1885

The Bard & Banker

1022 GOVERNMENT STREET

The Bard and Banker is dedicated to the great Robert W. Service, Bard of the Yukon.

After leaving England, Robert wandered, often penniless, from California up to British Columbia collecting stories. In 1896 he was hired by the Canadian Bank of Commerce, once at this location, where he worked until posted north to the Yukon in 1903.

The larger-than-life tales of the Klondike Gold Rush fired his imagination. His first two poems, The Shooting of Dan McGrew and The Cremation of Sam McGee captured the world’s attention. His Songs of a Sourdough allowed him to quit the bank to wonder and write full time.

Robert would go on to become one of the most published poets in the English language, writing six best-selling volumes of verse and a two-volume autobiography before his death as a millionaire in Lancieux, France where he is buried in the local cemetery.

Come in and raise a glass to the Bard!