Robert W. Service works and set them to his own music...VERY interesting.
Stuart wrote things like Open Up Your Heart and Let the Sun Shine In, This
Ole House, It Is No Secret....plus some well known western tunes. If I
can help with more info, E-mail me.
Joseph C Fineman
>BTW--I read (in a scholarly work on bawdy ballads, in the U. of Oklahoma
>music library) that not only does Service deny writing "The Ballad of Eskimo
>Nell" (equally bawdy) but he did not think that Kipling wrote "The Bastard
>King Of England". Supposedly, THAT was created at Yale or therabouts around
>1912 or so...
I can believe it. However, I believe that "Eskimo Nell" was
_inspired_ by Service. It imitates his style, and it shows signs of
Canadian origin.
"The Bastard King of England" is nothing like Kipling's style, tho I
have heard the attribution for many years.
Likewise, I cannot believe that Ogden Nash wrote "The Four Bastards".
If he did, then the versions I have heard are horribly corrupted, as
they are far below his standard of versification.
Robert Kirk
Spoken, with guitar background; don't know the album...Bob Kirk
Mirek Kotisa
Unfortunately I have lost the LP so I don't have any more info.
Would anyone know if this record is available anywhere, or if Debbie is still recording or performing?
Mirek
Bruce Hopper
"Bessie's Boil". A freind of mine always chooses a lady from the
audience as his dupe when he recites this one. It's a stitch!
Robin Hopper
njn...@alaska.net
edb...@ibm.net
"Four Bastards"? Don't know that one. Is that a relative (so to speak)
of "Three Prominent Bastards"? Can you post the lyrics?
Eric
edb...@ibm.net
Robert Kirk
By strange coincidence, I just heard the Stuart Hamblen record of, "The
Cremation of Sam McGee" played on WAMU 88.5 in Wash DC. to help celebrate
our late blizzard. Sorry to say that as much as I like Hamblen's music,
I think this version is much inferior to the Hank Snow version. Hamblen
shouts his way through, and generally chews the scenery. Also, there is
one of those awful Nashville era choruses with syrupy intro & closes.
Bob Kirk
Jeff Price
readings of Robert Service". It contains both The
cremation of Sam McGee and The shooting of Dan McGrew
along with 12 others. The poetry is read with some
background music. Quite entertaining. It is on Raven
Records (RVNCD9303). Raven Records is at PO Box 2333,
Englewood, CO 80150.
I have no interest in the composer or the label, just
a fan.
Jeff Price
jpr...@mnsinc.com
John Allen XL/DZ 01444 234812 ;-
>larry:
>
>Your "Ballad of Sam McGee" is by Robert Service, a popular in the 1920s
>Canadian poetaster whose *Rhymes of the North* was widely read. But his
>still is the bawdy parody, "The Reaming of Dan McGrew" which some
>stalwarts still recite in all its 20 odd double stanza verses when
>
>Ed
>
Hi,
Many years ago (around 1972) I remember hearing a poem from an old friend.
It was about First World War soldiers who were pining for a haggis in the
trenches. If memory serves me right (It usually does!) they go out on a
patrol, come under fire, and it's only the thought of that haggis that gets
them safely back - where they find it took a direct hit from a shell!
I believe he described the writer as "The Canadian Kipling", although I
could be wrong about that too. Was it Robert Service? If so, after all
this time maybe I can get hold of more of his work. I've sort of vaguely
heard of "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and "Ballad of Sam McGee", but don't
know the content at all...
Cheers /Yogi
PS: Any connection with Eskimo Nell?
