A Simply Extraordinary Life

He was a modest, soft-spoken man

Sam Robertson is an unlikely hero. From his childhood in Orkney, Scotland to his work as a boatbuilder with the Hudson’s Bay at Fort Langley. Sam’s life spanned the most dramatic changes in British Columbia History, from a Fur Trade Region called “New Caledonia” to a province within the Dominion of Canada. Arriving practically penniless, through practical planning, hard work and keeping steady progress, Sam Robertson retired on 700 acres of land.

The first single from their “Way Out West” EP (2025) “A Simply Extraordinary Life” tells the tale of Samuel Robertson, his life, his times and his achievements.

This song/story also marked the first “Songumentary,” an innovative new media platform combining music and media to provide historic context and a contemporary connection to a story or event through a series of virtual walk-throughs and archival image montages.

This song/story also marked the release of the first “Songumentary,” an innovative presentation format combining music and media to provide historic context and a contemporary connection to a story or event through a series of virtual walk-throughs and archival image montages.

Special thanks to the BC Farm Museum, the Township of Langley, The Creative Compass Society, and all those who contributed to our fundraiser.

A Simply Extraordinary Life

Tiller's Folly

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A Simply Extraordinary Life is a song that celebrates the extraordinary adventures Samuel Robertson; Orcadian, Hudson’s Bay Company servant, boat builder, carpenter, entrepreneur, publican, agriculturist, gold miner & Read more

Simply Extraordinary Life

He came from a land where legends are borne
Of stone ‘neath a vast, leaden sky
Of the life he had led, it could never be said
He had ever let time pass him by

He worked with his hands building “Flatties” & “Yoles”
And like mony’s the lad of his day
Signed on for a term, and from there not return
From those lands far beyond Hudson’s Bay

You can’t gauge a man by the coat on his back
Nor the workaday work that he plies
Sam Robertson lived in his own quiet way
A simply extraordinary life

So westward he made where he worked at his trade
And he came to the Fraser’s green shore
Where he started a life with his new country wife
One of promise as never before

Came the time of the Great Fraser Goldrush
In the days of the Fur Trade’s decline
What Cheer! was the toast, when Sam was the host
Selling gold miners whisky and wine

He dreamed of a home and land of his own
With orchards and gardens and greens
To the river’s far shore, he’d take to his oars
And to plant there the seeds of his dreams

Who’d ever thought so humble a man
Could prove so pragmatic & wise?
Sam Robertson lived in his own quiet way
A simply extraordinary life

1864 he left his crops behind him
On a steamship bound to Fort Yale
400 miles he strolled, dug a fortune up in gold
Then walked 400 miles back home again!

Where he’d once dreamed a home and lands of his own
Is today where fair Albion stands
Samuel lived out his days in a quiet, peaceful way
On 700 acres of land!

No, you can’t gauge a man by the coat on his back
Nor the workaday work that he plies
Sam Robertson lived in his own quiet way
A simply extraordinary life

Words & Music by Bruce Coughlan (SOCAN)