Buckwheat Donahue on Bessie’s Boil

Buckwheat’s Introduction to Bessie’s Boil

"Robert Service grew up a British subject. In fact, he remained a British subject all his life. He was born in England, and at a very young age, he moved to the Scottish frontier, to a place called Kilwinning—which also happens to be the home of another famous poet, Robert Burns."

"Every now and then, you can see flashes of that Scottish heritage in his writing. This is one of those times. Bessie’s Boil isn’t one of his big Gold Rush ballads—it’s a humorous, anecdotal piece, the kind of storytelling that’s just as much about the people as it is about the place."