---
Email: etl...@etlxdmx.ericsson.se | John (Yogi) Allen
East Grinstead Hash House Harriers | On On in Sussex and Kent (UK)
Brighton GO Club | British GO Association (2D)
Folk Singer (vox unpopuli) | Guitar, Melodeon, Traditional
Steve Goldfield
Mirek Kotisa <Mirek....@utoronto.ca> wrote:
#>In article <hBGFXVC....@delphi.com>, mcre...@delphi.com says:
#>>
#>>Steve Goldfield <s...@hera.EECS.Berkeley.EDU> writes:
#>>
#>>>blurb on the back cover. A friend of mine, a fiddler, liked the poem
#>>>so much that he memorized it and used to be able to recite the
#>>>whole thing from memory. "There are strange things done in
#>>
#>>I have a friend who set it to a tune he wrote for it; my husband and I still
#>>sing it on occasion.
#>>
#>>Mary the Filker
#> Debbie McClutchy recorded wonderful version of this poem 10 - 15 years ago.
#> Unfortunately I have lost the LP so I don't have any more info.
#> Would anyone know if this record is available anywhere, or if Debbie is still recording or performing?
#> Mirek
If that's Debby McClatchy you mean, she has a new CD out on
Marimac last year. She's also the chief chef for the San
Francisco Folk Music Club's New Year's Camp (Camp Harmony),
and she was out here for that (she lives in North Carolina)
and also performed at the Castle Folk Club in San Francisco
a few days after New Year's.
Robert Thurlow
>Listen to the beautiful version recorded by Hank Snow, "There on
>the marge of Lake Lebarge."
Oh *yeah*, what a great memory. I think my parents still have that
album; it's how I learned the poem, and it's the basis of how I read
it today, when I get a chance. Great poem.
Rob T
Joseph C Fineman
>"Four Bastards"? Don't know that one. Is that a relative (so to speak)
>of "Three Prominent Bastards"? Can you post the lyrics?
The latter, as it appears on the record & in the book by Oscar Brand,
is an abridgement of the former. It leaves out the last & best stanza:
I'm a democratic figure in these democratic states --
A pathetic demonstration of hereditary traits.
As the son of a policeman has a flatness of his feet
And the daughter of a floozie has a wiggle in her seat,
My position at the bottom of society I owe
To the qualities my parents bequeathed me long ago.
My father was a married man, and what is even more,
He was married to my mother -- which I only can deplore.
I was born in holy wedlock: consequently, by & by,
I got rooked by every bastard that had plunder in his eye.
I invested, I deposited, I voted every fall,
I saved up all my money, but the bastards took it all.
But now I've learned my lesson, and I'm on the proper track:
I'm a self-appointed bastard, and I'm going to get it back.
The sentiment expressed dates this poem to the Great Depression. So
Ogden Nash _might_ have written it -- but, as I said before, if he
did, the texts I have are grossly corrupt. I quoted the above from
memory, and have corrected some of the infelicities of syntax & meter
that were in the text I acquired at Caltech in 1957 or so. (The
inverse folk process?)
Paul M. Gifford
>From: Ed Cray <cr...@mizar.usc.edu>
>Subject: Re: The Ballad of Sam McGee??
>Date: 12 Jan 1996 14:01:42 -0800
>larry:
>Your "Ballad of Sam McGee" is by Robert Service, a popular in the 1920s
>Canadian poetaster whose *Rhymes of the North* was widely read. But his
>most famous poem is "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and even mroe famous
>still is the bawdy parody, "The Reaming of Dan McGrew" which some
>stalwarts still recite in all its 20 odd double stanza verses when
>properly lubricated with beer.
Can't do twenty, but here's one verse:
It was out of a night that was black as a bitch
And into the dim-lit hole
There staggered a prick from up the creek
With a rusty old slug in his pole
...
Paul Gifford
Robert M Derrick
: Many years ago (around 1972) I remember hearing a poem from an old friend.
: It was about First World War soldiers who were pining for a haggis in the
: trenches. If memory serves me right (It usually does!) they go out on a
: patrol, come under fire, and it's only the thought of that haggis that gets
: them safely back - where they find it took a direct hit from a shell!
: I believe he described the writer as "The Canadian Kipling", although I
: could be wrong about that too. Was it Robert Service? If so, after all
: this time maybe I can get hold of more of his work. I've sort of vaguely
: heard of "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and "Ballad of Sam McGee", but don't
: know the content at all...
Yes, indeed it is. "The Haggis O' Private Mcphee". Robert Service's
work is highly underrated, but if you were very lucky to have been
scouring the cut-out bins in the 70's, you might have come across
the album, "War, War, War", by Country Joe McDonald, wherein he
had taken some of the best of Service's WWI poems, and set them to
very fine tunes. My favorite is "The Man From Athabaska", which is
as fine an anti-war song as I've ever heard. Many of his poems are
quite funny, and many are maudlin, and a few are poignant enough
to raise tears in those not yet cynically hardened.
Just wish McDonald, or some other laureate, would continue to
do for Service what Bellamy did for Kipling.
Rob Derrick
Clisby Williams
|> Calling all Canadians!
|>
|> Way back in my Wellandport red brick schoolhouse in Ontario, some 35 years
|> ago, we had a nice, handy-sized blue backed poetry anthology. Sadly, I've
|> lost it over the course of various travels. Anyway, in this anthology was
|> one of my favourite poems, well known, I'm sure, to most Canadians. It
|> was called, 'The Ballad of Sam Mc(Mac?)Gee.
|>
|>
|> There are strange things done, in the midnight sun
|> But the strangest of all ??? that I ever did see
|> Was the ballad of Sam McGee.
|>
|>
|> Something wrong with the rhyme there, not sure what the right words are,
|> from here and beyond.
|>
|>
Here's part:
There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold.
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold.
The northern lights have seen queer sights
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake LeBarge
I cremated Sam McGee.
Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee
Where the cotton blooms and blows
...
(something about the Yukon) "seemed to hold him like a spell"
Though he'd often say in his homely way
That he'd sooner live in hell.
I remember the gist of the poem, but can't quote
the rest. (My father knows it by heart and used to
recite it to us when we were kids.)
Clisby
Claire Eamer or Alan Daley
>In article <larry.winger-1...@georgia.ncl.ac.uk>, Larry Winger <larry....@ncl.ac.uk> writes:
>|> Calling all Canadians!
>|>
>|> Way back in my Wellandport red brick schoolhouse in Ontario, some 35 years
>|> ago, we had a nice, handy-sized blue backed poetry anthology. Sadly, I've
>|> lost it over the course of various travels. Anyway, in this anthology was
>|> one of my favourite poems, well known, I'm sure, to most Canadians. It
>|> was called, 'The Ballad of Sam Mc(Mac?)Gee.
>|>
Robert Service, who wrote The Ballad of Sam McGee, was born in Scotland and
came to Canada in his early twenties (or even younger). He worked in a bank in
Whitehorse and later in Dawson City in the Yukon shortly after the Klondike
Gold Rush, and wrote a couple of books of rhyme about the Yukon and Gold Rush
characters, the best known being The Ballad of Sam McGee and The Shooting of
Dan McGrew. Then he left the Yukon and Canada and spent most of the rest of
his life in Europe, living in France for many years.
A CD-ROM multimedia history of the Klondike, called Klondike Gold, has just
been released (I worked on it, so allow for bias), and it includes an archival
recording of Service reciting The Ballad of Sam McGee, which is illustrated by
a popular Yukon artist.
There was a real Sam McGee, by the way, but he wasn't cremated and he wasn't
from Tennessee, as in the ballad. Service just stole his name!
Claire
net...@yknet.yk.ca
Douglas Clark
A `Selected' Robert Service has recently been published in the UK.
He was out of print. I think the title is `Best of Robert Service'.
--
Douglas Clark Voice: +44 1225 427104
69 Hillcrest Drive, Email: D.G.D...@bath.ac.uk
Bath, Avon, BA2 1HD, UK Benjamin Press: http://www.bath.ac.uk/~exxdgdc
Jerry Dallal
: A `Selected' Robert Service has recently been published in the UK.
: He was out of print. I think the title is `Best of Robert Service'.
: --
Almost all of Robert Service is available online through Project Guttenberg.